Health and Wellness

It’s been a lively year so far in Middle School Health and Wellness! Students have learned about sleep, time management, stress, nutrition, digital literacy, and empathy. Highlights include exploring our wonderful school garden to talk about seasonal produce, discussing food memories and the emotions that go along with what we eat, exploring healthy decision making in the area of sleep and completing weekly planners to focus on time management. Right before winter break, students had several classes on digital literacy, where they learned about misinformation spread on the internet, reasons why people spread misinformation and how to identify reliable health information online. Since winter break, 5th, 6th, and 7th graders had classes on empathy in which we thought about different characters’ perspectives in common fairy tales. For instance, empathizing with the Troll in Three Billy Goats Gruff, or the Ogre in Jack and the Beanstalk. Meanwhile, 8th graders were engaged with our very own Upper School students involved in Corner House*.  They learned about peer pressure and refusal skills. They also discussed the risks associated with alcohol, tobacco and drug use.  Please ask your child about their health and wellness classes (Day 3 for fifth and sixth grade and Day 6 for seventh and eighth grade) to discover what they are learning and which lesson was their favorite so far. 

*Corner House is a local drug and alcohol treatment and prevention center. A group of PDS Upper School students work with them and bring prevention and awareness about drug and alcohol abuse to our PDS community. You can learn more about them here: Corner House.