Healthy School Teams

The Healthy School Teams make up just one segment of the Winter Park Health Foundation’s Coordinated Youth Initiative (CYI), the umbrella under which all of the youth programs fall. All of the programs are tethered to the local schools.

CYI actually is modeled after the Coordinated School Heath Program promoted by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

The idea behind both models is that the health of our youth is a community-wide concern requiring the involvement of parents, families, teachers, counselors, school administrators, health care professionals and other related agencies.

The health of our children affects us all.

Health also is academic.

Healthy Kids Make Better Students and Better Students Make Healthy Communities.

As part of the CYI, Healthy School Teams have been established at each of the schools in the Winter Park Consortium, which includes Winter Park High School, and its eleven elementary and middle feeder schools. They are supported financially by and with leadership from the Winter Park Health Foundation.

Each team is charged with developing programs that will inject a dose of good health into its school. The programs are as varied as the schools; creativity is encouraged.

Teams have sponsored walking and running clubs—for children, teachers and parents.  They provided water bottles for students and teachers, reinforcing the importance of hydration when it comes to learning. There are “Wellness Wednesdays” where children are rewarded when they were found involved in healthy activities like eating nutritious lunches and drinking water. And some have hosted health fairs as well as track and field events. (You can find out more about the HST’s most popular activities by going to the School Health and Wellness link on this web page, then click on OCPS Wellness Policy, and then click on Success Stories.)

The Healthy School Teams welcome the interest of parents and businesses. If you’d like to know how to get involved and support the Teams, contact the HST Leader at your school listed in the directory below.

Healthy School Teams have at least one representative with expertise in one or more of the following components of the CYI and the CDC’s Coordinated School Health Program Model. The components work together to promote the health of children and improve educational outcomes.

These are the eight components:

Comprehensive School Health Education: Classroom instruction that addresses the physical, mental, emotional, and social dimensions of health; develops health knowledge, attitudes, and skills; and is developmentally appropriate and culturally sensitive.  Designed to motivate and assist students to maintain and improve their health, prevent disease, and reduce health-related risk behaviors.

School Counseling, Psychological, and Social Services: Activities that focus on cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and social needs of individuals, groups and families.  Designed to prevent and address problems, facilitate positive learning and healthy behavior, and enhance healthy development. The Foundation funds the placement of mental health counselors at schools in the Winter Park Consortium schools.

Health Services:  Preventive services, education, and emergency care, referral, and management of acute and chronic health conditions.  Designed to promote the health of students, identify and prevent health problems and injuries, and assure care for students. The Foundation helps provide funds to hire nurses for schools in the Winter Park Consortium.

Nutrition Services:  Integration of nutritious, affordable, and appealing meals; nutrition education; and an environment that promotes healthy eating behavior for all children.  Designed to maximize each child’s education and health potential for a lifetime.

Physical Education: Planned, sequential instruction that promotes lifelong physical activity.  Designed to develop basic movement skills, sports skills, and physical fitness, as well as to enhance mental, social and emotional abilities.

Healthy School Environment:  The physical, emotional, and social climate for the school.  Designed to provide a safe physical plant, as well as a healthy and supportive environment that fosters learning.

Health Promotion for Staff: Assessment, education, and fitness activities for school faculty and staff.  Designed to maintain and improve the health and well-being of school staff, who serve as role models for the students.

Parent/Community Involvement:  Partnerships among schools, families, community groups, and individuals.  Designed to share and maximize resources and expertise in addressing the healthy development of children, youth and their families.

Healthy School Team Leader Directory