ESD 171 looks to promote student wellness event program
WENATCHEE — The North Central Educational Services District 171 is working on a new program to give school districts tools and resources to create an event focused on student wellness.
“The idea is (we) have been putting together a platform of information, like a facilitator's guide, to how a district or building would put on a wellness event for their students,” said Shelley Seslar, managing director of Behavioral Health Services NCESD 171, in a Zoom interview that also included Elizabeth Moore, regional behavioral health educator for ESD 171.
The program will help individual school districts create a “Wellness Event.” The program is a tool for guidings school districts as they implement a wellness event of their own, whether that event is only part of a day, an entire day or multiple days, that promotes the well-being of all students in different ways. Seslar said it will be up to each district, if, when and how often they choose to hold a wellness event.
Seslar said the program was inspired by Casey Clark, who organized a wellness event at Grand Coulee Dam and Wilbur-Creston school districts this past year.
The program will provide all the resources that a district will need to put on its own wellness event, and will include a list of possible speakers or booths from local or regional businesses or organizations, templates for documents and flyers, topic ideas and planning timeline guidance. The resources would be focused on a wellness event targeted to secondary school-age children, i.e. middle school or high school age.
“The idea is for schools, it will be up to them, but we're going to try to put as much as we can together for them,” said Seslar.
By bringing together individuals, businesses and organizations in a given area, Seslar said the program will also provide an opportunity for building community relationships.
Moore explained that the wellness day topic will be completely up to the district. It can be anything that relates to student wellness such as mental or physical health, financial literacy, academics or real-world applications.
“We have a very broad definition of health,” Seslar added.
The event will be something that will take some time for districts to plan, which the program will give guidance on as well.
“We’re suggesting a timeline of at least two months of planning time, inviting speakers at least six weeks in advance so that people can figure out if it fits in their schedule and they can travel and all that,” said Moore.
Seslar and Moore said they hope to have the program available to school districts in ESD 171’s service area by the start of the 2023-2024 school year.
Any individuals, businesses or organizations that would like to participate in a wellness event in invited to contact Moore at elizabethm@ncesd.org.
Rebecca Pettingill may be reached at rpettingill@columbiabasinherald.com.