The following is a press release from Spokane Public Schools:
For the second year in a row, Audubon Elementary was named one of America’s healthiest schools by Healthier Generation one of only two Washington schools to be recognized.
But what makes a healthy school? For Audubon, it’s more than just making sure kids are active at recess and eat plenty of apple slices at lunch. Being a healthy school requires a holistic approach that involves students, staff and families. It includes ensuring that staff needs are met, that students are consistently being served where they’re at in life, and that families are supported in numerous ways.
“At Audubon, we have a lot of students with a lot of high needs, as well as their families,” said counselor Aftan Lissy. “I think that everyone here goes above and beyond to focus on those wellness pieces and look at students and families in such a holistic way. It makes this building feel more positive. It feels like a place that I want to be, and I know others feel that way, even though it’s a hard job every day.”
Healthier Generation uses specific criteria to determine award-winning schools, rating their success across nine topic areas. Here are the ways that Audubon excelled in six topic areas as a holistically healthy school:
Strengthening Social-Emotional Health and Learning
Audubon has a robust Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) team to ensure all positive behavior systems reach all students. Two counselors visit classrooms to teach positive choices, regulating emotions, conflict management and more. Teachers use Purposeful People and Character Strong curriculum to set school-wide expectations to create an environment for healthy relationships and interactions
“What we saw with our student population is a lot of it is a lack of social emotional learning, and a lot of trauma and families needing support,” Lissy said. “As much as there are behaviors to address and a discipline response, we wanted to come at it from a more proactive lens and try to build those skills up with our students and families rather than just try and discipline it all.”
Cultivating Staff Well-Being
The foundation of a healthy school community is a healthy staff. That’s why the school’s social committee is in place—to address the needs of staff and create community. From happy moments like the birth of a child, to harder moments like the death of a family member, the Audubon social committee makes sure staff are supported in moments of joy or sorrow. The committee also plans staff social events, both inside and outside school.
“Our staff is very organic in their well-being events,” said Principal Assistant Tonya Bingley. “Some of our grade level teams and others plan lunches where they take turns cooking lunch for everybody, or they have a group that will go walking during lunch. In addition to what we’re doing school-wide, there are a lot of things going on within the building organically.”
Increasing Family and Community Engagement
Audubon hosts an event each month for families to be together, meet staff or just have some fun. For instance, movie nights at the school routinely attract 100 families, and Trunk-or-Treat during Halloween welcomed 500 families.
Many Audubon families live in surrounding apartment buildings, and staff make sure to bring events to them as well.
“At the end of each school year, we do an event at the apartments, and everyone is welcome so that those families who maybe don’t have transportation or childcare can participate,” Lissy said.
Improving Nutrition and Food Access
Many students in SPS rely on the schools for their breakfast and lunch, and Audubon is no different. The school’s nutrition services team often celebrates cultural events and holidays with food samples for staff and students.
The school also received a grant to offer even more healthy food for students.
“We have fresh fruit and vegetable cart out before and after lunch and kids can come take a vegetable and fruit and that’s their snack to take back to their classroom,” Lissy said. “It’s there every day stocked with berries, kiwis, all sorts of great things.”
Bolstering Physical Education and Activity
Like all SPS elementary schools, Audubon students enjoy P.E. classes every week and can participate in after school clubs and/or fall cross country through community partner Active4Youth. But to give kids a lasting memory, the school decided to take kids for a 20-minute walk to the local public pool last spring.
“That was the pinnacle of opening kids’ eyes to what’s available,” Bingley said. “It’s easy to access and it was such a joyful day. Some of us were a little nervous about how it might go, but it went so well.”
Enriching Health Education and Supporting School Health Services
Students receive appropriate health education for their age, which includes helping students understand how a body works and the need for physical activity.
In addition, the school and its full-time nurse communicate with families on an ongoing basis about the school’s health services. The school also hosts Toothsavers visits to teach kids about good oral health, while also doing annual hearing and sight screening.
Other local health services organizations are also invited to their monthly community engagement events to connect families with resources.
Creating a healthy school takes a commitment from the entire staff. At Audubon, that has resulted in positive recognition for the second year in a row.
“It’s a whole staff commitment. From an administrator’s view, I see people taking things on because they believe wholeheartedly and they make things happen,” Bingley said. “Staff aren’t afraid to jump in and do the extra work to help kids in a way that is really meaningful.”
