Join Us for This Year’s PHS Wellness Champion Gathering!

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The PHS Wellness Champion Gathering will be held virtually via Zoom on Friday, November 17th from 9:00am to 3:00pm ET. Attendees can choose to attend the entire day or individual sessions and teachers will have the opportunity to receive SCECHs. Eligible PHS schools who register and attend the event will be eligible for a drawing to win one of two $250 PE equipment vouchers!

We will have speakers presenting on numerous topics that will help to support the health and well-being of students, staff, and families in your school’s community. Topics for this year’s event include:

  • Nutrition Education for Teens and Young Adults: Using Food as a Superpower
  • Building and Maintaining a Successful School Wellness Team
  • Healthy Nutrition and Meal Prep for Busy Teachers and Staff
  • The Risks of Adolescent Caffeine Consumption
  • Social and Emotional Health and Well-Being

If you have any questions regarding this event, please contact Melissa Boguslawski, PHS Program Manager, at mkbog (@) med.umich.edu. We look forward to seeing you there!

Register Now!
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Hart Middle School Receives Silver Michigan School Wellness Award!

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Katie Jazwinski, wellness champion at Hart Middle School, has learned how daily physical activity impacts student performance in her classroom. By highlighting how daily activity affects physical and mental health, Katie improves the emotional health of her students along with other important life skills that could make an impact on their future. Illustrating this, Katie shares the story of a student who enrolled in her Strength and Conditioning Class to get the required PE credit. One of her students had a negative outlook on PE and suffered from diminishing mental health and confidence. Through personal conversations and class surveys, Katie was able to learn about this student and form a close bond with them. Katie’s class allowed for this student and many others to learn the connection physical activity has with quality of life and witness the positive changes regular physical activity can have on a person. 

Within a week, the student changed their outlook on physical activity and the mind-body connection. Katie worked with this student to make a personalized plan with them to ensure continued physical activity. Gradually, this student started having a positive attitude in class and eventually became very eager to make it to school every day. In the beginning this student would skip class. Now, this student never skips Strength & Conditioning. Through improved physical activity, this student began to improve their nutrition as well by choosing healthier beverages and snacks. They are now one of the top powerlifters in the school and take care of both their physical health and mental health. Through physical activity and education, their entire sense of wellbeing has changed and has metamorphosized them into a happier and healthier person both inside and out. This student has even become an advocate for physical activity and healthy eating and has been encouraging friends and family to take part in healthier behaviors. Katie has watched her student’s confidence and independence rise and form a new light in their eyes.  She describes this student as a total inspiration to herself and to many other students and adults in their school.  This student is a true example of how physical activity can improve the quality of one’s life and how a healthy body leads to a healthy mind. Katie describes this student as her STAR STUDENT and a true example of what a success story should be! To learn more about Katie’s health and wellness efforts at Hart Middle School, follow their Instagram: @hartpirateshealthxpe

Hart Middle School wellness team posing for photo
The Hart Middle School wellness team gathers for their after-school fitness class.

PHS Hosts Inclusive Physical Activity Day at the Big House

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In celebration of ACES Day (All Children Exercising Simultaneously), Project Healthy Schools hosted a collaborative wellness event at U-M Stadium on Thursday, May 11th to promote physical activity for over 300 students from Detroit and Manchester. PHS partnered with U-M Athletics and U-M Adaptive Sports & Fitness to create rotating stations that allowed students to fully participate in inclusive physical activity exercises together, showing that students of all abilities can exercise and have fun together!

The six stations included Adaptive Volleyball, Relay Race, Kick, Catch, & Throw, Stretching & Yoga, Tag, and Supermarket Relay Race that included nutrition education. To support staff wellness, a teachers’ lounge was created where healthy food and drinks were provided for all attending teachers. The teachers’ lounge food was provided by our partners at SNACK (Supporting Nutrition Education and Culinary Knowledge). To learn more about SNACK, you can visit their website at:  SNACK (a2snack.org) As students exited the stadium, they were each given a cinch sack with healthy snacks, swag, and health resources and greeted by Thera Paws dogs to support their emotional well-being. Snacks and swag were provided by our sponsors at Meijer, the United Dairy Industry of Michigan (UDIM), and the Michigan Apple Committee. The event was a huge success and we look forward to collaborating more with U-M Athletics and U-M Adaptive Sports & Fitness in the future!

For more information about our sponsors from ACES Day, please visit the following websites:

Students from Detroit gather to participate in our inclusive physical activity day at U-M Stadium.

Our Request for Applicants (RFA) is Open Until June 30th!

Do you know a Michigan middle school that would be a great fit for Project Healthy Schools? Building Healthy Communities: Engaging Middle Schools through Project Healthy Schools (BHC:PHS) is now accepting applications for the 2023-2024 school year. Applications are due by Friday, June 30th. BHC:PHS recently held a webinar for all interested schools, if you missed it, you can view the recording here: https://youtu.be/wREgy0eSvmY.

To review the program RFA and to apply, please visit our application page at: Apply Now – Project Healthy Schools.

Michigan School Wellness Awards

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The Michigan School Wellness Award application is now open! Schools can apply here by Friday, April 28th at Midnight EST. All PHS schools who apply have a strong chance of receiving one of the four levels of awards: Gold, Silver, Bronze, Honorable Mention. We highly encourage all PHS schools to apply for this state-wide recognition since you are doing great work in supporting school wellness within your local community. Please visit the SWA website here for more information. If you have any questions or need any help with your award application, please reach out to your PHS wellness coordinator.

Staff Wellness Resources for Testing Season

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Testing season is upon our schools. As teachers work tirelessly day-in and day-out to support their students during this stressful time, we want to make sure we are supporting our teachers. There are several resources located in the PHS Portal we have created for supporting staff wellness for our schools. Please take advantage of our PHS resources as we enter the spring testing season.

Under the “Education” tab we have Teacher Self-Care Training Modules. In collaboration with TRAILS, a program aimed to improve access to evidence-based mental health services and resources, the PHS team is pleased to offer this four-part series (introduction to self-care, mindfulness, getting active for mental health, and cultivating joy) to support emotional wellness for teachers and students. During each of the four 30-minute sessions facilitated by your PHS wellness coordinator, participants will work to cultivate their own emotional wellness through learning opportunities, meaningful discussions, and short activities. These sessions are also a great resource for students and include access to numerous additional resources to promote emotional wellness. For more information regarding these sessions, please reach out to your PHS wellness coordinator. Under the “Wellness Initiatives” tab, we have 11 staff wellness event ideas that can be implemented into your school community. These events can be tailored to your school needs with the hope of engaging and supporting your teachers, staff members, and administrators on their wellness journey.

March is National Nutrition Month

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National Nutrition Month is an annual campaign created 50 years ago in 1973 by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. During the month of March, everyone is invited to learn about making informed food choices and developing healthful eating and physical activity habits. This year’s theme is “Fuel for the Future.” Eating with sustainability in mind is a tasty way to nourish ourselves during every phase of life and protect the environment. Here are 50 ways to get involved with National Nutrition Month. You can also engage your students with some fantastic National Nutrition Month resources found here.