Health Education

Welcome health educators, PE teachers, administrators, counselors, and community health partners. In this newsletter you will find information on professional learning opportunities, Michigan Model for Health Curriculum, community events, state-wide resources, and more. The menu in the top left corner allows you to jump between sections quickly.

My focus for this spring will be on working with Sex Ed Advisory Boards. If your school is seeking to revamp the board or has questions regarding reproductive health education, puberty education, or HIV/STI prevention requirements, please reach out to me.

All grant opportunities and student scholarships have been placed into a separate newsletter (updated 4/25). There are many open grants for many different components of school health.

-Helen Craig, Regional School Health Coordinator

EUP ISD, COP ESD, AMA ESD, & COOR ISD

hcraig-isd@eupschools.org

National Prevention Week is a public education platform showcasing the work of communities and organizations across the country that are preventing substance use and promoting positive mental health. This year, National Prevention Week is taking place from May 12-18, 2024!

Sault Ste. Marie Public Schools Youth Advisory Council & Chippewa County Communities that Care are partnering to share a "Dear Future Me" campaign with high school students. Click the flyer to the left for more information!

Is your district doing something great related to school health & wellness? Feature it in the regional newsletter by emailing me at hcraig-isd@eupschools.org.

ACES Day SIGN UP LINK.

Open Phys Ed has created 10 stations for Olympic themed Field Days. Each station highlights a sport included in the Summer Olympic Games and includes an activity plan and a station card.

May is Michigan Moves Month! This is an annual initiative with the vision and mission to promote and encourage every Michigander of every ability to embrace diverse forms of human movement in the pursuit of an active and healthy lifestyle. Michigan Moves Month is a collaborative effort dedicated to positively impact the health and physical literacy of Michiganders across societal settings from cradle to the sunset of life. You can view the Michigan Moves Month website for more details.

A new vaping product called Vape Cups has appeared in Michigan markets. The use of vaping products among adolescents has become a major concern nationwide, as it poses not only immediate health risks but also potential long-term effects on both physical and mental well-being. Attached is an image of the product for your reference. If you have any questions or require further assistance, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Vaping prevention education for adults, youth, and stakeholders is a key step to addressing vaping issues. The following actions are recommended:

1. Educate Students: Raise awareness among students about the hazards of vaping and offer resources and assistance to students dealing with nicotine addiction.
   

2. Monitor and Enforce: Enhance monitoring to detect and address instances of vaping on school premises. Enforce school policies and disciplinary actions to discourage vaping activities.

3. Parental Engagement: Communicate with parents and guardians regarding the emergence of Vaping Cups and its potential impact on their children's health. Promote open communication and collaboration in handling the vaping issue.
4. Staff Training: Provide training and support for school staff to identify vaping signs and intervene effectively to assist students.
5. Collaborate with Community Partners: Engage with local health agencies, law enforcement, and other community stakeholders to tackle the broader public health challenge of vaping

May is National Women's Health Week! This observance aims to highlight women’s health issues and priorities and encourage women of all ages to prioritize their physical, mental, and emotional well-being.

Dr. Jessica A. Rickert, DDS, has shared her Anishinaabe Dental Outreach Newsletter - May 2024. Dental resources can be scarce in our region, and we appreciate her culturally informed outreach. The newsletter is available for download below.

Opill is the New Over-The-Counter Birth Control Pill. Advocates for Youth is co-hosting a webinar with SHAPE America (Society of Health & Physical Educators) on May 9th at 7pm Eastern to get you ready. This webinar is primarily geared toward educators who teach sex ed, but any teacher, school administrator, or anyone interacting with young people regularly may attend. Registration is available here.

As a reminder for all Michigan health teachers: all methods and materials for teaching sex education must go through the Sex Ed Advisory Board and become approved by your district's school board. Please reach out if you have any questions about this process.

The Michigan Profiles for Healthy Youth (MiPHY) survey is an online student health survey offered by the Michigan Departments of Education and Health and Human Services to support local and regional needs assessment. The MiPHY provides student results on health risk behaviors including substance use, violence, physical activity, nutrition, sexual behavior, and emotional health in grades 7, 9, and 11. The survey also measures risk and protective factors most predictive of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use and violence. MiPHY results, along with other school-reported data, will help schools make data-driven decisions to improve prevention and health promotion programming.

Learn about the Michigan School Health Survey System and get step-by-step instructions for implementing MiPHY and other school health surveys through live webinars with MDE. These webinars include live Q&A with State staff. Please send an email with subject MiPHYWEB and the date you wish to attend to kramern@michigan.gov for registration information. You can also check out the MiPHY newsletter here.

Registration is Open for the "Connecting with Kids through School Health Conference" - held on June 18 & 19 in Mt. Pleasant, MI. The Connecting with Kids through School Health Conference focuses on the Whole Child. The conference theme encompasses leadership, partnership, strategies and programs that support student well-being.

Presenters: This conference will feature three Eastern UP ISD facilitators:

• Paula Finfrock: Eshkiniigijig (Adolescents); Anishinaabek "Coming of Age" Traditions and Protocol and;
• Helen Craig & Abby Coberly: Creating Systems for Support for LGBTQ+ Youth & Allies
• Additional sessions include information on nutrition, physical education, mental health, and more!
  

Conference audience: Administrators, Teachers, Counselors, Social Workers, Nurses, Intervention Specialists, School-Based Health Center Staff, Prevention Workers, Nutrition Educators, School Health Coordinators, and anyone interested in supporting healthy students.

Conference Scholarships are Available! Contact Helen Craig, School Health Coordinator, for more information - hcraig-isd@eupschools.org

Registration is open until May 18th, 2024. Visit the Conference page for more details.

Digital Curriculum Reminders:

• Michigan Model for Health is available in digital format! Contact Helen Craig (hcraig-isd@eupschools.org) for free digital license opportunities!
• Do you just want to know about the Michigan Model for Health and understand how you might be able to utilize the curriculum? Click HERE for Michigan Model Curriculum!
  
• All Michigan Model assessments for grades 5-12 are now available as Google Forms. For access to these assessments, view the following link with information and complete the agreement form.
• If you are new to using MMH curriculum and have not attended training or it has been a while and you want a "refresher" consider signing up for one of our upcoming trainings! Please contact Helen Craig for more information.

Beginning on February 8, 2024, all teachers who have been trained in Michigan Model for Health and currently have a 4th & 5th grade license will be receiving access to both the regular curriculum and the HIV/STI prevention lesson at 4th grade. These have been combined into one license for ease of use by the Michigan Model site managers.

Please note: Unless you have attended the HIV/STI prevention training required by the state of Michigan to teach the HIV/STI prevention content, do not teach this lesson! There are many reminders and warnings about this within the curriculum. If you have any questions, please reach out to me at hcraig-isd@eupschools.org.

Chippewa County Communities That Care, OUT House Consortium, Bird's Eye Outfitters, and Sault Convention & Visitors Bureau are launching a 906-hour outdoor challenge. The challenge goal is to spend 906 hours outside in a calendar year. This breaks down to 75.5 hours per month.

Everyone who logs 50 hours a month will be entered into a drawing for that month's outdoor item.

Hours can be logged here: tinyurl.com/906Hours

If you have any questions about this challenge or how to track hours, please call 906-635-3618 or email chippewa@upctc.com. Follow the facebook page for monthly outdoor activity suggestions at https://www.facebook.com/ChippewaCTC/

Parents, is your child transitioning from elementary school to middle school, or middle school to high school? If so, the Upper Peninsula Communities that Care coalition is inviting you to participate in this FREE parent support program. This program features:

• Strategies to strengthen family bonds through conversation, conflict resolution, and setting clear guidelines.
• Child participation (one session) to learn strategies to maintain friendships while resisting peer pressure.

For more information & all course dates, go to: www.upctc.com/classes

LGBTQ+ students are still at disproportionate risk for persistent bullying, harassment, and victimization. In response to requests from school districts across Michigan, The MDE LGBTQ+ Students Project staff created a suite of online professional development workshops to build the capacity of schools to provide a safe, supportive, and inclusive culture and climate where all students can thrive. We are honored to partner with school districts and parents to make these highly requested workshops available to school staff for the 2023-24 school year.

We are pleased to let you know about the upcoming online workshops for Winter/Spring 2024! Here is the link to the virtual offerings flyer (https://bit.ly/MDELGBTQ24Offerings), for additional information about the workshops and registration links. For questions about the project, including workshop or technical assistance requests, please email milgbtqstudentsproject@gmail.com.

Do you remember the first time a book changed your opinion of an issue? Or if a character in a story ever made you feel seen in ways media, school, and your environment couldn't? Books and stories are some of the most important tools we have to understand ourselves and the world around us - but the current political environment is rife with book banning, school censorship, and policies that put LGBTQ+ youth in harm’s way.

That's why Advocates for Youth has a new project: Hope in a Box! Hope in a Box is built on the idea that LGBTQ+-inclusive books can cultivate empathy and ensure every LGBTQ+ student feels safe, welcome, and included at school. After years of equipping educators with books, curriculum, training, and mentorship, the founders of Hope in a Box have entrusted Advocates for Youth to take on the project!

Take a moment today to learn more about Hope in a Box:

• Check out the curated book list
• Teachers, apply for Hope in a Box in your classroom

A collaboration of the Central and Western Area Health Education Center, the CMU Rural Health Equity Institute, McLaren Central Michigan, and the Michigan Center for Rural Health has developed a free 3 part Human Trafficking Webinar series.

• Part 1: April 9 - Rachel Timothy telling her story of being a victim of human trafficking and the warning signs to look for. Part 1 Recording.

• Part 2: April 16 - Keynote Speaker: Karmen Kucinich, FBI Victims Specialist, clkucinich@fbi.gov (not recorded, Sextortion brochure with resources linked below)
  
• Part 3: May 14 - registration - Panel Presentation that addresses Human Trafficking in Communities and Clinical SANE Coordinators

To help address critical and emerging school safety issues and support K-12 communities with relevant resources and information, SchoolSafety.gov launched a new Child Exploitation topic page on SchoolSafety.gov

The new page features child exploitation information, resources, and guidance from government agencies as well as non-profit organizations, and outlines ways members of the K-12 school community can help identify, prevent, and respond to the victimization of students. The launch is an important expansion of the site’s content to better support schools and districts in creating safe and supportive learning environments.

Are your children safe while online? Michigan families, especially minors, are becoming inundated with advertisements from alcohol, tobacco, pornography, illegal drugs and gambling marketers through different internet and cell phone inboxes. To reduce these influences on youth, the State of Michigan offers a free program to stop adult advertisements from reaching e-mails, text messages, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter. The Michigan Child Protection Registry, like the federal Do Not Call List, is a free do-not-contact service for Michigan’s families and can be located at www.ProtectMIChild.com.

The FBI's Detroit Field office released a public service announcement warning of the dangers of financial sextortion. For a full transcript and download, visit: www.fbi.gov/sextortion

Eaton RESA has developed a sexual health curriculum snapshot guide. This resource will be incredibly helpful for sex ed advisory boards that are in the process of reviewing curriculum. You can review this resource here.

This Michigan county oral health directory identifies dental safety-net resources. The resources may be low cost clinics or free clinics. Some clinics or programs may have rules for applying for the dental services.

For specific information regarding Medicaid, Healthy Michigan Plan, or Healthy Kids Dental contact your local health department, your local MDHHS office in your county, or visit the following website: http://www.michigan.gov/oralhealth

The Michigan School Health Coordinator's Association (MiSHCA) has developed a guidance document with up-to-date information regarding mandates related to health education. You can find a summary and links to further resources on each topic. Mandates include:

• Health Education Requirements
• CPR Mandate
• HIV Mandate
• Sex Education Law

Free or low-cost health coverage for children under the age of 19, or pregnant women of any age is available. Call the MIChild and Healthy Kids hotline: 1-888-988-6300 OR

Apply online at https://newmibridges.michigan.gov/s/isd-landing-page?language=en_US

SHAPE America has compiled their most popular resources, articles, & content from the 2023 calendar year. Check out their posts!

SHAPE Michigan offers virtual and in-person training opportunities, grants, back-to-school resources, and more. See SHAPE's April 2024 Newsletter for more information!

SHAPE America has released revised physical education standards as well as health education standards. You can check them out here:

• PE
• HE

The standards that approved by the Michigan Department of Education are housed at the following links:

• MDE Physical Education

• MDE Health Education

At this point, the MDE has not indicated that a revision of the approved standards is planned. Michigan's health standards have not been updated since 2007 and are under review by MDE.

MOASH, in partnership with sexual violence prevention experts across the state, is excited to announce the launch of a new resource: the K-5 Consent Toolkit!

This resource responds to the needs of teachers, parents, and caregivers for quality consent education for students in elementary school. The toolkit includes recommendations for specific resources - including curricula, videos, books, and websites - as well as best practices for implementing consent and personal safety lessons with K-5 youth. Also included is an overview of Michigan’s standards for K-5 consent education and a guide to understanding local district policy to advance school-based education in your community.

The state of Michigan has published a summary of legal obligations and best practices in Michigan Public Schools. This document summarizes law & practice around required content, parent rights, teacher qualifications, compliant processes, and sex-ed advisory boards (SEAB). A link to the document can be found here.

The Michigan Civil Rights Commission and the Michigan Department of Civil Rights have released an Education Equity Resource Guide. This guide is designed to provide Michigan educators, principals, superintendents with a template for increasing equity in schools and strategies to help dismantle institutional and structural barriers to success for all students. See the Michigan Department of Civil Rights news release for more information, or review the equity and inclusion guide below.

DOCUMENT: Resource Guide to Developing a School Equity Plan: A template to operationalize diversity, equity, and inclusion in Michigan's K-12 Education System

Rachel Bloch (Marquette Alger RESA) coordinates the McKinney-Vento Homeless Grant to provide services, training, and support to the school districts in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. She has created a newsletter for liaisons with PD opportunities, legal requirement reminders, and more.

Feb/March 2024

Winter 2023

Fall 2023

Back to School 2023

Summer 2023

April/May 2023

March 2023

February 2023

January 2023

Helen Craig is the Regional School Health Coordinator for MiSHCA Regions 3 & 5, serving the Eastern Upper Peninsula and Northern Lower MI - Sunrise Side counties. She is also the McKinney-Vento facilitator and social studies curriculum consultant for the EUP ISD.

Email: hcraig-isd@eupschools.org
Website: https://www.eupschools.org/Page/6003
Facebook: facebook.com/EUPISD
Twitter: @hrc_edu