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Summer 2021
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The SFUSD BeWell Chronicles
Strawberries & Sunshine - Staying Healthy this Summer Season
Happy Summer! The SFUSD Wellness Policy Team has had a busy year branching out and partnering with new students, community organizations, and school sites! While COVID brought many challenges to the district and community, we all worked hard to continue to show up for staff, students and families. All SFUSD departments are working hard with Wellness initiatives that support the Whole School, Whole Community and the Whole Child (WSCC) model so all our students are safe, healthy and ready to learn.
In this newsletter:
- SNS Updates
- Staff Involvement and Wellness
- Student Programming
- Launching our new BeWell Website!
Be Well,
The Wellness Policy Team
Student Nutrition Services Update
Update about Summer Grab & Go Meals
This Friday, June 4: Grab & Go meals available to all children 18 and younger. Not open on Thursday this week. Pick up the new Summer Grab & Go bag! It has 7 days of meals including breakfast, lunch, fresh fruit and vegetables, and milk is available.\
Starting next week, Grab & Go meals will be open on Thursdays only, serving 7 days of meals. Open 2-3:30pm for all children 18 & younger.
- What to Bring and a Full Schedule listed on sfusd.edu/schoolfood
- Download a June Calendar here
Starting June 17, Grab & Go meals will be available for Summer 2021 at the following 15 locations:
- BESSIE CARMICHAEL PK-5 Campus
- BRET HARTE Elementary
- CESAR CHAVEZ Elementary
- DENMAN Middle
- EL DORADO Elementary
- GORDON LAU Elementary
- JUNE JORDAN High
- JAMES LICK Middle
- LINCOLN High
- LONGFELLOW Elementary
- MISSION High
- ROOSEVELT Middle
- ROSA PARKS Elementary
- SF INTERNATIONAL High
- WILLIE BROWN Middle
Is your student attending an in-person SFUSD summer program? Your Grab & Go meal bag will have 2 days worth of meals. All students attending in-person summer programs will be offered a healthy lunch and hearty snack at school.
Elementary Health Advocates Wanted!
We try to ensure that every elementary school has a Health Advocate. The Health Advocate disseminates health information, helps teachers find and teach lessons, and ensures completion of the Health Education Accountability Tool at the end of the year. Each health advocate receives an $800 stipend for 20 hours of work.
Are you the health advocate at your school? Excellent! Please make sure you school site knows all about you!
Does your school need a health advocate? Any school employee can apply - teachers, paras, lunch monitors, etc.
Meet our 19-20 Health Advocates!
For more information or resources, visit www.sfusdhealtheducation.org, or contact School Health Programs TSAs Michael Drum drumm@sfusd.edu, Mark Elkin elkinm@sfusd.edu or Karen Tiu tiuk@sfusd.edu, 415-242-2615 x3225
Staff Wellness
School Health Program Bulletin
This year, Wellness Policy adapted our staff wellness resources to disseminate tips and resources through the biweekly School Health Programs Bulletin and the weekly Secondary Health Educator newsletter. Wellness tips including mind/body connection and stress reduction, immunity boosting recipes, work from home stretch breaks, etc. Wellness Policy TSA, also led home ergonomics practices and resources workshop for the all staff SFDCD Division meeting and incorporated staff wellness moments into Health Educator Professional Developments.
Student Action
The Bigger Picture
Wellness Policy has partnered with UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations’ Health Communications Research Program, Youth Speaks and UC Berkeley, to implement The Bigger Picture (TBP) spoken word program for students at June Jordan HS, O'Connell HS and Burton HS. This program supports youth poets to express aspects of their lived experience during COVID-19 shelter-in-place orders with their peers and school. Students participate in an in class residency program and have the opportunity to further develop their spoken word skills in the after school Slam Club. Students who participate in the Slam Club receive a stipend. The Bigger Picture’s 2020 culminating event, "Raising Health,” during Fall 2020, showcases student -poet's response towards addressing structural causes of health + social inequities. Hear our SFUSD poets’ voices - "Raising Health" – The Bigger Picture Slam Club.
Nutrition Outreach Workers
Revolution Foods and Nutrition Education Program partnered to send Nutrition Outreach Workers meal tasting kits. Nutrition Outreach Workers at Willie Brown Middle School, Lincoln High School, and Balboa High School tasted samples of a falafel tots dish and a chicken tacos dish. Students were able to vote from their homes on whether these meals should show up on lunch menus.
Nutrition outreach workers at Balboa High, Lincoln High, and Willie Brown Middle School celebrated May and Aprils Harvest of the Months by selecting Wellness Policy-friendly recipes that they could prepare in their own homes. Students had ingredient kits delivered to their doors. They made sure to record the process of preparing the dishes so others could follow along and do it themselves!
Mission High Agriculture Class
Mission High School -- For the third year in a row, Wellness Policy has collaborated with the Agriculture and Economics class at Mission High School to provide health and wellness real-world projects. This year, students are creating peer health promotion videos and podcasts - including healthy eating tips, self care and how to exercise videos , and community access to food during the pandemic. Students who complete the peer education project receive stipends.
Learn more about our Youth in Action!
FoodCorps Garden Educators
“FoodCorps connects kids to healthy food in school, so they can lead healthier lives and reach their full potential. Our AmeriCorps leaders deliver our program in high-need schools, focusing on.
- Hands On Lessons
- They teach cooking, gardening and tasting since kids love foods they have grown and prepared themselves
- Healthy School Meals
- They create a cafeteria that steers students towards the healthiest options and gets them excited to try new healthy foods
- A School-Wide Culture of Health
- They help the whole school community— everything from the teachers to the hallways to the bake sales—celebrate healthy food.
Building on this foundation of direct impact, FoodCorps pursues systemic strategies that will benefit all of our nation’s 100,000 schools.”
San Francisco FoodCorps is Expanding!
FoodCorps is a rapidly growing program at SFUSD! Starting only 2 years ago with four members, we are now expanding to seven positions. Five service members will be working at elementary schools, one at a new middle school position, and one returning member will be continuing their service at Student Nutrition Services. In collaboration with the Student Engagement Coordinator, we developed a School Food Advisory position for student voice at the Middle School level that will co-facilitate Middle School Student Outreach Worker group. In alignment with SFUSD Good Food Purchasing Policy and Wellness Policy, we expanded Farm to School Procurement District-wide, with a specific focus on the McAteer Culinary Center.
At-Home Rainbow Pizza Night
Two of our FoodCorps schools hosted the first every at-home Rainbow Pizza Nights. Families were provided with all the ingredients to prepare the dough, sauce, and toppings to create their dishes. Students logged in to Zoom with their families and followed FoodCorps members step by step. Special awards went to those who were able to use the most veggies and create the biggest rainbow on their pizza!
Seed Kits - Our Distance Learning Bright Spot
During this year of Distance Learning, SF FoodCorps Service Members and Nutrition Education Program wanted to come up with positive, hands on experiences for students who were spending most of their learning time on devices. Keeping the focus on gardening and nutrition, we partnered to distribute over 1000 individual seed kits directly to students. Seed kits were handed out with meal and resource distributions or delivered to students’ homes. Kits included compost pots, soil, magnifying glasses, and seeds (peas, bok choy, radish). Kits were accompanied by workbooks for students to guide their garden learning. The responses from students, teachers, and families were amazing to see. From the seed kits came classroom activities, art projects, family conversation, and a common experience to connect over when hybrid learning began and students returned in person to their school gardens.
Explore Our New BeWell Website
Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child Model
The SFUSD Wellness Policy operates from the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model, which provides a framework to understand how the health of a child is linked to the health of the school, which is inextricably linked to the health of the community. Developed by the Center for Disease Control, the WSCC model calls for greater alignment and integration at the school-, district- and community- level to improve each child's cognitive, physical, social and emotional development. Our belief is that education and well-being are inalienable rights of each and every student and family in San Francisco. In creating healthy school environments, we hope to nurture strong and healthy bodies, and thus, build resilient communities.
Past SFUSD BeWell Chronicles
Are you making time to #BeWell, SFUSD?
Happy Winter! The SFUSD Wellness Policy Team has started the year strong with a several big projects, including a Hydration Station Installation Project, and all SFUSD departments are working hard with Wellness initiatives that support the Whole School, Whole Community and the Whole Child (WSCC) model so all our students are safe, healthy and ready to learn. We are also looking forward to partnering with more community partners (like the San Francisco Giants' Garden with Chef Bryant Terry, pictured above!) to create environments and communities that uplift all our students.
In this newsletter:
- Hydration Station Installation
- Student Nutrition Services Update
- Healthy Choices Americorps
- Elementary Health Advocates Wanted!
- WSCC Overview
- Wellness Policy Programming
Be Well,
The Wellness Policy Team
Hydration Station Installation in Schools
The Wellness Policy Team is excited to increase and improve water access for our communities via the installation of more than two dozen lead-free water bottle refilling stations at our schools. Revenue from the Sugary Drinks Tax (i.e. the Soda Tax) will be used to install hydration stations schools that serve our students with inequitable health disparities, beginning with McLaren Early Education School, Weil Early Education School, Rosa Parks Elementary School and Francisco Middle School. We have also partnered with San Francisco's Recreation and Parks to install a public-facing Hydration Station at McLaren Bike Park, which is used by both McLaren students and the public.
With the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child in mind, we have partnered with many SFUSD teams: the Office of Sustainability, Special Education Department, Health Advocates, Oral Health Workers, Nurses, Social Workers, Wellness Centers, Health Education Action Team, Family Engagement Team, Afterschool Department, Physical Education Department and Student Nutrition Services Department, etc. in order to support school communities to better understand how water access affects our bodies, our communities and our Earth.
Check out the SF Examiner article about our work, and stay tuned for more updates.
Student Nutrition Services Update
Everyday, Student Nutrition Services nourishes students with food that enables them to live healthy lives and thrive inside and outside the classroom.
SNS is moving towards more freshly prepared food in the district. The new kitchen at the McAteer campus has opened! The kitchen will serve our Early Education sites, the two high schools on campus (The Academy and Ruth Asawa School of the Arts), and select elementary schools as part of our pilot to create fresh meals in-house and distribute across the district.
SNS is also focusing on sustainability. They have eliminated straws and are piloting bulk unwrapped utensils in a move towards eliminating plastic wrapped sporks. Through a partnership with Straus Family Creamery, local, organic milk dispensers have been piloted in 6 schools beginning this fall.
Look out for more upcoming initiatives in the upcoming months, and r ead more on the Student Nutrition Services blog !
Healthy Choices AmeriCorps
The Healthy Choices AmeriCorps program offers a unique opportunity for community members to get training, support, and hands-on experience to help meet the needs of the whole child. AmeriCorps Member support Mentoring For Success and other positive school climate activities on campus. . An AmeriCorps Members from the 18/19 school year described his experience this way:
" What I learned was that the students in this school had all been affected by a system that failed them throughout their lives. I had to learn to be flexible in the implementation of the SFUSD mentoring model. I took this as an opportunity to develop the Student Leadership Committee, a program designed to introduce student voice into the function of the school. By introducing service and advocacy to student leaders, they would feel a sense of ownership over their community--a powerful feeling for students who have continually been silenced. My AmeriCorps year of service has shown me that I have a craving for making an impact upon under-served youth. I have learned invaluable skills about youth engagement, program planning, and systems work. My goal is to continue in a career where I will strive for the development of programs that empower youth who have been silenced throughout their lives. "
Mentoring For Success is excited to be hiring 20 AmeriCorps Members for the 19/20 school year! To learn more or to join our cohort, check out our Healthy Choices AmeriCorps position description or go to EdJoin to apply as an AmeriCorps Fellow .
Elementary Health Advocates Wanted!
Are you passionate about Health and Wellness? Do you want to help make your site a healthier place for your school community? Please consider being a Health Advocate at your site!
Health Advocates (HAs) are school-site based adult (certificated or classified) role models at our elementary sites who are motivated to lead a culture shift around health and wellness for staff, students and families. HAs are equity-minded and community-oriented cheerleaders who encourage small successes around the Wellness Policy and the Whole Child model. We are still looking for Health Advocates at Lakeshore, Malcolm X, Jose Ortega, New Traditions, Visitacion Valley and Yick Wo - if you are interested, please contact us!
See the job description for more information, apply to be a Health Advocate on our Google Form or email Karen Tiu at tiuk@sfusd.edu with questions.
Meet our 19-20 Health Advocates!
Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child Model
The SFUSD Wellness Policy operates from the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model, which provides a framework to understand how the health of a child is linked to the health of the school, which is inextricably linked to the health of the community. Developed by the Center for Disease Control, the WSCC model calls for greater alignment and integration at the school-, district- and community- level to improve each child's cognitive, physical, social and emotional development. Our belief is that education and well-being are inalienable rights of each and every student and family in San Francisco. In creating healthy school environments, we hope to nurture strong and healthy bodies, and thus, build resilient communities.
Wellness Policy Programming
...a partial list of our current activities...
Students at Burton High School, June Jordan High School, and O'Connell High School are participating in The Bigger Picture Pilot , a collaboration with Youth Speaks, UC San Francisco's Center for Vulnerable Populations and the Wellness Policy. The project supports and inspires our young people to use their voices as vital tools to create spoken-word poetry and music videos about the intersection of health and social justice. See a video from a former student, Tassiana, here , and find more information about The Bigger Picture at their website.
Staff Wellness Opportunity: SFUSD partners with the San Francisco Health Service System to provide health and wellness opportunities to all school district staff! School Health Programs staff will be participating in the next RECHARGE challenge, which is a 6-week program that will empower participants to manage stress and increase energy, focus and productivity. For the next month and a half, participants are invited to take time during the day to stretch and breathe, and will also have access to multiple resources on alleviating stress. To sign up, or to learn more about the program, visit the SF HSS website ! For questions, please contact riveraj4@sfusd.edu.
The students taking Ms. Passmore's Health class at Francisco Middle School are preparing to launch a new Project-Based Learning initiative that will culminate in a comprehensive student-led Water Promotion Campaign that will include posters, social media advertisements, water merchandise and commercials that promote water. In conjunction with the Beacon Afterschool program and School Health Programs, students will conduct investigations into their own definition of health, sugar's effect on our body systems, and the power of media on our choices. For more information, please contact our Project Lead, Vanessa Lieu, at lieuv@sfusd.edu .
High school students from The Academy - San Francisco @ McAteer, John O'Connell High School and Mission High School were hired as interns through FoodWise Teens. In partnership with CUESA, they will be bringing their school garden produce and handcrafted products to market. Through this paid job training program, teens build skills to sustain healthy lives and a healthy planet! Look for them at the Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market and Mission Community Market, where they will be selling their school garden vegetables and flowers, rosemary salt, pineapple sage tea, and red cabbage kraut! More info at CUESA's website.
Nutrition Outreach Workers (NOWs) at Balboa High School have reconvened for the 2019-2020 school year! As part of the Peers United Under Leadership and Service (PULSE) Pathway, the Balboa NOWs begin with Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed as a starting point for understanding oppression and resistance, and then move towards action-oriented change as the school year progresses. They are focusing on investigating personal health and community health and looking at ways to promote and engage wellness at Balboa High school.
With Wellness Policy partnership and support, Ulloa Elementary School is the first Elementary School in SFUSD to mobilize a Ulloa Black Student Union (BSU) . The Ulloa BSU unifies Black students on Ulloa's campus to build student leaders and empower them to productively create and organize community within and outside of school, especially through a lens of health and well-being. The BSU has already presented to the Board of Education and the Soda Tax Committee about the importance of directing funds towards marginalized communities, and of making space for students, especially Black students, to create change for themselves. Stay tuned for more!
We are excited to announce our Request for Qualifications for t he Sugary Drinks Distribution Tax (SDDT) Healthy Communities Grant. We are offering funding for community-based organizations (CBOs), faith-based organizations (FBOs), and/or private agencies to provide community-driven and equitable programming to our students, staff and families, and especially to our most historically marginalized communities. We are looking to provide service in the following four categories:
- Healthy Fundraising PlayBook Kit
- Alternative Rewards Playbook for Students from School Staff
- Physical Activity Strategies and Programming
- Work-Site Wellness: Role Model and Participate in Self-Care Opportunities
If you are interested in applying, please read our RFQ Information document to learn more about the background of the Wellness Policy, the SDDT, and our framework of action. The RFQ Contract Application can be found in the RFQ Information document. Applications are due December 20th.
Wellness Policy
SFUSD's Wellness Policy provides all schools and district offices a framework to actively promote the health and wellness of students, staff, and families. Our approach to well-being is aligned with the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child model and informed via a racial equity schema. The policy is meant to inspire and empower a shift in culture and environment that will encourage our communities to make healthy choices.
View SFUSD's Wellness Policy! | Meet the Wellness Policy Team
This page was last updated on January 13, 2022