CCS Staff Wellness Initiative

Columbus City Schools Staff Wellness Initiative has earned 2 recognitions - The 2024 Healthy Worksite Platinum Level Award for large employers from the Healthy Business Council of Ohio and the Cancer Screening Excellence Award from the Ohio Department of Health!

These awards recognize exemplary Ohio worksites who demonstrate a commitment to employee wellness through comprehensive worksite health promotion and wellness programs.

We look forward to continuing to grow our Staff Wellness Initiative to meet the future needs of our great employees!

Our partner, Wellity Education, is offering scholarship opportunities for an upcoming Yoga and Mindfulness in Schools Training on March 8-9, 2025. This program is designed to equip educators with the tools to bring mindfulness and yoga practices into their classrooms, fostering a more balanced and focused learning environment.

Scholarships are offered on a first come, first serve basis.

One Pass Select is a subscription-based program that gives you access to gyms, boutique fitness studios, online workouts, and your perks services with one monthly membership. There are 5 membership tiers to choose from - digital, classic, standard, premier, and elite - with the option to change tiers monthly. This offering is only available to you have a District medical plan.

Once you choose a membership tier, you will be provided with a membership code. All participating fitness locations will need your One Pass Select member code to identify you as a One Pass Select member and provide you with your membership.

To view the different membership tiers, and to find gyms near you that participate in One Pass Select tiers, click here to learn more.

The 9th Annual Relationship Week 2025 will be held February 10, through February 14, 2025. This year's theme is Promoting Healthy Communities! We recognize that relationships do not just happen but develop through daily care and positive interactions. Relationship Week is a time to acknowledge and reinforce our continuous efforts to nurture empathic and inclusive school communities.

Join us in celebrating Relationship Week by taking part in activities each day that reaffirm our compassion, respect, trust, and love for one another, and our community.

To view the Relationship Week flyer, click here.

In addition to hearts, roses and chocolates, take some time this Valentine’s Day to set your intentions to move from a place of love, not fear, each day.

For this week’s Wellness Wednesdays video, hear from CEO of Woww!Factor, Pia Fitzgerald, on what it means to lead from a place of love.

Happy Black History Month! We are celebrating Black history, achievements, and culture. The Columbus Metropolitan Library locations will be hosting special events about Black art, literature, music, beauty, and history all month at library branch locations around the city.

Check out the Columbus Metropolitan Library's website for most up-to-date events planned for the remainder of February.

This Black History Month and National Heart Health Month, the American Heart Association is addressing the biggest heart health challenges for Black Americans to build a legacy of good health. The American Heart Association website has a wealth of information on heart-healthy recipes, articles on prevention, and great resources on Black History Month to share with your family and friends!

Check out the 60-second video below to learn Hands-Only CPR from the American Heart Association.

It's never too late to get started on your New Year's Resolution, when it comes to your health.

When looking for the best nutrition advice, it’s easy to become overwhelmed with all the information available. From supplements to eliminate your health concerns to diet plans designed to meet all your needs, figuring out the best option for you and your health can be a challenge. The good news is that there are specialists in the field of nutrition. A Registered Dietitian, or R.D., is an expert in the field of food and nutrition who can help promote health and manage disease.

With Dietitians on Demand, you can meet one-on-one with a registered dietitian who can provide you with a personalized plan and individualized education. Whether you want to lose weight, better manage a specific medical condition, improve your overall health or boost your athletic performance, a registered dietitian can help. This program is available to anyone, and will be billed to your insurance, with no cost to you!

View the flyer to get started.

Grace Crawford is a member of the Wellness Team and your dedicated nurse. Grace offers one-on-one confidential health coaching designed to help staff understand and navigate their benefits. Grace can help you:

• Connect with providers

• Learn about preventative screenings to stay healthy

• Provide support for chronic disease conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure and asthma

• Reach your health goals with one-on-one coaching

• Learn about the best places to go for high quality, affordable care
  
• Offer information on Staff Wellness programming

You can reach Nurse Grace with any health questions or concerns by calling or texting her at 614-867-6567 or by emailing her at gcrawford1@columbus.k12.oh.us.

Life’s uncertainty, disruptions, and other challenges often strain relationships, especially emotionally intimate relationships. This stress can prompt short tempers and other behaviors that undermine the affection we feel for one another. Making even small efforts to nurture your relationships can help make them stronger and more satisfying. In honor of Relationship Week, click here to view an article from Health Advocate on ways to forge healthier relationships.

Did you know anyone in the district can use the EAP and you don't need to have the district's benefits to take advantage of the services? Health Advocate's EAP program provides 24/7, free, confidential assistance for you and your extended family. Call Health Advocate at 866-799-2728 or visit their website at healthadvocate.com/columbuscityschools.

Most of us know that internalizing anger, resentment, and grudges creates a negative impact on well-being. While many of us want to release negative feelings toward others, we struggle with how to do it. Forgiveness doesn’t mean giving someone a pass. Forgiveness means releasing yourself.

Join the free webinar on Thursday, February 20th, presented by Health Advocate, and learn how holding onto anger hurts us, how anger and resentment manifest in our minds and bodies, how to take concrete steps toward lasting forgiveness and learn skills and tools for a more peaceful mindset.

Mindfulness & Movement offers a variety of gentle accessible movements, breath practices, restorative postures and body awareness meditations in a 30 minute class over Zoom.

Your Mindfulness and Movement instructors, Jennifer Gebhart and Janine Harris, create a nurturing environment and guide practices that will leave staff feeling rested and valued. They will adapt practices for those joining from work and for those who can only attend part of the class. Please feel free to join the class, even if it's for a few minutes!

View the Mindfulness & Movement class information and schedule here.

Real Appeal® is a 52-week, science-based weight loss program that includes customized weight loss plans, resources and a personal transformation coach for you. No expensive gym memberships, extravagant equipment, or fad dieting necessary. Just you and your favorite online device. Real Appeal gives you everything you need to create healthy habits.

• Fitness and nutrition trackers to focus on health goals
• Online sessions led by a coach with a supportive community of members
• A Success Kit delivered directly to you with food and weight scales, helpful guides, and more
• Real Appeal is a program on Rally Coach™ is offered at no additional cost employees with our UnitedHealthcare insurance plan, their covered spouses and dependents 18 or over with a BMI of 19 and higher, subject to eligibility. Note: you must have insurance through the district to participate in Real Appeal.

View the Real Appeal flyer to get started.

There are still spots open to register for the Capital City Half Marathon and the Race for the Cure!

The Capital City Half Marathon will be held on April 26, 2025. Sign up for the 5K (3.1 miles), Quarter (6.55 miles) Marathon, or Half (13.1 miles) Marathon, all held in Downtown Columbus. Note: We are offering free entry for the 5K only, and $40 off the Half and Quarter Marathon.

The Race for the Cure will be held on May 17, 2025. The Columbus Race has two course options to participate in. The 5K run/walk course is approximately 3.1 miles. The Family Fun Walk is 1 mile.

Join CCS alumna, Christina Wilson, for onsite fitness class at Fort Hayes Health Science building! Classes are held Tuesday - Thursday evening and include Bike Bootcamp, Mat Pilates, and Cardio + Strength.

View the class schedule and register for class here.

Looking for ways to improve at Pickleball, some quick exercises you can do at your desk, or workouts designed specifically for busy parents on the go?

Enjoy all these videos and more in the library of recorded classes brought to you by Exercise Physiologists and Group Fitness Instructors from OhioHealth. There are hundreds of fitness and educational videos available for viewing anytime and anywhere.

Participate anytime by using the password in the flyer.

Taking a short activity break can improve focus, enhance creativity, and lead to better physical and mental health.

OhioHealth offers free, 10 minute movement breaks on their virtual fitness class schedule. The short activity breaks can be done at your desk or in your classroom with students!

Visit the wellness website for instructions on how to register for 10 minute movement breaks.

Modo Yoga Columbus is a community of inspired individuals, joined together by the love of hot yoga. Whether you are an absolute beginner to hot yoga or more experienced, Modo Yoga offers accessible classes that are challenging, healthy and fun!

CCS Staff receive 3 FREE CLASSES and a 15% discount on all memberships, drop-ins, and class cards.

For more information and instructions to claim your discounts, view the flyer here.

During ESSER funding, my school was able to get a workout program approved, which incentivized me to join a gym, and a few months later, the Wellness Initiative offered free entry to the Cap City race in the spring of 2022. I signed up for the quarter marathon having never run more than a 5K or 5-miler. I have been a runner all my life but the longer distances scared me. That race opened my eyes to distance running.

That summer I signed up for my first half marathon and completed the Nationwide Children's Half Marathon in October 2022. I ran Cap City again the following spring as my second half marathon. I signed up for Nationwide again in the fall, but was selected for a marathon exchange in our sister city Dresden, Germany through the Columbus Marathon and the Dresden Sister City organization. I got to go to Germany, stay with a host family, and run a half marathon there. I ran my fourth half marathon at Cap City this past spring (with my fellow German exchange runners too). I have since become a volunteer with the Dresden Marathon Exchange program and helped choose five new runners and facilitated their experience this year.

And...I finally completed my first full marathon on October 20th at the Nationwide Children's Marathon--what a life-changing experience it's been!

Email: wellness@columbus.k12.oh.us

CCS Wellness Website: ccsoh.us/wellness