This training is designed for individuals or teams charged with leading a Whole Child initiative to develop and sustain a culture of health and wellness at their school. As we reimagine what schools will look like now, creating a culture that teaches, incorporates and reinforces healthy behaviors and mindsets will be a top priority.

Social & Emotional Learning (SEL) is a critical piece of the Whole Child framework and many schools and districts are looking for effective solutions to meet students' SEL needs. Physical Education is an ideal platform to engage students in SEL. Participants will receive strategies and tools to seamlessly integrate SEL into their existing PE curriculum and practices. As an example we will review CATCH’s SEL Journeys, a digital SEL program with an engaging movement-based curriculum that is grounded in the latest research on how SEL and dance can serve as levers for equity.

Educators will gain new ideas and strategies to advocate for a school environment that supports their own social and emotional growth. From there, learners will build upon their own growth to address student needs. The course will cover strategies for addressing intrapersonal needs such as managing emotions and stress, as well as interpersonal needs such as building strong relationships and perspective taking.

Currently, less than a quarter of children in the U.S. are meeting the recommended guidelines for daily physical activity and nearly one-third of children experience poor mental health. Given that children spend roughly half of their waking hours at school, it is essential that schools cultivate and maintain healthy cultures that support a student’s physical and mental well-being.

In this training, participants will acquire strategies to integrate movement and health into general education settings with intentional strategies to nourish students’ bodies, hearts and minds. Effective implementation of these strategies provide educators with a no-cost and effective Tier 1 intervention to promote well-being and help students develop skills and habits to support their mental and physical health for a lifetime.

Ensuring that students receive high quality health and physical education as a part of their standard course work is essential for creating healthy school environment. CATCH whole child coordination can work with any high quality PE or Health curriculum. In this learning session we will delve into how the CATCH coordination method introduces a common language about food choices and physical activity into instructional places and spaces throughout the school day. In this way, health message reinforcement and skills practice move beyond the walls of the classroom and/or gym and into the rest of the school building and community building a culture of health.

Participants will review foundational knowledge about Social Emotional Learning and learn how to effectively facilitate SEL Journeys lessons in their classroom.

Participants who complete the CATCH My Breath Implementation Training will be trained to implement the CATCH My Breath program within their community.

Participants who complete the CATCH My Breath Train-the-Trainer Training and pass the open-book exam will be certified to facilitate the teacher in-service training within the community they serve.