August 10, 2020 by Taylor Walsh Maintaining Balance in schools in a thoroughly unbalanced time Beyond Academics and Well-being? Among the guidelines for school openings that the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) issued on May 5 and June 25 were several that are well aligned with the outcomes and purpose of school-based wellness activities. In “COVID-19 Planning Considerations: Return to In-person Education in Schools” the AAP said regarding the approach schools should take at re-opening: If the academic expectations are unrealistic, school will likely become a source of further distress for students (and educators) at a time when they need additional support. It is also critical to maintain a balanced curriculum with continued physical education and other learning experiences rather than an exclusive emphasis on core subject areas.” AAP doesn’t name school gardens, mindful moments, brain breaks, preparing meals, and plenty of time in nature specifically in that bullet point. But it could have. These are the most potent “other learning experiences” we know of for attaining beneficial outcomes in academics and in supporting mental, emotional and social well-being. And as the type of counter-balance to concentrated academics that AAP cautions about. Webinar on Balancing Academics and Well-being The question of how to elevate awareness of these positive outcomes for education leadership was the subject of our July 17 webinar “Balancing Academics and Wellbeing During School Openings, 2020.” Forty advisors, partners and colleagues described their own extensive experiences delivering school-based programs and discussed the factors that educators should be considering as they organize the unorthodox schedules and program adjustments that will begin the school year. The objective of this meeting was to compile the high points of the discussion and share them with education, policy and financing leaders in the weeks and months ahead. Among those points: The time is now to emphasize the social, mental and behavioral benefits that these programs have demonstrated Educators may say they have no time for gardens or teaching kitchens They are also looking for the means to support mental and social emotional health Engaging with parents particularly now is critical There may be interesting comparative research to conduct in this period (Click here for a brief summary of the webinar.) Sustaining the Balance It is not possible to know whether or how schools might follow the AAP’s guidelines and start to integrate any wellness learning program or method, especially with distance learning required for the vast majority of schools starting the fall semester. Courtesy Green Schoolyards America — Drew Kelly Photography Tracking the implementation of these programs during this school year (if not implementing them directly) will be important for members of the whole health learning community. As the webinar conversation showed, leaders in these wellness domains are already extending their work, missions and partnerships. Very notable right now is the growing interest in “outdoor classrooms” (a response used widely 100+ years ago when tuberculosis and flu pandemics raged). Green Schoolyards America is now hosting multiple Zoom meetings each week to help teachers and educators around the country as part of its National COVID-19 Outdoor Learning Initiative. These working groups organize topics that would be helpful to any whole health learning activity: Outdoor classroom infrastructure Park/school collaboration Outdoor learning and instructional models Staffing and formal/nonformal partnerships School program integration (with PE, recess, before/after care) Community engagement Health and safety considerations Local and state policy shifts Funding and economic model In these sessions presenters often discuss highly innovative solutions that they and their colleagues are creating out of sheer necessity. See more about the Outdoor Learning Alliance here. Long Term Balance? Among other things, COVID has presented U.S. education with the opportunity to build on academic and health improving activities that have long been available but have had no point of entry into — or a sustainable presence in — the core learning framework. This is true for demonstrated academic benefits and their potential to offset the impact and deep persistence of Adverse Childhood Experiences, trauma, and debilitating social determinants of health. The most important long-term impacts and effects of any COVID-driven re-balancing aren’t likely be about how schools apportion time for school gardens vs. geometry. Rather it will be whether or not any of those “other learning experiences” that the AAP recommends for coping with COVID remain in place. That depends on whether educators and the public come to see that imparting knowledge and skills that support physical, emotional and social well-being in should be an essential K-12 task for fully preparing their kids for their adult lives. In the meantime: as we asked at the start of our July Webinar: “What can we do Right Now?” to support kids and families, faculties and communities to establish the habits and activities that will carry everyone through this period safely and in their best health? One answer quite literally just appeared during the composition of that paragraph: in the form of a Tweet from Child and Nature Network (@ChildrenNature) reporting that innovations won’t necessarily come after Zoom meetings: “A D.C. teacher uses his stimulus check to start a nonprofit, so he can take kids fishing.” Let that sink in. Now let’s check it out: A new Inner City Angler in DC getting ready. Teacher-guided: CHECK Collaborative learning: CHECK Hands-on (literally, on the reel): CHECK In Nature: CHECK “Harvesting” food: CHECK All while socially distanced: CHECK So is born the D.C. non-profit: Inner City Anglers . And perhaps not a little hope, fun and enthusiasm on the rivers and streams around DC. As founder Carmen Garner writes: “It is the goal of ICA to instill social-emotional awareness, perseverance, self-confidence, empathy and other life skills along their paths to adulthood.” More about the webinar and WholeHealthED balancing these: Full Webinar Recording: https://bit.ly/33LHQuD The journal article, “Whole Health Learning: The Revolutionary Child of Integrative Health and Education” Contribution to the ASCDInService Blog: “Balancing academics and wellness during COVID-19 and beyond”