• Health Education
     

Health Education

  • Health education is required for all students in grades K-12th grade. Students in grades K - 6 are taught by an elementary classroom teacher; students in grades 7 to 12 are taught by a certified health education teacher. Two semesters of health are required at the secondary level; students receive a 1/2 credit in middle school and a 1/2 credit in high school (required for graduation). Learners increase their health knowledge and learn the skills to develop and maintain lifelong health. Students learn and practice self-management, relationship management, communication, decision-making, planning and goal-setting, stress management and advocacy skills. Health education is a holistic approach that requires the collaboration of home, school, and community, enabling students to make responsible and informed decisions and adopt and maintain healthy behaviors.
     
    Students in the RCSD are taught Health Education in a holistic approach, which requires the collaboration of home, school and community.  Health Education provides knowledge and skills to enable individuals to make responsible and informed decisions and adopt and maintain healthy behaviors that they need to be safe, healthy and successful productive citizens. Health Education is taught K-6 in the RCSD.  Elementary Health is taught by the classroom teachers. At the secondary level, health is taught in 7th and 11th grade by certified health education teachers where they receive 1/2 credit for each course. In high school, health education is required for graduation. 
     
    The Health Education Department continues to offer electives at most of the high schools.  They are Global Health, Death & Dying, Foundations of Personal Health & Wellness, and Responding to Emergencies. Students will be able to receive 1.0 additional credit for health education along with the required 1/2 health credit needed for graduation. Students are also eligible for  dual-college credit in Personal Health & Wellness and Responding to Emergencies through Genesee Community College(GCC) if their instructor is certified through GCC.

    Global Health Education examines major global health challenges, programs and policies. Students will be introduced to the world’s vast diversity of determinants of health and disease. Students will examine emerging global health priorities, including infectious diseases, poverty, conflicts and emergencies, health inequities, and major global initiatives for disease prevention and health promotion.

    Death & Dying: A study of the dying process, death, ceremonies and rituals in many cultures. Deals with the issues of loss experiences, the fear of death, understanding reactions to death, near-death experiences, euthanasia, suicide, and current practices and trends in the care and treatment of the terminally ill.
     
    Foundations of Personal Health & Wellness: This course will focus on students taking personal responsibility for their health, including lifestyle factors and their relationship to their overall well- being and disease. Personal behaviors and attitudes, environmental influences and access to health support networks are addressed. Topics include nutrition, personal and community health, communication skills for productive relationships. Students will also examine the process of accessing health care during their college years and clarify their own personal beliefs regarding advocacy issues.  Students learn positive means to counteract negative influences and reflect on possible adaptations to personal health behaviors. Students may be required to participate in a community service project in the health/community field.

WISE Curriculum

Elementary Health for Grades K-6

  • Students in grades k-6 are receiving Health Education using the HealthSmart curriculum. The HealthSmart K-5 program builds the foundation to support youth in making the critical health choices they will face during adolescence, and enables them to establish lifelong healthy behaviors.  The instructional strategies used in HealthSmart K-5 accommodate the developmental changes occurring across the elementary grades.  Activities help students establish a value for healthy behaviors and shape peer norms that reinforce and support healthy choices. HealthSmart supports academic achievement, builds literacy, and fosters healthy attitudes and behaviors. It prepares children to learn and succeed in school.  HealthSmart students are healthy, confident in their choices, self-directed in their actions, and supportive of others.

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