Sustainability in Action
Curiosity and passion
Pursing Health
Promoting a healthy and active school that is sustainable is necessary in education. We need to address this through multiple facets, including nutrition, movement, addressing biases and barriers, and mental wellness.
Nutrition
Access to a wide range of nutritious foods is essential to wellness. Pre-pandemic, I would cook and bake with my grade one and two multiage classroom multiple times a month. Often vegetables are hard to get their children to eat. However, students are usually willing to try different foods at school that they were unwilling to do at home, partly because of their involvement in growing and preparing the food. I am looking to bringing this back to my classroom in the next few months. I can do so because our school division has allowed classroom teachers to get their Food Handler’s Certificate. This was done during school hours as it is part of my professional growth plan, an example of how supportive administration can help support wellness.
We have also made our cookbooks filled with family favourite recipes to increase the home and school connection, learn about procedural writing, and encourage families to eat together, as recommended in the Canadian Food Guide (Health Canada, 2021).
During our cooking and baking, I share how foods can be fuel and fun. However, sometimes certain foods have less fuel, and it is important to include a wide range of foods so that our bodies, our vehicles in life, can move in a way that will help us. This K-3 activity by PHECanada (2020) explains “how food provides them with energy for their day...and that food also supports the development and health of their brain, bones, muscles, and major organs.” The language used in the PHECanda lesson plans has been instrumental in teaching foods to young students. Our updated Canadian Food Guide also supports this. Our food guide recommends lots of fruits and vegetables, whole grains and proteins. Having students realize the why has been instrumental in getting them to attempt new foods.
Within our school, we also allow for students to snack on foods when they are hungry, to a point. However, we ask them not to do so if they will get food on different supplies (writing time or computers) or if it is not safe (recess and music). In addition, the Canadian Food Guide (2021) recommends that we be mindful while we eat, so I encourage students to just have their snack instead of multi-tasking so that they can be aware of when they are satisfied. This does not cause a chaotic free-for-all that I was initially concerned about when I first implemented this. Most students still have their snack during the regular snack time as then they can eat with others, another recommendation from the Food Guide.
It is worth noting that our school also provides snacks for those who need this. These are primarily inexpensive pre-packagedhasThe foods with limited nutritional value since September of 2020. Previously the snack options included more fresh, student-prepared, and higher nutritional value foods. Currently, a minimal grant is provided to purchase snacks for our school. We used to supplement this grant with funds from our canteen fund but cannot do so at this time. The funding has been almost eliminated, and only $150 is provided for the year. This is one of the cuts made to our education system that has profoundly impacted students’ nutritional access to food.
Physical Education and Movement
Within our school and school division, our physical education teachers are usually specialists. However, in a few incidences, specifically last year, as we were challenged to rearrange classrooms to maintain a safer school, non-specialist educators were our physical education teachers. Our school does ensure that all students receive the full 150 minutes recommended in ParticipACTION ( Tremblay, 2018, p. 46). Students have many other opportunities to move their bodies throughout the day other than just in the physical education program.
We have a blanket permission form sent home at the start of the year, requesting permission to go for community walks as a school. In the interest of safety and transparency, teachers must email the caregivers and office before leaving. This allows all of us to get out and explore, connect to nature and our community.
We also have outdoor, full-school activity events multiple times a year, such as Terry Fox run, Walks for Reconciliation, Festival du Voyageur, Field Day, and other activities.
Our school also offers regular intermural programs over lunch and after school. To help make more students have feelings of belonging, we also provide other lunchtime clubs for those students who do not want to participate in traditional sports. Some activities that are offered are gymnastics, JustDance at lunch, yoga, and dancing outside. Many other non-physical options are also provided. Unfortunately, many of these programs have been put on hold this year. These activities are done during teachers’ free time and lunch hours, and teachers need to protect their own time to avoid burnout.
Within the classroom, we have added a lot of movement to our day. Each student now has a personalized yoga mat that we use both inside and outside. We have also put up hallway activities, including four-square and hopscotch. Our favourite movement breaks are Cosmic Kids Yoga and Go Noodle.
Importance of movement
Both ParticipACTION and Healthy Schools Manitoba list multiple reasons for the importance of movement, such as improved physical fitness, stronger motor skills, improved skeletal and vascular health (Tremblay, 2018, p. 6; Healthy Schools Manitoba, 2017). It also improves academic achievement, mental health, and cognitive functioning. This is why, as a school, we have committed to adding movement throughout our day. As a school and a community, we look for ways to encourage all to move their body in ways that they enjoy for all of the reasons listed above. Some other examples of movement are gardening, impromptu dance parties, climbing outside on rocks and trees, walk and talk lessons, and standing and squatting tables.
Fat-Bias
There are so many reasons to move our bodies. However, some that are listed show a profound fat bias that needs to be addressed. For example, healthy Schools Manitoba (2017) lists the second reason that children should be physically active as a way for “teens to control their weight.” Unfortunately, it continues to circle back to variations of reducing BMI and obesity a few more times. One-third of the reasons listed are to have children not have fat bodies. This sort of fixation is what often discourages those in larger bodies from actively participating in physical activity. Last year, I put out a call to my friends on social media asking if they had ever faced bias or barriers to physical activities while living in a large body. Within one hour, over 40 people had messaged me. Some of the common themes are that there is no equipment to fit them. They were laughed at, ignored by adults who were instructors when asked for modifications for their body type, or told not to participate. The entire project is available here.
Society has taught us that fat folks are not as valued in our community and face many barriers to accessing health (Lee&Pause, 2016) and fitness. We can help address this in our school, which I am working on with some leadership in our division. We have begun to check to see if we have the correct outdoor equipment to accommodate more types of bodies, such as larger jackets and ski-pants and higher-weight skis and snowshoes. The physical education teacher in our school now ensures various seating available to put on and off gear. Having a comprehensive representation of folks is also essential. We have seen how important this is with other marginalized people. It is beginning to be seen as a need to include more diverse bodies.
Choosing literature that reflects this is so important. Most fat folks, specifically women, are shown as evil or lazy (often both), so it is important to include books to show all bodies positively to combat fat bias and encourage all to continue moving their bodies for reasons other than weight loss.
Her Body Can by Katie Crenshaw
Tremblay (2018) states the “link also exists between physical activity and more favourable body composition indicators” and that this will improve self-esteem and body image (p. 6). Fat people are thought to have negative self-esteem and self-image, yet many straight-sized or smaller folks also struggle with body image and self-esteem. Body image and self-esteem have less to do with the size of a person and more to do with the work on their brain. To address this in my classroom, we use gratitude journals multiple times a week. We ensure that if we are talking about bodies, we are neutral and empathetic that some people do not like to comment on their bodies. I have also asked my administrator to include body size in our policy on equity. Currently, in our school, there are many comments made about others’ bodies. Our divisional policy does not yet have body size as part of the equity and anti-discrimination policy. This has been brought to their attention recently (perhaps I am a bit of a squeaky wheel!).
Physical activity can help support positive self-image in another way, as shown in the participACTION 2018 report. Physical movement releases serotonin and dopamine, and this helps reduce stress, anxiety, and depression. “Social media plays a major role in self-esteem for many young people. Kids are subjected to never-ending online scrutiny from their peers. Getting active can be a protective tool to bolster kids’ self-esteem, confidence and self-worth. (p. 9). Physical activity in the real world helps distract and refocus these virtual microscopes and builds up their perceptions of themselves. As children are more active, “research shows that they have improved self-esteem, which in turn leads to better moods and an overall more positive sense of satisfaction with how they perceive themselves” (p. 9).
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Mental Health
In Manitoba, mental illness has increased steadily over the last five years, with 26% of Manitobans receiving care for mental wellness support (Herd, 2019, pp. 31-32). This has shown to increase over the last 18 months. In 2019, the rate of self-identified anxiety in grade 5-8 students in Manitoba was 24%. In our school, it was 23%. In May of 2021, it jumped to 45% (Hassin, 2021, p. 7). Statistics in depression, sense of belonging, and self-esteem all saw similar trends. This needs to be an area that must be addressed. Our school participates in the province-wide Thrival program, and the division-wide programs such as MindUP, Project 11, Roots of Empathy, Quiet Time. Our classroom also includes Mindful Moments such as in the GoNoodle video.
It is also vital to have staff care for their mental wellness - putting on our own masks before helping another. This presentation was done by my friend Krista Labossiere who shares on how to build "Mindfulness for our Students and Ourselves" (2020).
Sustainable, healthy, and active schools are essential to a community thriving. This includes moving your body in ways you love, eating a wide range of nutritious foods, and being kind to your mind by supporting your mental wellness. These are important to do for ourselves and with our students.
References
About P11. Project 11. (2021, September 13). Retrieved October 3, 2021, from https://www.projecteleven.ca/about/.
Crenshaw, K., Meschke, A., & Liu, L. (2020). Her body can. East 26th Publishing. https://youtu.be/ebkZ0Bak0jk.
GoNoodle. (2016, August 24). Bring it down - flow: Gonoodle. YouTube. Retrieved October 3, 2021, from https://youtu.be/bRkILioT_NA.
GoNoodle. (2020). Footloose. GoNoodle. Retrieved October 1, 2021, from https://youtu.be/lJPvEs8qpQc.
Gordon, M. (2021). Roots of Empathy. Roots of empathy. Retrieved October 3, 2021, from https://rootsofempathy.org/.
Hassin, A. (2021). 2021 Tell them from me data: School-wide Plan. Unpublished manuscript.
Hawn, G. (2013). MindUP. Retrieved October 3, 2021, from https://mindup.org/.
Health Canada. (2021, September 22). Government of Canada. Canada's Food Guide. Retrieved October 1, 2021, from https://food-guide.canada.ca/en/.
Herd, K. (2019). Annual Statistics 2018-2019. Government of Manitoba: Annual Statistics 2018-2019. Retrieved October 1, 2021, from https://www.gov.mb.ca/health/annstats/as1819.pdf.
Labossiere, K. (2020, September 23). Mindfulness for Ourselves and Our Students. MAME YouTube. Retrieved September 26, 2021, from https://youtu.be/rxHUJtrQIyU.
Lee, J. A., & Pausé, C. J. (2016, December 30). Stigma in practice: Barriers to health for fat women. Frontiers in psychology. Retrieved October 1, 2021, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5201160/.
Manitoba Advocate. (2020, July 10). Thrival kits™. Manitoba Advocate. Retrieved October 3, 2021, from https://manitobaadvocate.ca/adult/helpful-resources/thrival-kits/.
PHE Canada (Ed.). (2021, August 31). Visit phe learning centre! Home | PHE Canada. Retrieved September 27, 2021, from https://phecanada.ca/.
PHE. (2021). Feed Your Brain, Bones, Muscles, and More. Retrieved September 30, 2021, from https://phecanada.ca/sites/default/files/content/docs/Home%20Learning%20Resource/K-3/NEW%20K-3%20Feed%20Your%20Brain,%20Bones,%20Muscles,%20and%20More.pdf.
Province of Manitoba. (2017). Healthy schools: Province of Manitoba. Province of Manitoba - Healthy Schools. Retrieved September 27, 2021, from https://www.gov.mb.ca/healthyschools/index.html.
Sacher, C. (2021, June 28). Into the Thick of Things: Fat Oppression in Outdoor Education. Retrieved October 1, 2021, from https://youtu.be/zoe_C9c49fE.
Says, P. (2019, December 4). What is quiet time? Responsive Classroom. Retrieved October 3, 2021, from https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/what-is-quiet-time/.
Tremblay, M., & Barnes, J. (2018, June 19). The 2018 ParticipACTION Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth. Participaction.com. Retrieved September 27, 2021, from https://www.participaction.com/en-ca/resources/report-card.
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