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Agenda - Sept. 28, 2009

Minutes - Sept. 28, 2009

Committee Membership

Wellness Committee Agenda Wellness Committee Agenda Monday, September 28th, 2009 (3:00 - 4:30 p.m. in Fire Station Main Room) Welcome to Peter Esposito (3:00-3:05) Updates Wellness “Back-to-School” for staff: Wellness Activites/luncheon/raffle:Elaine Brassard and Janet Hoskin (3:05-3:15) Staff wellness Survey: Gretchen McCloy (3:15-3:25) H.S. Wellness Team Update- Elaine Brassard (3:25 -3:35) Chef-of-the-Month/Other MS/PC Wellness Team Update: Paula Harris, Gretchen McCloy, Karen B.(3:35 -3:45) Review of MS/PC Café Survey findings, next steps and next meeting/Other School Nutrition Update –Peter Esposito (3:45 -3:55) Update on school nutrition program Visit to Yarmouth Harvest lunch/Other Community Services Update – Janet Hoskin (3:55-4:05) Walk/Ride to school H.O.P.E- Andrea Cayer (4:05 –4:10) Wellness Policy: Karen Burke (4:10-4:25) Comments from public/Other Next  meeting- October. Time TBD   Return to top Draft Minutes Wellness Committee Minutes September 28, 2009 A meeting of the District Wellness Committee was held on Monday, September 28, 2009 from 3:00-4:30 in the main room of the Fire Station. Committee members present: Elaine Brassard, Janet Hoskin, Andrea Cayer, Gretchen McCloy, Beth Mylroie, Sarah Kinsella, Chase Malter, Ayn Allmendinger, LeeAnn Layton, Cindy Tardiff, Emily Bugbee and Karen Burke (Chair) Community members present: Kate Williams-Hewitt, Bronwyn Huffard Wellness “Back-to-School” for staff: Elaine Brassard gave an update on the Wellness activities, luncheon and raffles that took place with staff the week prior to the opening of school. She relayed the positive feedback from staff members- especially the appreciation of coming together and spending time with colleagues, the supportive and uplifting environment. The week was a success for many reasons. Staff Wellness Survey: Karen will schedule a meeting with Gretchen McCloy, Paula Harris and other interested members to review the results of the staff wellness survey and report out to the district committee at an upcoming meeting. Discussion will take place as to what we want to do in response to the feedback from staff. Participation was high and took place during that back-to-school week. HS Chef-of-the-Month: Elaine updated the committee on Chef-of-the Month activities. Whole Foods is scheduled to come in on October 27th and Elaine and a smaller sub-committee at the High School are working closely with Whole Foods to do some exciting things around raising awareness/education/etc. MS/PC Wellness Team: Karen will coordinate a meeting time in October with the MS/PC group that came together last year to gather feedback from parents and students on how to improve the cafetorium experience and the food being offered. The group will determine how they want to move forward and who will lead the effort. School Nutrition Director: The new School Nutrition Director was unable to attend due to illness. The visit to Yarmouth Food Services has been moved to the following week and the meeting with Wellness Champions, Janet Hoskin, Karen and Alan to discuss communication issues and moving forward with wellness initiatives was also moved to next week. Peter will give us an update on how things are going at the next meeting. Lee Ann Layton commented that sales are up! Flu Clinic: Cindy Tardiff reported that the Flu Clinic went well. A great deal of time and prior coordination made the success of the clinic possible. Nursing staff, Community Services staff and volunteers did a great job! Community Services Update: Janet gave an update on this year’s Walk to School event which will take place on October 7th  (International Walk to School day). Some changes have been made to increase visibility of the event and CECS will be looking to HS students and community volunteers to get more involved. H.O.P.E.- Andrea Cayer gave the committee an update on several of the goals for H.O.P.E. this year: Prescription Medication Return Program will take place again in October The first H.O.P.E. meeting of the year will take place on Monday, October 5th at 7:00 pm at CECS. All parents are welcome to attend and to get involved. “Parent Meet-ups” will occur over the course of the year starting with a small informal gathering of MS parents in a parent’s home with a facilitator. A possible “Book-read” with parents will be coordinated at a later date. The hope is to eventually get more teenagers involved and to increase the participation of parents as well as their comfort level with discussion around these sensitive topics. Andrea reiterated that H.O.P.E. is NOT about judging others but about opening up conversation in a helpful way to begin to address concerns around substance abuse and creating a healthier environment for our children and the community. Many thanks, once again, to all of the people involved with H.O.P.E. for their efforts in raising awareness and continuing a constructive dialogue around student substance abuse. Let’s talk…what do you think? Karen presented some “food-for-thought” ideas to the district committee. We explored some of the following topics: excellence/achievement/relationships/humanity and asked ourselves what we felt these meant in our school and in our community and discussed whether or not there was room for improvement that we could get involved with. The following are some comments, observations and/or concerns: We are off to a good start this year with the back-to-school activities- a great way for the staff to come together as colleagues. Administrative support has been essential- especially the support and enthusiasm coming from the Superintendent. The humanity piece is an area that we could improve in. Suggested day of appreciation and what this might look like. We are working toward a better balance between excellence/achievement and building positive relationships/humanity in our school climate. A worthwhile goal is always to create a healthier environment and more caring community. Excellence with humanity is the dream. When it seems to be lacking in a broader sense, I strive to create it in my own classroom. There is great value to meeting more regularly k-12 and by discipline. An opportunity to get to know other colleagues and develop more meaningful relationships. Education does not begin and end in the classroom. Action is ideally all about character development. There is the desire to teach in a way and in an environment where the student is an active participant, not a passive receiver of information. You can now measure/quantify the importance of a healthy and caring environment (MEA studies- Workplace wellness studies and initiatives) The importance of caring about a person as a person, not just their performance. There is s a financial incentive to employee health and well-being. Prevention can go a long way in cost-savings. Would be exciting to have more “Humanity-related” principles that we could be using to help guide our students. It is important as a Wellness committee to be realistic about what we take on and focus on.  Who should we target? Several members suggested starting with the staff (which we have already begun with activities, the survey, etc.) Starting with the staff could have a ripple effect and ultimately should benefit the students and school community. Visibility is crucial- our work and message needs to be out there on a consistent basis. Importance of not losing perspective of teamwork and balance Creating a mindfulness about what we are doing and why. Importance of a more caring culture- staff are not always financially motivated- there are other equally if not more important motivators. Importance of feeling valued and appreciated as a staff, as a student, as an administrator, as a parent and community member. Community is currently headed in the direction of healthier living/balance/relationships- HSPA upcoming meeting on Community, Leadership program at High School, Cape Farmer’s alliance, Sports Done Right, H.O.P.E., etc. What are the positive things happening at each level…how can we build on these? Excitement around shared vision on Wellness. Working as a team with Admin and DLT to strengthen and improve areas around a more balanced approach. Cooperation, Collaboration, Communication and Caring- Cultivating Community Wellness has focused energy the past several years on nutrition, ready to put our energy elsewhere. Want to work toward shared goals with administrators…be helpful to one another and function as a team. Begin to brainstorm about what would make a healthier school climate. Invite admin to help us create a shared vision. Karen will ask to meet with Alan to give him an overview of all that was discussed and present some ideas for next steps and facilitating a joint discussion with administrators and the Wellness Committee. INSPIRED and POSITIVE DISCUSSION….THANK YOU WELLNESS COMMITTEE MEMBERS!!               Next meeting time and place TBD.