This Division encourages school programs designed to prevent major health problems and health-risk behaviors among youth and to facilitate students achieving their maximum potential.
What's New?
- Take 25 Campaign Encourages Children's Safety
The Take 25 Campaign encourages parents, educators, and communities to take 25 minutes to talk to children about ways to stay safe, focuses on prevention, and provides FREE tools and resources to help initiate an ongoing dialogue about safety with the children in your community. - Big Sky Fit Kids 2013
A FREE three-month long nutrition and activity program for kids! - Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month Webinar Series
February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month. If you are a teacher, parent, coach or caring adult working with or support young people you are invited to participate in a series of Teen Dating Violence Awareness webinars being offered during the month. These webinars will give you the foundation of knowledge that you need to understand dating abuse and begin a conversation about healthy relationships with the young people in your life - Montana Disaster & Emergency Services Spring 2013 School Safety Trainings
- Suicide Prevention Newsletter – Spring 2013
- Resources Now Available from the Reducing Radon in Schools Webinar
- Preventing Suicide: A Toolkit for High Schools
- Montana Schools' Guide to Reporting Child Abuse and Neglect
Montana Office of Public Instruction Information on...
- DPHHS Reports Increase in Influenza Activity
- Information for Parents - Pre-Teen Vaccines
- MT Department of Health Immunization Information for Schools
- Native Americans are at greater risk for complications from influenza, including H1N1
- New infection control posters and informational materials are available
- Teens and Immunization Fact Sheet
CDC has provided information about the 2011-2012 influenza season, including information about the season's vaccines, vaccination recommendations and disease activity. This year's recommendations are issued in a shortened format because there are relatively few changes from the 2010-2011 recommendations:
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/season/
How to Clean and Disinfect Schools to Help Slow the Spread of Flu . This guide gives K–12 schools tips on how to clean to help slow the spread of seasonal flu. A Spanish version is also available.
This message was forwarded by the Division of Adolescent and School Health, NCCDPHP, CDC. Visit the DASH Web site
School Closure Reporting
School Meal Service Policies and Forms
- USDA Policy Memo Responding to School Closings for H1N1 Outbreaks
- USDA Policy Memo School Closings for H1N1 Outbreaks Questions and Answers
- USDA Policy Memo School Dismissals for H1N1 Outbreaks: Questions and Answers Edition #2
- School Meal Service Waiver Request for School Dismissal
- Pandemic Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Benefits for Children Certified as Eligible to Receive Free and Reduced Price School Lunch During School Closures
Physical Fitness...
Mental Health...
School Safety, Awareness and Prevention...
- EPA's School Flag Program
The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) School Flag Program uses brightly colored flags based on the Air Quality Index to show how clean or polluted the air is. Schools raise a flag each day that corresponds to the air quality forecast so that everyone can know the air quality conditions. - CDC Information on Concussions
- EPA Schools IAQ Connector Newsletter – IAQ Tools for Schools Action Kit
- EPA Schools IAQ Connector Newsletter - Securing Funding and Buy-in
- EPA Schools IAQ Connector Newsletter - Quality Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC)
- Safe Cleaning for People with Asthma
- Take 25 Campaign Encourages Children's Safety
Serving Students with Health Care Needs
Coordinated School Health
State education and health agencies play important roles in supporting coordinated school health. OPI and the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) work collaboratively on developing infrastructure to effectively promote coordinated school health education programs.
The priorities of the program are to:
- provide support for Montana schools and to improve the capability of schools to provide effective, appropriate and culturally relevant school health education programs to students, and
- implement an organizational structure with the state education agency and the state health agency that will provide leadership and coordination for school health education programs that are designed to prevent health risk behaviors and health problems.
The U.S. Department of Education (Department) has issued an important policy clarification document that will have positive impacts on physical education programming for students with disabilities. Creating Equal Opportunities for Children and Youth to Participate in Physical Education and Extracurricular Athletics
Schools and families have essential roles to play in promoting children’s positive development and academic performance. When educators and parents work together as partners, they create important opportunities for children to develop social, emotional, and academic competencies. School-family partnership strategies to enhance children’s social, emotional, and academic growth
The U.S. Department of Justice's Drug Enforcement Administration has developed two resources for parents in regards to teens using prescription and over-the-counter medications to get high. Along with their web site, http://www.getsmartaboutdrugs.com , they have published Prescription for Disaster: How Teens Abuse Medicine , which lists steps parents can take to keep their teens drug free.
The Safe and Supportive Schools TA Center is operated for U.S. ED’s OSDFS by the American Institutes for Research (AIR) in collaboration with Child Trends; The Search Institute; Vision Training Associates; and Decision Information Resources, Inc.
www.HealthySchools.org
www.NationalHealthySchoolsDay.org
www.CleaningforHealthySchools.org
School Wellness Policy
Successful, Safe and Healthy Students
SAMHSA and the Ad Council recently launched a new series of national public service
advertisements (PSAs) to encourage parents to talk to their children about drinking alcohol at an early age.
A new report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
says that inhalants trail only alcohol among the substances used by 12-year-olds to get high.
HIV/AIDS/STD Prevention Education
Resources for CSH Components
Net Cetera – A Guide for Parents with Kids Online
Federal and Private Agencies/Associations partner to release "Net Cetera: Chatting with Kids about being Online" - a guide for parents, teachers and other mentors. On Guard Online recently released Net Cetera: Chatting with Kids About Being Online, a guide for parents, teachers and other mentors with practical tips to help kids navigate the online world safely. Net Cetera covers a variety of topics – from cyber bullying to file-sharing – as well as where to go for more information and issues to raise with kids about living their lives online. Read it in English or in Spanish. On Guard Online.gov provides practical tips from the federal government and the technology industry to help you be on guard against internet fraud, secure your computer, and protect your personal information. Federal Agencies that participate in On Guard Online are: Federal Trade Commission, Office of Justice Programs, Homeland Security, IRS, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Department of Commerce, SEC, NCIS, Army Criminal Investigation Command, FDIC, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, FCC, U.S. Department of Education, and the Information Assurance Support Environment. In addition, 22 Associations and agencies are members.
Net Cetera is free and in the public domain. To order copies to share with schools and community go to: http://bulkorder.ftc.gov.
Operation Millitary Kids Montana
Military OneSource Service Provider
Military OneSource Newsletter - October is Health Relationships Month
This new manual was developed for three primary purposes:
1) To assist installations in more rapidly building school behavioral health programs and services,
2) To increase the likelihood that these services are effective in achieving valued outcomes, including improving student school success, military family adjustment, and soldier readiness, and
3) To promote standardization in implementation and evaluation across sites to help increase the capacity and impact of the initiative.
If you are interested in learning more about School Behavioral Health and/or wish to download a copy of the School Behavioral Health Operation Guide, please visit:
http://brainhealth.army.mil/SBH or contact Ms. Mona Johnson at mona.m.johnson1@us.army.mil.
Children with a parent on long-term military deployment in Iraq or Afghanistan are at increased risk for mental health problems, new research suggests. In the study, published in the July 4 online edition of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, researchers examined the medical records of 307,520 U.S. children, aged 5 to 17, who had at least one parent on active duty in the U.S. Army and received outpatient care between 2003 and 2006.
During that time period, nearly 17 percent of the children were diagnosed with a mental health disorder. The most common conditions were depression, behavioral problems, anxiety, stress and sleep disorders, the investigators found.
More than 62 percent of the children's parents were deployed at least once during the study period, with deployments averaging 11 months. Mental health problems were more likely to be diagnosed among children who had a parent who was deployed at least once to Iraq or Afghanistan. The risk of a mental health problem among the children rose with increased length of parents' deployment.
"We observed a clear dose-response pattern such that children of parents who spent more time deployed between 2003 and 2006 fared worse than children whose parents were deployed for a shorter duration," wrote Alyssa J. Mansfield, then of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, now of the National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Honolulu, and colleagues. "Similar to findings among military spouses, prolonged deployment appears to be taking a mental health toll on children."
In an accompanying commentary, Dr. Stephen J. Cozza, from the Uniformed Services University School of Medicine in Bethesda, Md., noted that as of 2009, 44 percent of active duty military members have children (an estimated total of 1.2 million children), in addition to 43 percent of Reserve and National Guard members. Since 2001, about 2 million U.S. military personnel have deployed at least once.
The study provides "an important contribution to our understanding of a child's health and its relationship to parental combat deployment," Cozza said in a journal news release.
"Brief screening for anxiety, depression, behavioral problems, academic difficulties, peer relational problems, or high-risk behaviors (such as substance misuse or unsafe sexual practices) is warranted and will help identify treatment needs," Cozza concluded.
For more information, The U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine offers tips for supporting children of a military parent who is deploying. Please visit: http://www.hooah4health.com/deployment/familymatters/tentips.htm .
SOURCE: July 2011 Safe Schools, Healthy Students Newsletter, National Center for Mental Health Promotion and Youth Violence Prevention
U.S. DOD ANNOUNCES THE JANUARY/FEBRUARY EDITION OF THE MILITARY COMMUNITY AND POLICY (MC&FP) eMAGAZINE
The U.S. Department of Defense presents the January/February edition of the Military Community and Family Policy (MC&FP) eMagazine! From preparing a healthy meal using simple ingredients purchased at a local commissary to improving financial fitness through taking the Military Saves challenge, this issue of the eMagazine focuses on the programs and services available to assist our military community in maintaining their own personal health and well-being.
Features:
- Children and Youth -- Find Out How To Get Fit
- Commissary News -- Healthy Eating and Shopping
- EFMP -- Nothing Can Stop Healthy Living
- Joint Service Training -- Inclusive Recreation for Wounded Warriors
- Looking Ahead -- Making Wise Financial Decisions
- MWR -- Healthy New You in 2011
- Relocation -- Staying Active During a Move
- USA4MilitaryFamilies -- 10 Key Quality of Life Issues
Please visit http://apps.mhf.dod.mil/mcfp/emag to read about the latest MC&FP program updates and information.
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Montana School Health Profiles
The School Health Profiles is a biennial survey conducted by state and local education and health agencies at the middle/junior high school and senior high school levels. The survey helps monitor a variety of policies related to school health education.
Montana Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS)
The YRBS is a bi-annual survey which assists educators and health professionals in determining the prevalence of health-risk behaviors as self-reported by Montana youth.
School Health Profiles
The School Health Profiles helps state and district education and health agencies monitor the current status of school health education; school health policies related to HIV infection/AIDS, tobacco use prevention, unintentional injuries and violence, physical activity, and food service; physical education; asthma management activities; and family and community involvement in school health programs. State and local education and health agencies conduct the survey biennially at the middle/junior high school and senior high school levels in their states or districts, respectively.
Tobacco Use Prevention and Education
The Montana Office of Public Instruction School Tobacco Use Prevention and Education program provides technical assistance and resources to Montana school districts through coordination with the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services.
The purpose of the program is to:
- Expand and strengthen the capacity of local education agencies to prevent and reduce youth tobacco use in coordination with the Montana Tobacco Use Prevention Program.
- Provide technical assistance to public schools by promoting compliance of the Montana Clean Indoor Air Act and in the development of comprehensive tobacco free school policies.
Media Literacy (To download the following information please go to OPI's main website www.opi.mt.gov Subscribe on ITunes) 
Introduction to Media Literacy
Discussion Guides 101, 2, 3, & 4
Media Examples 1, 2, 3, & 4
Montana Tobacco Free School Districts of Excellence (MAP)
Montana School System-Districts with Comprehensive Tobacco Free School Policy (list by District)
A Guide to Comprehensive Tobacco Free School Policy – A Resource for Montana Schools 2012
This edition of MTSBA Policy Notes provides an explanation of the changes to mandatory, recommended, and optional policies contained in the MTSBA Master Policy Manual.
Board of Public Education – Position Statement on Tobacco-Free School Policy (May 13, 2005)
Introduction to Media Literacy
Prezi created by Rob Reynolds, Technology & Learning Coordinator, Eureka Public Schools
medialiteracytoolbox.com Download Media Literacy Kits from their toolbox
Admongo.com Free resources from the Federal Trade Commission
The Center for Media Literacy provides you with a wide selection of teaching tools, carefully evaluated for their quality and importance to the field.
Montana Tobacco Use Prevention Program (MTUPP)
- Montana Tobacco Use Prevention Program
- www.reactmt.com
- Montana Tobacco Use Prevention Program Tobacco Surveillance Report: Smokeless Tobacco Use in Montana (3/2010)
- Tobacco Free Schools in Montana Fact Sheet
- Master Settlement Agreement – Putting Tobacco Money Toward Public Health
- Montana Attorney General: State to get over $7.5 million in Settlement
- Master Tobacco Settlement Agreement
Montana Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS)
- Montana Youth Risk Behavior Survey 2011
- Montana YRBS Results and Trend Data Graphs 2011
- Youth Smokers/Nonsmokers Report 2011
Montana School Health Profiles (SHP)
Montana Asthma Control Program
National Centers for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (CDC)
- CDC Division of Adolescent and School Health
Includes: Guidelines for School Health Program to Prevent Tobacco Use and Addiction, data/statistics, science-based strategies, program information, and publications. - CDC Youth Tobacco Prevention
Includes youth prevention materials for download. - CDC Disparities and Inequalities Report 2011
National School Boards Association
- National Consortium for Tobacco Use Prevention through Schools
- Tobacco Technical Assistance Consortium
State Resources Available to Others:
- The Tobacco Education Clearinghouse of California (TECC) provides materials free of charge to agencies and schools funded by the state's tobacco control program.
- The Massachusetts Tobacco Education Clearinghouse , through the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, provides materials and other services to support tobacco education efforts across that state.
- Oregon Tobacco Education Clearinghouse has a catalog of posters, videos, pamphlets and booklets available online (some for free download) or by calling 1-800-874-7917.
American Lung Association
Smoking prevention and cessation programs for teens and on asthma education and indoor air quality through their Not On Tobacco program
Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA) lists tobacco-related materials
Department of Defense's Quit Tobacco – Make Everyone Proud Campaign (Preventive Medicine's Tobacco Cessation Program was implemented to help soldiers quit their addition to tobacco)
My Last Dip offers programs to help chewing tobacco users quit, including one specially designed for chewers age 14-25.
National African American Tobacco Education Network provides resources on tobacco-use prevention specific to African American communities and populations, including materials for physicians and dentists.
National Association of Local Boards of Health
National Association for Media Literacy Education
National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information offers a range of tobacco-specific materials, including pamphlets, posters, booklets, etc.
National Spit Tobacco Education Network (NSTEP), Oral Health America's National Spit Tobacco Education Program, has both print and video materials available on the dangers of spit tobacco.
Tar Wars
Supported by the American Academy of Family Physicians, targets fourth- and fifth-graders with an award-winning education program and poster contest. Classroom presentations and program guides are available for teachers and presenters, as well as posters and merchandise.
Tobacco Education Clearinghouse of California
Tobacco Free U, from the BACCHUS Network, provides resources and information for college students working on tobacco prevention and policies.
