Welcome back to school and another year of safe and healthy learning at RCE! I always have a few health-related topics to discuss, so please read everything here!

1.       VOLUNTEERS are needed for annual health screening. It will begin on September 8^th, and will continue every Tuesday and Thursday AM (8:15-10:30) in September, until our entire school is screened. Courtney Uthman (bless her!) has again volunteered to schedule screening volunteers for me, so please email her at theuthmans@att.net to let her know when you are available. We check vision, hearing, height, weight and AN (for signs of insulin resistance- Type II diabetes). This year we will begin by screening the second grade, because that is our target grade for the Oliver Foundation Project (see: www.OliverFoundation.org for details) Participating in screening is easy, you do NOT have to know anything, I will train you! You will get to see how we work with children and contribute to children’s health here at RCE, all at the same time! Thank you in advance for offering to help!

2.       The Oliver Foundation has chosen to work with 3 schools in Spring Branch ISD, and we are one of them! They promote healthy lifestyle choices to improve everyone’s lifelong health. Second grade is our target grade, with an effort to include healthy messages in lessons and just about everywhere your child will be on RCE’s campus. Second grade will have heights and weights taken according to the requirements of the Oliver Foundation, will have BMI’s assessed, and will receive encouragement to improve BMI’s during the school year.

There are seven Oliver Foundation messages to improve overall health and fitness, please go to the Oliver Foundation link (above) to familiarize yourself with them. We will begin with encouraging your child to have a healthy breakfast every day, and to choose 5-a-day servings of fruit and vegetables, 2 of the Oliver Foundation’s “Healthy Choices”. Your child may mention these messages to you. Please acknowledge these messages, and try to fit them into your meal planning. Put the responsibility on your child to tell you what they would like to eat, so that you can provide these foods. Students are being told to let their parents know about these healthy choices. They need to cooperate with you by getting up in the AM so that they can enjoy a healthy breakfast before heading to school. You are not the only one who has an active role in this- it is a student’s choice and responsibility to participate in all of these.

3.        Karen Harrell has just introduced Fuel UP To Play (http://www.fueluptoplay60.com/ ) to RCE…it is a program sponsored by the NFL. Encourage your child to become a part of it. Sign up and then be active at least 60 minutes per day. More information is coming on that!

4.       Do we have an obesity problem at RCE? Not currently among our students. They are active at school and after, for the most part, involved in sports and activities after school. Both of these programs (Oliver Foundation and Fuel Up to Play) are geared to making healthy lifestyle choices that will remain after your child grows too old for RCE. Yes, there is life after RCE, and we hope that all students and their families will continue to make healthy lifestyle choices long after they have gone from our school. That is how we are trying to cut down on the obesity epidemic that America is experiencing.

5.       PLEASE as always, let me know about any health issues your child experiences that may effect their learning.