Happiness is a hard concept to grasp. Sure, you might feel happy on a Friday afternoon as you prepare for a relaxing weekend or when you get recognized for your hard work by someone you admire; but true happiness – the sense of peace we get when we’re truly content with all areas of our lives – is hard to find. That’s why the Grandview Heights School District wants to help its students find theirs.
Through its Wellness for Life program, the GHSD created a curriculum in 2014 that targeted its students’ needs. The curriculum included a clear and deliberate path to integrating a wellness plan into the district and community at large. Now five years in the making, Wellness for Life has become a collaborative effort between the schools and community organizations, helping students to understand and value the importance of wellness, and set a course toward lifelong happiness.
Dr. Jamie Lusher, chief academic officer and assistant superintendent for GHSD, has seen the Wellness for Life program evolve over the last five years, and sees firsthand the impact it has on her students.
“The Wellness for Life program begins by building background knowledge,” Lusher says. “You’re exposing (students) to the building blocks and foundational pieces of wellness, giving them opportunities to explore and apply.”
Lusher attributes the program’s success to the overwhelming amount of support it has received through organizations like the Grandview Heights Marble Cliff Education Foundation; Nationwide Children’s Hospital, which helped launch the Wellness Center; The Ohio State University and Start Talking! Grandview; among others.
The district’s collaboration with these groups has spurred the creation of new programs, including Foodie Fridays, a partnership with Farm to School, which encourages students to expand their palates by exploring healthy dietary choices.
The program is building a deeper connection not just between students and their community, it’s also building deeper connections between the students themselves. Senior Sally Hofmans-Currie, a member of the Wellness Committee, has launched a composting program in conjunction with Foodie Fridays thanks to the help of her fellow classmates.
“At the beginning of this year, I spoke to the Wellness Committee about a goal of mine—to get composting for Grandview Schools,” says Hofmans-Currie. “To my surprise and delight, it was not only well-received, but supported along the way.”
But it doesn’t end with food. Programs surrounding exercise and physical health have flourished, like Fitness Fridays, which give students in grades four through eight the opportunity to take yoga and Zumba classes in the Wellness Center. High school students can take a zero period three days each week before school to allow time for morning workouts.
Events like the Tri-the-Heights Youth Triathlon, which is in its second year, saw more than 350 student participants thanks to the dedication of the district athletic department, Grandview Heights Parks and Recreation, and the Grandview Heights Marble Cliff Education Foundation.
As students learn to take care of their physical health, their mental health becomes a priority, too. Syntero, a local counseling partnership, has partnered with the GHSD to help students recognize the signs and symptoms of mental health problems and gives them the tools to address those problems in a healthy, constructive way.
“Ohio still does not have health and wellness standards and there are very loose national standards. A lot of this work was a collaborative approach with all those experts who are on our district committee and our staff,” Lusher says. “We wanted everyone to have a hand in the instruction and support of this particular content, because it really is the most important subject for our kids.”
As the Wellness for Life program continues to grow, GHSD administration and staff hopes that students will become inspired by the program and become advocates of leading a healthy and happy life, too.
“This is an issue that is so important. It transcends every tax bracket, every gender, every race,” Lusher says. “Humans, by nature, are meant to be collaborative. We always say to the kids, ‘We’ as in well, and when you put the I in there, you become ill. For the first time, we’re getting really honest about fear and shame, and more importantly, that everyone goes through this. Everyone feels these things. You belong.”
Zoë Glore is an assistant editor. Feedback welcome at zglore@cityscenemediagroup.com.
