Educators get schooled in wellness
Teachers attend ‘Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds Institute’ to create a culture of health at school
I t’s back-to-school time so educators from the region and throughout the state prepared by coming together for a two-day conference on how school wellness can lead to better learners.
The “Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds Institute” is an annual seminar designed so those that interact with children learn tools on how to create a culture of health within the school environment. Over the years, a number of educators, psychologists, and neuroscientists have presented at the seminar on various ways to incorporate health into the school day.
The Pottstown Area Health & Wellness Foundation organizes the annual institute and invites educators from throughout the region and beyond to attend so they learn evidence-based and researched ways to incorporate movement and other healthy activities into the classroom. This year’s institute had 165 registrants and school districts of Berks, Chester and Montgomery counties attended as well as those from other parts of the state such as Lancaster County and Allegheny County.
Those that attend the two-day conference do more than just hear about how to increase wellness at school but also get to physically try some of the methods discussed.
“This year, we provided more opportunities for attendees to participate in a physical activity,” said Howard Brown, the health foundation’s program officer of schools, active learning and community development.
Educators had the option to choose from more than 25 breakout sessions which included physical activities such as Nordic walking, dynamic stretching and action based learning tools. Lucie Bergeyova, physical education and family consumer science lead teacher at Boyertown Area Senior High School, took a group of teachers outdoors so they could exercise by walking with poles.
“It (Nordic walking) is an awesome, very effective cardiovascular workout. It will engage over 90 percent of your body’s total muscle mass,” Bergeyova said.
Rupert Elementary School Principal Matthew Moyer lead a session on action based learning during the institute. Teachers divided into groups and discussed how they could use items such as agility ladders, balance pods and bean bags to combine movement with learning.
“People learn more when they’re up and moving. It gets their brains engaged,” Moyer said.
He said action based learning is just taking traditional teaching methods and adding more activity to it so the kids retain the information better and have fun at the same time.
A session specifically about the connection between the brain and exercise was led by Matt Trout, supervisor of the health and physical education program at Conestoga Valley School District in Lancaster County. While educators attending the session learned the science between exercise and the brain, they also did a few brain break activities. Trout asked attendees to do something he called “Hindu squats” and a high-five activity that involved memorizing. Trout explained that neurotransmitters communicate information throughout the brain and body.
“Exercise balances all these neurotransmitters across all levels of the brain,” he said.
Educators that attended the institute also learned about other aspects of health such as social and emotional learning, mindfulness, nutrition and more. Dr. Valerie Arkoosh was the keynote speaker for this year’s conference. Arkoosh is the chairwoman of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners and a public health policy expert.
“You are the adults with whom [our] children spend the majority of their time,” Arkoosh said to a room full of educators at Pottstown Middle School on Tuesday. “You are charged with the invaluable mission of imparting knowledge, nurturing growth and developing the minds of our most precious community members.”
Arkoosh also spoke about the importance of partnerships and collaboration when it comes to public health. She used the Pottstown Trauma Informed Community Connection, PTICC for short, as an example of such partnership.
“It’s a partnership between educators, community members, mental health providers, law enforcement, faith leaders and families. PTICC is a group of community organizations committed to a culture of safety, understanding and responsiveness to trauma,” Arkoosh said. “Much of their success is a direct result of the passionate and dedicated educators who have championed this movement, helping to build trauma-informed environments both within the classroom and beyond.”
Dave Kraybill, Pottstown Area Health & Wellness Foundation executive director, said it’s important for educators to look at the “total health picture” when it comes to students. He added that children can face traumatic challenges in the first five years of their life that can lead to long term health and educational outcomes which is why it’s important for teachers to understand adverse childhood experiences, often referred to as ACEs.
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study about ACEs found a link between trauma and chronic diseases such as heart disease. The study also found that childhood trauma is very common and about twothirds of the adults studied had at least one adverse experience as a child. The CDC study about ACEs can be found at www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/acestudy/about.html.
Kraybill said traumatic challenges experienced early in life are predictors of future health, education and economical outcomes. He added that it’s important for educators to realize their students may be facing factors outside the classroom that could affect the learning process. Kraybill said the goal of the group effort at the institute is to teach children about healthy lifestyles from a young age so it leads to a healthier community in the future.
“I think in some respects; this kind of topic is important in light of recent happenings in Charlottesville (Virginia) and really in other places. What we’re seeing is a result of people being disconnected with their communities and not feeling cared for,” he said. “ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) doesn’t discriminate based on the color of someone’s skin.”
The Pottstown Area Health & Wellness Foundation is a nonprofit organization with a mission to enhance the wellness of area residents. For more about the foundation, visit the website www.pottstownfoundation.org.