SHIP and Schools
Children spend the majority of their waking hours at school where they consume 30 - 60 percent of their daily calories. Therefore, schools can be a champion in encouraging healthy behaviors and building health environments. Not only does this make for healthier kids (and future adults), but it also helps them to be betters learners, through improved attendance, behavior, and academic performance.
The CDC’s Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model guides SHIP staff in their efforts to support local schools. The model emphasizes the role of the community in supporting the school, the connections between health and academic achievement and the importance of evidence-based school policies and practices.
Supporting School Wellness
SHIP provides technical assistance and funding in support of the following healthy school best practices, which become the backbone of a comprehensive and sustainable healthy school environment:
- Convene a wellness committee
- Complete or update a school health self-assessment:
- WellSAT 3.0, an assessment tool that helps score and improve local wellness policy
- MnDOT Evaluation Tools, an assessment tool for Safe Routes to School
- Alliance for a Healthier Generation, an assessment tool for Commercial Tobacco Free Schools
- School Health Assessment and Performance Evaluation (SHAPE) System, an assessment tool for improving mental health in schools
- CDC's School Health Index (SHI), an assessment tool that will help schools just getting started with wellness or those who would like a comprehensive picture of their wellness environment
- Develop or update a wellness action plan for each school year
- Implement, promote, evaluate and sustain wellness efforts
- Update the school wellness policy
Active Schools
- Active Classrooms & Indoor Activity Resources
- ABC for Fitness Activity Bursts in the Classroom
- Classrooms in Motion
- GoNoodle
- Active Recess
- Active Recess Toolkit from the MN Dept of Ed
- Indoor Recess Survival Guide with Yoga
- Outdoor Classrooms
- Early Learning resources from MN Dept of Ed
- K-12 students Lessons from the MN DNR
- Physical Activity Opportunities before & after the school day
- Quality Physical Education
- Safe Routes to School
Healthy School Food Initiatives
- Food and Nutrition Security
- Farm to School through food service, school gardens and curriculum
- Smarter Lunchrooms (meals, time for lunch, staff role modeling, food and beverage marketing)
- Nutrition Education
- Healthy Snacks during the school day (smart snacks/ snack carts, water access, classroom celebrations and rewards)
- Healthy Snacks outside the school day (concessions, fundraising)
Comprehensive Tobacco Free Schools
- Enhancing school tobacco policy
- Implementing tobacco / vaping education and curriculum
- Developing systems to support cessation
Well-Being in Schools
- Incorporating Trauma-Informed Principles into everyday processes
- Embedding opportunities for social connections within other wellness initiatives
- Implement policies for increased seat time at meals
- Foster connectedness through school gardens or similar activities
- Develop policies for celebration and rewards that encourage social connections
- Social and emotional learning climate
- School Counseling, Psychological and Social Services
- School Health Services to support students with chronic health conditions
Partnering with SHIP
If your school(s) are interested in applying for funding through SHIP in Brown, Nicollet, Le Sueur and Waseca counties, please review the application instructions (linked below); then complete and submit the application and budget (linked below) via email. Contact information can be found in both the instructions and the application.
BNLW SHIP School Partner Application Instructions
To learn more about Statewide Health Improvement Partnership (SHIP) in Minnesota, visit the Minnesota Department of Health website.
For more about SHIP in Brown, Nicollet, Le Sueur, and Waseca counties, follow us on Facebook or contact Kristen Friedrichs 507-934-7221.