Wantagh Wellness News

1. Wantagh Wellness News What’s Inside? Notes from the PE desk………………1 Healthy Snack Guideline……………..2 Tips for Families………………2 Muscles of The Month……………3 Character Ed. Words of the Month…………………3 What’s Happening?...............4 Cookbook Club………………….4 Dear Parents/Guardians, Throughout the past few years the physical education staff and administration at Wantagh Elementary has been vigorously working to develop a comprehensive and worthwhile PE program that will guide your youngster in their lifetime pursuit of health and wellness. Now that we have had the chance to spend time with the wonderful and supportive people in the Wantagh community, we would like to use this newsletter as an opportunity to open a dialogue leaning towards greater health, longevity and a more productive future for our students and their families. Our goal as parents and educators is to work together to prepare our children for successful futures. In addition to providing for academic success, we strive to guide students on a path to “wellness”. This includes not only knowledge about nutrition and the benefits of an active lifestyle, but also the values of respect towards others and concern for the environment. We are sure it has come to your attention that childhood obesity is a growing epidemic in the Untied States. It is necessary to now shift our attention towards developing a proactive attitude toward preventing unhealthy habits which lead to childhood obesity. Over the course of the past two years, parents and teachers at The Wantagh School have discussed their ideas and are creating an action plan to continually address this topic. One tangible result is the Healthy Steppers Recess Program which with the use of pedometers, promotes students to take charge of their own health and well being in a meaningful and comprehensive way. Inside this newsletter you will find ideas for parents and children to foster better wellness concepts at home, in the community and during the school day. Along with these ideas, you will also find a overview of what your child will be learning during their Physical Education classes over the course of the next few months. With the support of Dr. Sternberg and Mrs. Matrochano, this creative process has become a reality and a great way for us to educate the community and in turn have the community help us educate our students. --------------- -------------- Anthony Ciuffo Christine Moran Wantagh Elementary School Wantagh Elementary School PE Teacher PE Teacher

2. Eat Right Make Half your grains whole. Choose whole-grain foods, such as whole-wheat bread, oatmeal, brown rice, and low fat popcorn, more often. Vary your veggies. Go dark green and orange with your vegetables-eat spinach, broccoli, carrots, and sweet potatoes. Focus on fruits. Eat them at meals and at snack time too. Choose fresh, frozen, canned or dried and go easy on the fruit juice. Get your calcium-rich foods. To build strong bones, serve low-fat and fat-free milk and other milk products several times a day. Go lean with protein. Eat lean or low-fat meat, chicken, turkey or fish. Add chick peas, nuts or seeds to a salad. Change your oil. We all need oil. Get yours from fish, nuts and liquid oils such as corn, soybean, canola and olive oil. Don’t sugar coat it. Choose food and beverages that do not have sugar and caloric sweeteners as one of the first ingredients. Track your caloric intake. Visit websites designed to help you evaluate your eating habits such as www.mypyramid.gov. Exercise Set a good example. Be active and get your family to join you. Play with the kids or pets. Go for a walk, tumble in leaves or play catch. Take the presidents challenge as a family. Track your individual physical activities together and earn rewards for active lifestyles at www.presidentschallenge.org. Establish a routine. Set aside time each day as activity time-walk, jog, cycle, skate or swim. Adults need at least 30 minutes of physical activity and children 60 minutes all or most days of the week. Have an activity party. Make the next birthday party centered on physical activity. Try backyard Olympics or relay races. Have a rock climbing or skating party. Set up a home gym. Use household items such as canned foods as weights. Stairs can substitute for step machines. Move it! Instead of sitting through commercials, getup and move. When you talk on the phone, lift weights or walk around. Remember to limit TV and computer time. Give activity gifts. Give gifts that encourage physical activity. Active games or sporting equipment. Have Fun! Tips For Families

3. Muscles of the Month Each month the PE staff implements a new muscle into the curriculum so that students have a greater understanding of the function and importance of each muscle. Through guided stretches and exercises geared toward a specific muscle, students come away with a better understanding of how their body moves and the importance of flexibility. September Hamstrings October Quadriceps (Quads) November Gastrocnemius (Calves) December Heart Character Ed. Words Each month the PE staff incorporates a new character education trait so that students have a better working knowledge of the characteristics that it takes to be a well rounded, productive, contributing member of their community. Through various games and activities, students are given ample opportunities to display each character ed. word at work. September Honesty October Tolerance November Patience December Respect

4. Got Recipes? This 2006/07 school yearit is our goal to design a Wantagh Elementary School Healthy Cookbook. We welcome families to help us create this cookbook by sending in recipe ideas that the whole family can take part in. Be sure to include exact ingredients and measurements. We welcome parent volunteers to help organize this Healthy Recipe Book. As always, we welcome your tips and suggestions on ideas we can use to Continue our goal in maintaining a healthy school and community. Feel free to leave recipe ideas, suggestions and/or comments in either Ms. Moran or Mr. Ciuffo’s school mailbox.