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Utah PTA Programs and Commissioners
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Utah PTA Health Commissioner
Liz Zentner
E-mail: liz@utahpta.org
Phone: 801-261-3100
Welcome! Let's talk about children's health, and some simple things you can do to make a difference—in your family,
school, and community.
If you are a local health commissioner looking for guidance and resources on how to effectively do your job, please
visit http://ptahealth.blogspot.com for tips, advice, links, and current information.
If you are a parent looking for information on healthy families, please take a look around. You'll find articles and ideas
at http://ptahealth.blogspot.com, or you can check out some of the links we've put together to head you in the right
direction.
Have you read Perspectives lately? This Utah PTA magazine will help you keep on top of current PTA events, as
well as provide you with valuable tips on how to do your job. You can access the current issue right here on our Web
site—just check the sidebar for a link.
Please scroll down to find links, as well as information on coming programs and activities.
We are interested in your questions, comments, and ideas. Your needs drive our efforts, so please do not hesitate
to share what's worked well for you, as well as letting us know what support you need. Together we can become
healthier and happier as we work to light the way for every child.
Health Commission Focus
Utah PTA strongly believes that health means so much more than being what the media tells us about being thin
and athletic; healthy people are happy people who feel good—inside and out. We can all do better at improving our
lifestyles, and that happens one step at a time. Whether it's eating healthier foods, reducing unnecessary stress, or
remembering to apply sunscreen before playing outside, one simple change in your life, in your school, or in your
community can have lasting effects.
Health covers an extremely broad range of issues, and Utah PTA has chosen the following to focus on and advocate
for in the best interest of children:
- Dental Care
- Environmental Health
- Growth/Maturation
- Health Care and Insurance
- Immunization
- Mental Health
- Nutrition
- Physical Fitness
- School Wellness Policies
- Screenings (vision, hearing, scoliosis, asthma)
- Sexual Responsibility
- Sexually Transmitted Diseases
- Substance Abuse
Gold Medal Schools
http://www.hearthighway.org/gms
Utah PTA supports a variety of programs, activities, and events throughout the school year. Here are a few you may
want to become more familiar with. The first three programs listed, are official PTA Programs.
Gold Medal Schools makes it possible for elementary schools to provide physical activity and healthy nutrition choices
at a time when budget cuts and testing requirements overshadow physical activity and nutrition. Gold Medal Schools
improves students’ academic success through policies and environmental changes that support good nutrition,
physical activity and staying tobacco-free.
The Utah Department of Health developed the Gold Medal Schools program in 2001 using the State Office of
Education's core curriculum and the Centers for Disease Control's guidelines to address overweight and obesity in
elementary schools. Intermountain Healthcare partnered with the Gold Medal Schools team in 2005 and has enabled
the program to reach more schools throughout the state. Today, Gold Medal Schools has reached more than 140,000
students and over 6,000 teachers in 286 elementary schools!
The Gold Medal Schools program launched a new page on their web site. This new page is especially for parents. Its
main purpose is to take Gold Medal Schools to the home reinforcing the school's Gold Medal Schools philosophy.
Please check it out and spread the word about this new resource for the parents. http://www.hearthighway.org/gms/
Hope for Tomorrow
http://www.namiut.org
The Utah PTA has a partnership with The National Alliance on Mental Illness of Utah (NAMI Utah) that officially supports the Hope for Tomorrow program. This program is a home grown Utah program that was developed by students, PTA representatives, parents, educators and other professionals.
The three goals of this program are:
Raise awareness of mental health issues
Erase the stigma of mental illness
Foster hope among students and their families
The three topics discussed are:
Mood disorders
Substance use disorders
Eating disorders
The three audiences involved are:
Students
Teachers
Parents and the community
This program does not prescribe, heal, or treat. Through education, this program provides an opportunity for adolescents who suffer from undiagnosed, under-treated, or untreated mental illness to learn both when and how to seek appropriate professional help. It also provides teachers, parents and the community with information on signs and symptoms of three potential, life threatening illnesses. Education is empowering–especially when there is collaboration between homes and schools.
For questions call Chandra at NAMI Utah 801-323-9900 or toll free 1-877-230-6264. For more information see http://www.namiut.org
Action for Healthy Kids
http://www.actionforhealthykids.org
Action for Healthy Kids is the nation’s leading nonprofit and largest volunteer network fighting
childhood obesity and undernourishment by working with schools to improve nutrition and
physical activity to help our kids learn to eat right, be active every day and be ready to learn.
They provide expertise, volunteers, programs and resources nationwide through a unique
collaboration of more than 11,000 members – professionals, parents, educators, community
volunteers, business leaders and students – in partnership with professional associations,
government agencies and corporations. The National PTA is a partner with Action for
Healthy Kids. Utah PTA partners with the Utah Team of Action for Healthy Kids and the PTA
Health Commissioner serves on that team. Go to http://www.actionforhealthykids.org to learn more.
The Action for Healthy Kids School Programs:
Action cost programs and resources so that children in all schools get to learn healthy eating habits
and the need for daily physical activity AND they get to eat healthy foods and be active every
day. See which one is right for your school.
Game On! The Ultimate Wellness Challenge
This is one powerful and unique program that makes it easy for schools to help youth and
their families learn to eat healthy and be active every day. Game On! features fun activities,
or "challenges," around "Making Better Food Choices" and "Moving More." Best of all, Game
On! helps increase awareness and leads to behavior changes that positively impact health and
achievement.
ReCharge
A collaboration with the National Football League, ReCharge! helps kids in grades
2-6 learn about nutrition and physical activity through fun, teamwork-based activities – before,
during or after school.
Students Taking Charge
Students have a right to a healthy school! Students Taking Charge is a national program from
Action for Healthy Kids for high school students to learn, join and take action to make their
schools healthier places and to help themselves and their peers learn to eat right and be active
every day. http://www.studentstakingcharge.org
Wellness Policy Tool
Never has creating, implementing and monitoring a wellness policy been easier. The handy
online tool provides step-by-step guidance, best practice examples and resources to create a local
wellness policy; put the policy into action; and measure its success against goals to improve
student health and learning.
http://www.actionforhealthykids.org/school-programs/our-programs/wellness-policy-tool/
Parents, Speak Up!
http://www.4parents.gov
New information about this campaign: This campaign is being discontinued because funding has ended. The
materials that have been available to order free from the website will go through one more print run and then when
those are gone, no more will be available. If you would like to order booklets, please do so as soon as possible.
Parents, you are the best person to help your child understand and make good choices. You want your teen to be healthy and happy now and in the future.
Do you need help talking to your child about sexual behavior? They really will listen to you and you have much more influence on them than you think.
For more tips on talking with your children, go to the website from U.S. Health & Human Services at the link below.
It is full of great information for parents. If you want to order "Parents Speak Up" booklets, you will be allowed to order up to 100 free per month. Click on "Media & Community Outreach",
and then "order materials". We encourage you to order them and have a parent meeting at your school.
For more information, please visit http://www.4parents.gov.
Sex Still Has a Price Tag
Pam Stenzel video on adstinence for teens
Sex Still Has a Pricetag, by Pam Stenzel, is a video for teens to teach them abstinence from sexual activity.
It is done in a very engaging, humorous way that really catches the attention of teens and makes them listen.
The State PTA has approved the video.
To see excerpts from the video, go to YouTube.com and search for "Pam Stenzel" or click this link:
Pam Stenzel videos on YouTube.
The Health Commission bought a copy of the video and it is available for PTAs to borrow.
As with all videos, the district or principal should give approval, and therefore may need to preview it.
To borrow the DVD, please contact Liz Zentner, Utah PTA Health Commissioner, at 801-261-3100 or liz@utahpta.org.
You can also purchase your own copy for $30 at http://pamstenzel.com.
Click on "shop", then "public school materials".
It is not available at any of the libraries in Salt Lake City County or Murray.
International Walk to School Month
International Walk To School month is October. We encourage schools to plan a Walk to School Day during the month of October.
Start a Walking School Bus
What is a walking school bus? A walking school bus is a group of children walking to school with one or more adults.
If that sounds simple, it is, and that's part of the beauty of the walking school bus.
It can be as informal as two families taking turns walking their children to school to as structured as a route with meeting points, a timetable and a regularly rotated schedule of trained volunteers.
A variation on the walking school bus is the bicycle train, in which adults supervise children riding their bikes to school. The flexibility of the walking school bus makes it appealing to communities of all sizes with varying needs.
Parents often cite safety issues as one of the primary reasons they are reluctant to allow their children to walk to school. Providing adult supervision may help reduce those worries for families who live within walking or bicycling distance to school.
For more information, including how to get your school involved, please visit
http://www.iwalktoschool.org
Anti-idling Campaign
Students at many schools around the state are supporting an Anti-idling Campaign.
We would like your help to reduce idling while waiting in your car.
Did you know that if everyone in the United States stopped idling for five minutes a day it would be equivalent to taking five hundred thousand cars off the road and saving one point six million tons of CO2?
By turning your engine off when parked for more than 10 seconds, you will save money by reducing fuel use.
You will breathe easier by preventing unhealthy exhaust from building up in and around your car, and you will protect the blue sky by reducing idling emissions that contribute to smog, because 10 seconds of idling uses more fuel than restarting your engine.
To learn more, go to http://www.idlefree.utah.gov.
Remember to Turn your key and be idle free!
Ribbon Week
For information on how to organize a successful Ribbon Week event,
please visit http://www.ufyi.org,
where you will find a downloadable booklet on organizing a ribbon week.
Below is a list of websites with ideas for Ribbon Weeks, the different ribbon colors, and what they mean.
Choose the one that fits your school best.
Red Ribbon - Drug Free
http://www.preventionpartners.com/stuff/activities.cfm?s=dom&t=804
http://www.proteacher.org/c/289_Red_Ribbon_Week_Activities.html
http://www.georgiapta.org/documents/YouthServicesRedRibbonWeek.pdf
Yellow Ribbon - Teen Suicide Prevention
http://www.yellowribbon.org
Purple Ribbon - Domestic Violence Awareness Week
http://www.cedargrove.k12.nj.us/cg_boe1/School%20Violence%20Awareness%20Activities...
http://orem.alpinedistrict.org/Newletters/Oct%20%2009%20OES%20News%2010-4-09.pdf
Green Ribbon--Awareness of Sexual Violence
http://www.taasa.org/grw/1ActionGuide.pdf
Green Ribbon - Safety in the Roads
http://www.keepschoolssafe.org/does-your-school-have-a-green-ribbon-week/
White Ribbon - Increase Awareness of Pornography
http://www.strengthenthefamily.net/white_ribbon_week.php
Blue Ribbon - Child Abuse Prevention
http://okcountykids.org/Documents/Blue%20Ribbon%20Week%20Plan%20+%20Resource...
Purchasing ribbons for Ribbon Week
Ribbons of various colors are available from:
Transit Instruments
612 West Confluence Ave (4206 South)
Murray, UT 84123
801-262-0066
Call ahead to place your order. Mention the Utah PTA for a discount!
Winning with Asthma
an important on-line course for coaches and P.E. teachers
Coaches, referees, PE Teachers, elementary school teachers - all probably have about one child with asthma out of every ten students or team members.
Winning With Asthma is a 30 minute online course coaches and teachers can take for free to educate them on how to coach a child with asthma.
For completing the course, they will receive a coach's clipboard with more information on asthma and printed on the back of the clipboard are instructions on how to handle an asthma attack.
Let's encourage all teachers and coaches of any of the teams from the school or neighborhood to take just 30 minutes and take this course at http://www.WinningWithAsthma.org.
Healthy Lifestyles Awards
Plan an event that will take place in November that promotes healthy habits among students and families and your PTA could win up to $1,000 to support those plans.
Go to http://www.pta.org/pta_healthy_lifestyles_award.asp
to download an application and get more details. Applications are due Sept. 10, 2010.
Flu Clinics
We encourage all PTAs to organize flu clinics at your school this fall.
You can hold a flu clinic as early as late August.
H1N1 (Swine) flu shots are being combined with the seasonal flu this year.
For best results, schedule the clinic in conjunction with another event that brings parents into the school - registration, back-to-school, parent-teacher conference.
Start by talking to your principal and your school nurse.
If the school nurse is unable, contact all three of the following and choose the one that fits your school best:
Community Nursing Services, your local Health Dept, or Flu Busters, a National PTA program (www.pta.org).
For More Information:
Utah Department of Health - http://www.health.utah.gov
For a wealth of information on a variety of topics, from what our state government is doing to combat childhood obesity, to how we're meeting our goals of decreasing teen pregnancies, to tips on sun safety. (Click the “Local Health” tab to access your local health department.)
Centers for Disease Control - http://www.cdc.gov
Looking for the latest Food Guide Pyramid? Information on how to prevent seasonal illnesses or protect your family from common viruses (like West Nile)? Growth and development milestones for your child? Tips on how to make your home or school safer? Guidance on how to correctly install your child safety restraints? It's all here in a very accessible format. This is one you'll want to bookmark and visit again and again.
Substance Abuse - http://www.justthinktwice.com
Run by the US Drug Enforcement Agency, this site offers information on all imaginable forms of substance abuse, including prevention and treatment to parents and adolescents.
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Utah PTA in the News
Dads' participation at Magna school soaring - 8/21/2010
Magna Elementary seeking a few ‘superheroes’ - 8/18/2010
VIDEO: Need for Summer Break - 8/8/2010
>> View All 24 News Articles
What's New?
Perspectives Magazine
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