b'A useful tool that uncovered weaknessesRubin met last summer with Beth Corwin, LEARN physical education teacher at Symonds School to run the WellSAT tool on the districts existing wellness policy. Out of a possible 100 points, HEALTHY the district scored only one. They presented the results to Dan Black, Keene School Districts assistant superintendent.It lit a spark to figure out what to do about it, says Rubin.Black admitted wellness assessment wasnt his area of expertise. So he looked to revive the Districts wellness committeethat included teachers, food service professionals, school health services representatives, administration, school board and community members, parents and students. They worked on reviewing the WellSAT results and current policy together and making the necessary improvements. Its very thorough, Black says of the WellSAT tool. It was a good learning experience. It helped us realize the best practice guidelines and how were not meeting them. It gave us a basis of where to go. Changes being madeThe committee talked about what it was willing to change in the current policy, and created an edited version that was brought to a vote by the school board in September. The updated policy is divided into a handful of components, including: nutrition WellSAT:Measuring the Strength ofeducation; standards and guidelines; Our Schools Wellness Policies physical activity; staff participation; and family/community engagement.S ince 2004, schools have been required by law to adoptSome changes to the policy included:and implement a wellness policy that supports studentsAdding regular physical activity breaks during the day to develop and maintain healthy lifestyle behaviors.beyond physical education class and recess;These school policies may address not only nutrition in the Encouraging walking and biking to school as part of the school cafeteria, but also nutrition education and standardsSafe Routes to School program (see story, page 12);for physical activity and foods sold during and outside of the school day. But how can schools measure their progress inRewarding positive behavior and student achievement making changes that will have an impact on student health? with non-food incentives only;Linda Rubin, director of the Healthy Monadnock initiative,Requiring a minimum of 20 minutes of recess each day.has been working with the Keene School District over the past Its huge for the school district to have gone through that year using The Wellness School Assessment Tool (WellSAT)*,process, notes Rubin.developed by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundations Healthy Eating Research Program. This tool evaluates school wellnessWellness sometimes gets overlooked in schoolspolicies based on the degree to which they address 50 policyBlack says that with the intricacies of daily school operations it items.can sometimes be difficult to keep a sharp focus on wellness. The items are categorized into five sections, includingWe took a step in that direction, says Black. Obviously we nutrition education and wellness promotion and physicalhave some work to do, but well do it with care and excitement. education.14 Healthy Monadnock Update 2015'