What are some of the ways you try to eat healthy?
Being mindful and present of what I’m eating. I make sure I get six-to-eight fruits and vegetables per day. I also try to stay away from processed and pre-packaged foods. I try to eat local and organic so I have farm-fresh food delivered to me every two weeks.Include fruits and vegetables in every meal.
How do you engage in physical activity (personal/classroom)?
In the classrooms we do a lot of singing which is incorporated into our movement. We play a lot of games and dance. We work on doing heart healthy activities so we’re running. Then we’ll feel our heart and notice the way that it changes when we’re exercising and that’s incorporated into building muscles and strengthening our hearts because our heart is a muscle that needs to get stronger as well. Personally I dance, practice yoga and run.
What are some stress reduction techniques you’d like to share that you use?
We do a lot of breathing techniques in the classroom. We take one finger and use the other finger to breathe in one nostril and out the other nostril. I do a lot of yoga to reduce my own stress. Mindfulness is one thing I’m practicing for stress relief. It’s not just mindful eating I’m practicing but being mindful and present in my life now. I bring myself back if I’m looking too far into the future or the past. I bring myself back into the present in order to maintain anxiety levels.
How do you see yourself as a role model for colleagues and students?
Well I feel that for the kids in the class I make sure I am modeling exercise and eating healthy. I monitor what I am doing in front of them so that I am not eating donuts while giving them fruit. I really try to show them that I am eating healthy just like them because I want to make sure that my body is strong and the best that it can be. We started doing yoga breaks during our staff meetings and providing healthy snacks for our staff. We’ve really incorporated into our staff meetings how easy it is to eat healthy and exercise every day with our students. We model that behavior to our students so that they start to integrate that into their own lives also.
How have your personal health habits changed since becoming a NEPTL?
The mindfulness habit is something I stole from somebody else in the program. They were talking about being mindful and I realized that was something I could incorporate more into my own life. The district budget has been really hard on people so what I have been trying to do is a lot more of the stress reduction techniques. Those are some of the things I have learned from the program. Like the yoga techniques, those are being provided by the program. So I would say the stress reduction and mindfulness have been the two biggest changes.
Raheema Malcom X, Third grade
What are some of the ways you try to eat healthy?
I eat salads every day, my main snack is usually fruit and I drink lots of water.
How do you engage in physical activity (personal/classroom)?
I have been training six days a week for a triathlon so lots of swimming biking and running. I am also a really big hiker and I love backpacking. In the classroom we do some yoga, movement games, and also slow moving to calm and center the kids.
What are some stress reduction techniques you’d like to share that you use?
My big one is exercise. Running definitely helps a lot, along with breathing techniques and yoga. The kids really like the yoga, the breathing is a little tricky because it requires a lot of concentration but they definitely like when we do games outside. They love the activity and then having that time to collect themselves.
How do you see yourself as a role model for colleagues and students?
I model healthy eating, at lunch. I’m always eating a salad or fruits and then whenever we cook together or prepare meals its always something healthy that’s fairly easy to make so that they can take that and do it at home. Because I’m doing the triathlon, I think it speaks a lot since I’m the health coordinator. It sets me up as a model for doing the lessons in the classroom.
How have your personal health habits changed since becoming a NEPTL?
It’s made me think a lot more about what I’m putting into my body. I really read the labels and try to incorporate a lot of fresh foods into my diet. I also try to make quick healthy meals such as salads that are going to get the job done without being too time consuming.
Amber Brett Hart, K1, Bilingual
What are some of the ways you try to eat healthy?
I try to have fruits or vegetables with lunch at school. I like to cook well-rounded dinners with protein, veggies and starch.
How do you engage in physical activity (personal/classroom)?
Personally I love to be outdoors so whenever I have a moment I like to go out and walk or run either in my neighborhood or at the beach. Since I have the young ones, we do a motor lab thing once a week where we go the gym. Motor lab is where we do stretching, crawling on the floor, doing summersaults, running on the new track a little bit. We do some yoga positions, just working core movements.
What are some stress reduction techniques you’d like to share that you use?
I exercise and get outside as much as I can, getting my blood flowing really helps me, other than that just a good book.
How do you see yourself as a role model for colleagues and students?
As a role model for my colleagues I really try to enforce the wellness plan, especially when it comes to brainstorming activities and planning meals. All of my parties with my kids have been healthy, they really pick up on it and I don’t even have to remind them anymore. They’ll see me eating a banana and say “Miss Cooper that’s healthy” and give me a thumbs up because that was our sign for if something was healthy.
How have your personal health habits changed since becoming a NEPTL?
I have always been a health conscious person but now I feel like it really puts in perspective how you need to eat. I feel like you can be health conscious but still not be eating what you need to. I try to always bring my fruit or vegetable with me to lunch. I also try to get my kids more out there with the physical activity. It’s hard to stomach the statistics that are coming out about the kids these days. They are young so they run around regardless but just getting them out so that they are used to it and know what is in the thumbs up and thumbs down category.
Deidra ER Taylor, 3rd Grade
What are some of the ways you try to eat healthy?
I eat vegetables and fruits every day, and try to eat them at every meal. I know that here in California we grow a lot of fruits and vegetables so we are very lucky for that so I buy them every weekend at the farmers market.
How do you engage in physical activity (personal/classroom)?
At home I walk to school, I also take a yoga class and during the weekend I try to go hiking or dancing or walking just to keep having physical activity. In my classroom we do stretch breaks which are aerobics, dancing, or even yoga. My students are also doing PE once a week and I take them hiking once a month.
What are some stress reduction techniques you’d like to share that you use?
I make sure that I get really good sleep which is very important for me. I also monitor my breathing, sometimes when I get tense my breath is more shallow so I try to breathe more deeply. I know that exercise and eating well helps me. I also carry a positive attitude.
How do you see yourself as a role model for colleagues and students?
I take my students on a lot of field trips, which they really love so it motivates them to work hard in the classroom. The field trips do cut into our class time even though they are educational so they know they have to work in order to receive them. I try to keep school exciting for the kids so they stay interested and even doing stuff like this interview makes me feel like I am being a role model.
How have your personal health habits changed since becoming a NEPTL?
I am becoming aware of eating more fruits and vegetables. I have been eating lots of healthy organic foods for the last fifteen years so my health habits have been very good for a very long time.
Paget Longfellow, Kindergarten, Spanish-bilingual
What are some of the ways you try to eat healthy?
I order an organic box from Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) and go to the farmers market on Sundays.
How do you engage in physical activity (personal/classroom)?
I was riding my bike to school, however due to an accident, I have been walking. In the class I really do believe in appointed activity so I do PE every day and I do a lot of transitions which is like little exercises between activities. I often do breathing to calm the kids down.
What are some stress reduction techniques you’d like to share that you use?
Walking and meditation are my two main techniques, however being aware of my breathing helps also. At meal times I take a few minutes to get centered and wash things away.
How do you see yourself as a role model for colleagues and students?
I am physically active myself and I have instituted a healthy snack program for the students. I really eat lots of fruits and vegetables so that the kids see me eating them during breaks.
How have your personal health habits changed since becoming a NEPTL?
Well I have been doing yoga for both physical and mental health and stress reduction.
Maria Lourdes Sheridan, Third Grade
What are some of the ways you try to eat healthy?
I eat healthy by breaking eating times into five small meals. I usually eat vegetables, lots of greens and try to mix different color vegetables into a salad. I eat a lot of fruit, and for protein lots of beans and fish.
How do you engage in physical activity (personal/classroom)?
Personally I do kickboxing and I’m trying to incorporate yoga. Instead of taking the elevator I use the stairs or I will park far away from where I am going. In the classroom I incorporate many things like stretching, meditation, mental wellness, and also physical activity. I incorporate all of those three so they will be well rounded: PE, mental, spiritual and emotional.
What are some stress reduction techniques you’d like to share that you use?
I meditate for peace of mind. Especially now with the budget cuts and everything, I’m trying not to worry and I look at the positive side of things. What I taught my kids is to say one positive thing to somebody every day. Also breathing techniques to breathe out the negativity and breathe in the positive. Reading is also a great way to relieve stress along with exercising. Even just hanging out with positive supportive friends is a great way to relieve stress.
How do you see yourself as a role model for colleagues and students?
I feel that as a community we have to be role models not only for each other but for our students. So if I eat healthy, if I exercise and dress well, then my co-workers will see that I am healthy and happily mentally and spiritually. Even if I am stressed out sometimes they will see that I am balanced. If we have healthy and happy staff members the students are going to emulate that and say “this is what I am going to be like.” It’s important for people to see that even if there is stress and problems there are ways to overcome them.
How have your personal health habits changed since becoming a NEPTL?
I have minimized my fast food and started eating more vegetables and fruit, plus well rounded meals. For example for one meal I will have fruits and vegetables with some nuts and bread to balance it. Now I carry around little meals such as fruits and vegetables. I’m incorporating more exercise into the classroom, lots of stretching and moving around to help keep the kids active and focused.
