EYE ON EDUCATION A Publication of the Paramount Unified School District
15110 CALIFORNIA AVE., PARAMOUNT, CA 90723 • TEL: 562-602-6000 • FAX: 562-634-6029
SEPTEMBER 2009
Update on the District’s Student Wellness Policy For several years, the Paramount Unified School District’s Student Health Advisory Committee has worked diligently to promote student health and wellness throughout schools and the local community. A few years ago, this committee consisting of teachers, administrators, parents and community members, developed the district’s Student Wellness Policy. This policy is a commitment to building a coordinated school health system that advocates comprehensive health education, physical education, nutrition services and a safe and healthy school environment for children and for the community. The committee meets throughout the school year to monitor the implementation of the Wellness Policy. Last year the committee identified areas within the policy that should be addressed immediately. These included: providing healthy snacks in vending machines, cleaning school drinking fountains, dispersing California Healthy Kids Survey data to various stakeholders and promoting family involvement regarding health-related issues. Chris Stamm, the Director of Nutrition Services, has worked with schools to ensure that all food and drinks distributed in the snack machines at school sites throughout the district meet certain nutrition standards. The
Maintenance and Operations department also has worked to ensure that drinking fountains at schools are routinely maintained and the drinking water is clean. The California Healthy Kids Survey is administered every other year to students in grades 5, 7, 9,
and 11 as a means of assessing the needs of students in order to develop a more targeted and meaningful prevention education. This year data from the survey was shared with teachers, administrators and parents participating on various committees at both the
district and site level as a means of enhancing the communication of these results. Additionally, committee members determined ways to advance family health in the community by reinforcing the home-school connection through the provision of additional lit-
erature and parent informational sessions. The District will continue to monitor the implementation of the Student Wellness Policy in its effort to advance healthy living and awareness among students in both school and in the home.
MESA Students Visit Washington, D.C.
Roosevelt School MESA students in front of the Washington Monument: (front row, L to R) Valerie Castillo, Julio Jimenez, Christopher Garcia and Mark Andrade, and (back) Ulises Reyes. 8-10 Five middle grade students from Roosevelt School spent the first week of their summer vacation visiting their nation’s capitol and bringing the workings of their government and its history to life. Valerie Castillo and Christopher Garcia, 6th grade, Ulises Reyes, 7th grade, and Julio Jimenez
and Mark Andrade, 8th grade, accompanied by math and science teacher Jeff Kiesel, spent six days visiting Williamsburg, Virginia, a restored colonial town; the Washington Monument; the Jefferson Memorial; the Viet Nam Wall; Arlington National Cemetery; Ford’s Theater, where
President Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth; the Capitol Building and the White House, as well as numerous other displays, visitor’s centers and monuments. The last morning of the trip was spent at the Air and Space Museum, where Charles Lindbergh’s famous plane, the Spirit of St. Louis, the Wright Brothers Flyer and Apollo 11, the spaceship that took Americans Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to the Moon twenty-five years ago, were on display. Early in the school year, Mr. Kiesel, Advisor for the MESA Program at Roosevelt since 2004, offered the opportunity to go on a guided tour of Washington, D.C. and Williamsburg to the MESA group. The five students who ended up going spent the months leading up to the June trip collecting and saving up the tour’s cost. Parents, relatives, friends and teachers contributed dollars, and their generosity re-
sulted in what the students all agreed was a great field trip. Organized by the Worldstrides Company, the tour included air travel out of LAX, five nights of hotel, “travelers choice” meals at food courts in and around the Capitol, travel by luxury tour bus, and guided tours of all of the main attractions the Capitol has to offer. Mr. Kiesel reported that the students were on their best behavior from start to finish and represented their families and Paramount with distinction. Valerie, who will be joining most
of her former Roosevelt classmates, including Ulises and Christopher, at Paramount Park Middle School in the fall, said: “I had a really great time in Washington D.C. and I’m glad I got to spend it with the group I was in! I learned so much! Someday, maybe I’ll go back there, when I have more time, and explore some more.” Julio and Mark will be at West Campus this school year, where they will no doubt have some good stories to tell their friends about how they spent their summer vacation.
SCHOOL BOARD MEETING DATES September 8, 2009 - September 22, 2009 Board of Education meetings are held at 6:00 p.m. in the Boardroom at the District Office, 15110 California Avenue, Paramount, and are open to the public