Wellness Newsletter
Seabrook School District
Winter 2023
Dear Seabrook Community,
The Seabrook School District Wellness Committee recognizes that good nutrition and regular physical activity affect the health and well-being of our students, including their ability to learn. We would like to use this newsletter as a platform for providing the greater community with ideas and resources to help connect these practices from school to home. We hope you find it helpful!
The district Wellness Committee had our first meeting of the year on December 8th. It was well attended by teachers, nurses, counselors, coaches, administration, nutrition services, and parents! The Wellness ideas were flowing- with past ideas that we would like to bring back to light post Covid, and new ideas to help promote healthy eating and physical activity. Some ideas we are working towards are a district wide Earth Day Celebration/Clean Up Day, Morning Mile Walks in May, and ways to improve our garden beds. We also reviewed our current Wellness Policy and brainstormed ideas on how to ensure it meets the needs of our students.
New members are welcome to attend and share ideas. Our next scheduled meetings for the year are scheduled for:
March 9, 2023 2:45-3:45- SMS Conference Room
May 11, 2023 2:45-3:45- SMS Conference Room
"To appreciate the beauty of a snowflake, it is necessary to stand out in the cold" -Aristotle
Colder weather is here!
adventure depending on the temperature.
Nutrition Tips for the Winter Season
When the temperatures drop and the daylight hours are shorter, energy levels can take a big dip, right along with mood. Kids might be less active in the cold, winter months, making it extra important to focus on getting the right nutrition this time of year.
Here are a few simple strategies that can help make the difference:
- Don’t skip meals. (This should be practiced every day of the year!)
- Use a smaller plate and be mindful of portions
- Choose more veggies and smaller helpings of entrees and desserts
- Drink water before and after eating to help with digestion and maintaining
the feeling of fullness
- Make healthier recipe ingredient substitutions when cooking and baking. For
example, try substituting apple sauce for sugar
Homemade Trail Mix
What’s great about trail mix? It’s versatile, balanced, simple to make, and abundant to feed a crowd…have it as a snack, an appetizer or dessert option!Here’s a healthy trail mix recipe!
In a large airtight container, combine the following ingredients
- 2 cups raw nuts (pick 1 or a variety! - almonds, peanuts, walnuts, pecans, cashews, etc)
- 1 cup unsweetened dried fruit (cranberries, raisins, apricots, mango, banana chips, etc)
- 1 cup grain (popcorn, pretzels, Goldfish, cereal like Cheerios or Chex)
- The “fun” stuff (amounts vary): ½ to 1 cup chocolate (m&m's, chocolate chips, etc)
Post-Holiday Blues?
Try some of these tips to reduce stress and return to routines
Get outside and breathe the fresh air- Enjoy activities outside! Walk a local nature trail or play in the snow.
Exercise indoors or outdoors - Try a new physical activity you've been waiting to try, like yoga or snowshoeing. Adult and kids should aim for 150 active minutes per week and teens should aim for 60 minutes each day.
Increase your water intake- Water plays a critical role in maintaining good health. It aids in digestion, regulating body temperature, helps with maintaining a normal body weight, along with many other great benefits for our bodies!
Return to your routine- Most people thrive when they stick to a pattern. Make small adjustments to your previous routine if needed.
Get a good night’s sleep- Not getting enough sleep is linked with many chronic diseases and conditions. School age kids should be getting 9-12 hours of sleep per day, and that decreased to 7-8 hours of quality sleep for an adult.
Turn off screens - Especially 1 hour before bedtime to help you fall and stay asleep
Practice self-care- Take time for yourself. Find an activity you enjoy such as a massage or reading a good book. Try something new!
Re-evaluate diet - Start with small goals like cutting back on sugar or increasing daily fruit and veggie intake.
Connect with family and friends - Leaning on your friends and family can help you continue to feel connected.
Check it out and remember that when we take care of ourselves, it increases our energy to do the things we want for ourselves and others.
Amazing Advocates in Action:
For a recent health class assignment, SMS 7th grade students chose an area of health that is important to them and/or a problem facing our community. They were tasked with finding a way to advocate for a solution to improve Community Wellness. 7th grade Students: Stori Dillon, Leah Hanson, Travis Landers, Donovan Ross and Emma Brooks-Frechette chose to research various mental health illnesses that are prevalent among youth and adults today. They then educated peers about warning signs of each of the illnesses and shared the important message of getting help for mental health by sharing appropriate mental health resources such as the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline
(which is now 988). These amazing advocates did an outstanding job! Check out their project below!
It's that time of year again...
Help protect your children - and their classmates - when they're under the weather!
A child who is sick will not be able to perform well in school and is likely to spread the illness to other children and staff. To protect the health and safety of children and staff, children who are sick with any illness need to be kept home or sent home should these symptoms develop while in school.
We strongly suggest that you should NOT send your child to school if he/she has:
Common cold – irritated throat, watery discharge from the nose or eyes, sneezing, chills and/or general body aches. Keep your child home if symptoms are serious enough to interfere with your child’s ability to learn. Seek care from the doctor if symptoms persist beyond 7-10 days, fever or cough producing phlegm develops, or nasal discharge becomes yellow or green.
Cough – Cough that interferes with the child’s ability to fully participate in classroom activities. Seek care from the doctor if the cough lasts beyond 7-10 days, or if coughing phlegm.
Fever – If the child’s temperature is 100.4 degrees or higher, the child should remain at home until they are without a fever for a full 24 hours without that use of fever reducing medicine. Remember that a fever is a symptom indicating the presence of an illness.
Flu – symptoms include abrupt onset of fever, chills, headache and sore muscles. Runny nose, sore throat and cough are common. Your child should remain at home until the symptoms are gone and they are without a fever for a full 24 hours.
Strep Throat – The throat appears severely red, swollen or has whitish pus spots. Other symptoms include, throat soreness, fever, swollen glands of the neck, nausea or vomiting. This requires treatment from a doctor. Your child may return to school after taking antibiotic treatment for 24 hours and no longer is vomiting or has fever.
Vomiting & Diarrhea – Your child should remain at home until without vomiting, diarrhea or fever for a full 24 hours.
This covers some, not all, conditions that may require your child to stay home or be sent home. Our goal is to keep your child in school at their optimal health. It is essential that the school have a phone number where you can be contacted during the day and an emergency number in the event you cannot be reached. Please be sure Powerschool or the school has your updated phone numbers.
Thank you for your help with this!
February is American Heart Month
Valentine’s Day celebrations are usually focused around sweets - chocolates, candy hearts and “fun size” candy bars. On this holiday, switch out sweets and emphasize the importance of healthy foods. Share ways students can eat healthy and stay active.
Instead of handing out candy and unhealthy treats, try some of these items and wrap a fun tag around the item to make it Valentine's Day theme!
- Apple Sauce: You're awesome sauce
- Clementine orange: You're such a cutie
- Banana: I go bananas over you
- Orange: Orange you glad you're my valentine
- Cheese stick: Let's stick together
- Pear: We make the perfect pear
- Popcorn: My heart pops for you
Fruit Valentine’s Day Snacks
Valentine’s Day Snack Board
Valentine Fruit Kabobs
Activity Highlight: Ice Skating!
Ice skating is the perfect way to spend time with friends and family while getting exercise and having fun.
DID YOU KNOW?!
The Friends of Seabrook Community has purchased a 40' x 80' ICE SKATE ARENA for our Seabrook Community! The Ice Skating Rink is located on the school campus and is ALWAYS ABSOLUTELY FREE to our community!
Students and Educators will have access during the school day, SAZ and the SRD Afterschool Programs will have access during afterschool hours, and the Community will have access during the weekends and over Vacation Weeks.
Thank you to all of the volunteers that have been working so hard to get this set up.
Get ready by reviewing the following links about staying safe while ice skating!
Our Students Stay Active In School...
Fun fact: Soccer players can run as many as 6 or 7 miles during the course of a 90 minutes game! Now that's a great work out!
...and Stay Active After School Too!
Find out more about SAZ here.
Thank you, SAZ, for your commitment to Wellness!
Tips For Staying Active At Home!
Thank you to Wellness Committee members who made this newsletter possible!
Andrea McCusker, SMS Case Manager, Cross Country Coach
Forrest Carter, School Board Rep
Hayley Parsons, SMS School Counselor
Jacqueline Wilk, SMS Health Teacher
Janice Christian, SES Grade 4 Teacher
Jordenne Sargent, SMS School Nurse
Katrina Mailman SES Music Teacher
Lindsay Gaucher, Seabrook School District Nutrition Director
Lyndsey Hamblet, SES P.E. Teacher
Mary Toomey, Assistant Superintendent for Student Services
Rebecca Carney, SES Computer Integration Teacher
Rebecca Knott, Parent
Sara Miller, SES School Nurse
Shirl Ross, Parent
Tami Hoffman, SMS Interventionist
Timothy Dow, SES Assistant Principal
Yi-Fu Han, SES School Counselor