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Overview

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Health policies and local environmental health conditions have an impact on individuals’ health. Students this age are more aware of their community beyond home and school, making high school an important time to analyze health issues that are challenging their greater community, including environmental concerns. Health education teachers are in an influential position to empower their students to value and respect their personal health and to positively impact students’ current and future health practices. High school provides opportunities to implement standards-based instructional strategies that will lead to more advanced personal and community health competencies. ​
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The Orange County Department of Education does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness or completeness of this outside information. Further, the inclusion of links to particular items in hypertext are not intended to reflect their importance, nor is it intended to endorse any views expressed or products or services offered on these outside sites, or the organizations sponsoring the sites.​​​​

Information and Resources

California Department of Public Health Office of AIDS

The California​ Department of Public Health Office of AIDS provides safe needle education/syringe-exchange programs, information, and resources.​

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Healthy People 2030

Healthy People 2030 sets data-driven national objectives to improve health and well-being over the next decade.

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Curriculum and Lessons

Vaccination Education Materials

The DEA has joined forces with Discovery Education to provide no-cost online tools that support every member of the community with the power of prevention. Help kickstart life-saving conversations today with standards-aligned English & Spanish-language resources for students in grades 3-12, plus additional resources designed for educators, families, and professionals. ​

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National Geographic Learning

Interdisciplinary COVID-19 teaching resources, including presentations, worksheets and teacher's notes, to use with K-12 learners in online classes.​​

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Public Health Advocacy Curriculum

​This ten-lesson curriculum combines classroom- and community-based activities for high school students to learn about the upstream or root causes of health, and to become health advocates.

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Sleep Education – Sleep Lesson Plans for K-12 Teachers

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has developed K-12 lessons and activities to generate interest in the study of sleep medicine and raise awareness of sleep disorders. Sleep is important for maintaining a healthy lifestyle and impacts our ability to perform in many aspects of life. ​

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California Environmental Literacy Initiative

California Environmental Literacy Initiative: Teacher Resources 

 
Practical Resources​ for Taking School Outside during the Pandemic and Beyond

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Healthy Teeth, Bright Futures: K-12 Oral Health Curriculum

​​This K-​​​12 Oral Health curriculum was designed for Oregon school districts. This initiative was developed by The Healthy Teeth Bright Futures Coalition, which is comprised of representatives from philanthropic organizations, health plans, the education sector, health equity and social justice groups and health care providers who advocate for and advance children’s oral health in Oregon. Curriculum in English and Spanish.

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Documentaries

Grade 9 - 12

PBS’s Sick Around the World

PBS’s Sick Around the World

(2008)

PBS’s RX for Survival: A Global Health Challenge

PBS’s RX for Survival: A Global Health Challenge

(2005)

PBS’s Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?

PBS’s Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?

(2008)

Straightlaced

Straightlaced

(2016)

Partnerships

​Partnering with the Family​​

  • To promote their family’s and community’s health and wellbeing, students design and create a monthly or quarterly health newsletter or opt-in informational email for parents, guardians, or caretakers on various personal and community health topics studied in class. ​

​​Partnering with your School​​​

  • ​Working with school administrators and parent volunteers, students plan, implement, and evaluate a health resources fair. 
  • Another activity provides students with the opportunity to analyze their school’s safety plan for alignment with the health education standards. 
  • Students critically analyze their school’s safety plan and research other school-safety best practices online; align the plan to the health education standards; and provide recommendations for administrators and the school nurse to consider. ​

​​Partnering with your Community​​

  • Community Health Promotion in Action: Students apply a decision-making model to a personal health issue they are experiencing by writing their discoveries in a reflective summary. Students then choose one community or environmental health issue of interest to them and apply the model, summarizing any observations. Finally, students share their summaries on a community or environmental health issue by presenting them to a local government or health-based nonprofit agency. 
  • Another activity that promotes community wellness and encourages student involvement in societal and environmental conditions to benefit the health of their community is for students to research advocacy activities of various local nonprofit chapters such as the American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association, and The Nature Conservancy of California (see EarthShare California for a list of environmental agencies). 
  • Students use those local activities as models to organize smaller school-based events to bring health education awareness to the school. ​
Orange County Department of Education
  • 200 Kalmus Drive
    Costa Mesa, CA 92626
  • PO Box 9050
    Costa Mesa, CA 92628-9050
  • (714) 966-4000

Developed by Orange County Department of Education in
partnership with California Department of Education

  • Orange County Department of Education
  • California Department of Education

This Internet site contains hypertext links to information created and maintained by other public and private organizations. These links are provided for your convenience. The Orange County Department of Education does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness or completeness of this outside information. Further, the inclusion of links to particular items in hypertext are not intended to reflect their importance, nor is it intended to endorse any views expressed or products or services offered on these outside sites, or the organizations sponsoring the sites.
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