¿The landscape of young people’s overall health and well-being has been adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic as well as by long-standing health and education inequities. The pandemic exasperated long-term mental health problems and negatively impacted physical activity behaviors, food security, access to key school health services, and overall health and stress levels reported by children and adolescents.
¿Schools are an important and impactful setting for implementing the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model to ensure youth are safe, healthy, engaged, supported, and challenged. Minnesota will work with districts, schools, and community organizations, prioritizing historically under-served communities, to protect and improve the health and well-being of young people by: 1. Establishing and maintaining key partnerships at the state and local level and 2. Advancing school health by streamlining the promotion and dissemination of CDC school health resources/tools and providing implementation supports (such as professional development and technical assistance) in CDC’s School Health Guidelines.
¿During this five-year project, the Minnesota Department of Education, with its project partner the Minnesota Department of Health, will advance the implementation of policy, practices, and programs in the areas of: physical activity, nutrition, school health services, staff well-being, and health education for school and out- of- school time (OST) settings at the state level and within the selected priority LEA (PLEA), Faribault Public School District (FPS).¿
