Are you a school leader, parent, student, or simply interested in all things school wellness? Check out our monthly updates for upcoming opportunities and school highlights!
EVENTS & OPPORTUNITIES
Hawai'i Healthy Me Activity Book
A unique opportunity for Hawai’i Island 4th grade and SPED teachers! Looking for a resource to teach nutrition? Blue Zones Project Hawai’i is offering a FREE updated version of the Hawaii Healthy Me workbook to educators on Hawai'i Island. The workbook has stories, mini-lessons and activities geared to fourth graders. Books will be delivered in late-March, and there will be an accompanying website with additional activities and keiki-friendly recipes.
Located on a different island? We will make this resource available statewide in the fall. Questions? Contact megan.yarberry@sharecare.com for more information.
K-6 keiki on O’ahu can take part in the Keiki Rainbow Run on April 22nd at Kaka’ako Waterfront Park. Registered runners will get a t-shirt, and 100% of registration fees will be donated to their school.
School registration is now open, and schools can select to take part in one or both activities.
Keiki can register for the Rainbow Run here!
If you have questions, please contact keikirun@gmail.com
Stargazing Event
Honouliuli Middle School is hosting a stargazing event, open to all K-12 families in the Campbell-Kapolei Complex Area. Bring your family to enjoy UH Astronomy Telescope viewing, listen to mo’olelo and take part in a variety of fun activities!Register for the event: www.bit.ly/ckstargazing
America’s Healthiest Schools Award Application
The 2023 America’s Healthiest Schools Award Application is Open! Apply for the Enriching Health Education award, which recognizes schools that provide evidence-based health education to all students and prioritize opportunities for students to practice skills to maintain and improve their health. Any K-12 public or private school eligible to apply for recognition as one of America’s Healthiest Schools, including elementary, middle, and high schools. To receive an award, all criteria in a single topic area must be “Fully in Place” during the 2022-23 school year before the submission deadline on April 18, 2023. School teams may apply for recognition in up to nine topic areas.
USDA Team Nutrition Releases New Nutrition Education
New and updated Discover MyPlate: Nutrition Education for Kindergarten materials are now available from USDA’s Team Nutrition initiative! These fun resources foster the development of healthy food choices and physically active lifestyles during a critical developmental and learning period for children—kindergarten. The expanded resources include recipes, food cards, emergent reader mini books, and lessons that meet educational standards.
BRIGHT SPOTS
What's Happening in Schools to Support Wellness?
Student Recognition Program
Kahāmauloa is the name of the student recognition program at BZP Approved HP Baldwin High. The name means, “the everlasting breath” and connects to the HĀ initiative. Each month’s theme is tied to animals found in the waters around Hawai’i. Students and teachers will elect one student from each advisory that best portray the characteristics of the word of the month.
Genki Ala Wai Project
BZP Approved Ala Wai Elementary (AWES) is one of several local schools taking part in the Genki Ala Wai Project. Through bioremediation technology, the project aims to make the Ala Wai Canal fishable and swimmable within seven years. Students make ‘genki balls’, or mud balls that contain effective microorganisms and throw them in the canal where they sink to the bottom of the canal to digest the sludge. AWES students had another genki ball making day early this quarter. Check out this video of Ala Wai’s first genki ball toss!
Gardening Resources Available
Recent windy and chilly weather in Waimea made for a good excuse to make batches of Mālaʻai Tea at BZP Approved Waimea Middle School’s Mala’ai Garden!
Students make this delicious herbal tea to share with others. The Hawaiʻi Island School Garden Network (HISGN) utilizes Mālaʻai Learning Garden as a model garden and host site for programming, and over the course of a decade, the school learning garden movement has grown to include over 60 school gardens on Hawai'i Island.
HISGN, a group of teachers, administrators and educators committed to incorporating outdoor education with Hawaiian culture as a pathway to integrated learning, now offers the HISGN Technical Assistance Request Form. This document allows school garden teachers to request material resources, garden advice, connections to volunteers, curricular resources and more!
Join the Well-Being Movement!
Email our team to learn more about partnering with us to make healthy choices easier at your worksite, school, grocery store, restaurant, or faith-based organization.
Check out all participating organizations.
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Learn more at www.bzphawaii.com
