On Oct. 26, members of Santa Barbara County public school communities, community partners, and health and wellness advocates attended the third annual School Wellness Summit at the Alisal Guest Ranch in Solvang.
The annual event, hosted by the professional volunteer-based Santa Barbara County School Wellness Council, is a day-long event that brings together educators, policy-makers, and other school-related organizations to share ideas about student wellness with the goal of improving pupil outcomes. This year’s focus at the School Wellness Summit and three additional professional development opportunities offered by the council is to strengthen coordinated health systems that support and reinforce health literacy.
Prior to its sunset in 2015, the Orfalea Foundation’s intention was to create the annual School Wellness Summit in which members of the education community could share innovative practices, form a support network, and collectively build a culture of health and wellness in local schools.
Susan Salcido, the deputy superintendent with the Santa Barbara County Office of Education, said in a press release that “the School Wellness Summit is a powerful example of what can happen when a community comes together to support and promote Santa Barbara County wellness for the ‘Whole School, Whole Community and Whole Child.’”
At the 2015 summit, three teams were awarded $5,000 for the health and wellness projects. As a stipulation of the grant, those teams were required to return to the 2016 summit to provide an update of the progress and the impact of the project in their school communities. Grant updates were provided by the PEAC Wellness Program at San Marcos High School in the Santa Barbara School District, the Farm to Fork Program at William Laird Adam Elementary in the Santa Maria-Bonita School District, as well as the Hydration Stations project at Cabrillo High School in the Lompoc Unified School District.
This year two $5,000 grants were awarded and sponsored by the Natalie Orfalea Foundation, and Sysco of Ventura. Winners of the grants were Universal Social-Emotional Screening Program at Tommie Kunst Jr. High School in the Santa Maria-Bonita School District, and Hydration Station project at Lakeview Jr. High School in the Orcutt Union School District.
Closing remarks for the event were delivered by Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) who highlighted the connection between eating well and good health with helping children to develop critical thinking skills.
School Wellness Summit highlights include:
Creating a culture and climate that fosters student, campus and workplace wellness; networking opportunities with representatives from school districts and community agencies and organizations; sharing innovative practices in nutrition and physical activity that support whole child development; and engaging partners in a support network to sustain schools as centers of health and wellness.
Learn more at schoolwellnesssummit.org.
This article appears in Nov 3-9, 2016.