 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Cecilia Mutia, MA, Office of Educational and Community Initiatives, WestEd, 801 N. Parkcenter Drive, Suite 110, Santa Ana, CA 92705, 714-972-5900, cmutia@wested.org, Gabriela Morataya-Jones, Educational and Community Initiatives, WestEd, 801 N. Parkcenter Drive, Suite 110, Santa Ana, CA 92705, and Charity Cason, MS, Educational & Community Initiatives, WestEd, 801 N. Parkcenter Drive, Suite 110, Santa Ana, CA 92705.
Two federal projects funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Safe and Drug Free Schools Program were awarded to examine the effectiveness of addressing social and emotional interventions. The interventions are comprehensive in nature and are addressed through a universal, selected and targeted approach in building and enhancing student’s skills. The program is implemented in an elementary school located in a densely populated area in Santa Ana and middle schools in Riverside, California. The targeted neighborhoods exhibits all of the risk factors common to many urban communities across the country: low levels of education, high levels of gang activity, and extremely high levels of poverty.
The Life Skills Support System promotes the social and emotional needs of students through; peer pro-social bonding; teachers/instructors teaching life skills; support groups structured to address the various challenges facing this population in their school and home environments; outreach/advocacy skills in getting community assistance, and family skills training to increase parent-child relationships. To date 550 elementary and middle school students received some form of life skills intervention and 370 students and their parents received a family intervention program. This paper will examine a life skills support system that enhances student’s social and emotional skills in creating a health promoting school climate. Participants will articulate five indicators to creating a health promoting school climate, describe the Life Skills Support System and its implication for learning and development for K-8th students, develop a support system that addresses the creation of health promoting school climate.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: School-Based Programs, School Health
Related Web page: wested.org
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.