Society entrusts schools to develop students who are well-rounded, well educated, well prepared, well spoken, and well suited for the demands of adult life; but we cannot achieve these goals without our students first being well. By promoting wellness in our schools, we afford our teachers and our students the opportunities to achieve their potential.

Initiatives and programs intended to boost student achievement in math, science, and ELA are well-funded. Money is spent hiring additional staff and to pay for curriculum, software, and professional development. The aim of these programs is noble — ideally: a more capable citizenry who will dominate our global economy.

Unfortunately, the success of these programs is undermined when students are unwell. Unhealthy children suffer from poor attendance and poor attention — factors that greatly hinder academic success. When schools focus on student wellness, they foster the conditions necessary to improve academic achievement.

Wellness is not merely the absence of illness. Wellness also includes key skills that students can utilize throughout a lifetime to not only ensure their own health, but to become productive, responsible, and respectful citizens of society. To be well, one communicates well, makes decisions well, manages stress well, sets and achieves goals well, and advocates for oneself and others well.

Yet, many health initiatives go unfunded, making it considerably harder to implement them effectively, if at all. As such, schools should consider using some of the funds set aside to improve student achievement to fund efforts that improve student health. Promoting student wellness may, in fact, be the missing piece in boosting student achievement.

This will require schools to assess current wellness policies and health education programming. Being aware of health education mandates for the state and determining whether the school meets those requirements is an essential part of the process. Once the problem is clearly defined, we can seek creative, cost-effective, and worthwhile solutions.

A K–12 aligned, skills-based health education program includes many recent initiatives related to Erin’s Law, the opioid epidemic, social emotional learning, and adolescent mental health. The ultimate recognition that student achievement is directly linked to student health is taking deliberate steps to improve health education and school wellness.

Schools have the unique opportunity, given the amount of time students spend within their walls, to help shape the behaviors that are essential to academic life and beyond.

Steps Schools Should Take to Support Student Wellness

1. Establish an Active Wellness Committee

In addition to the mandated wellness policy, schools should have a representative wellness committee that meets regularly.

2. Assess Wellness Policies and Compliance

That wellness committee should regularly assess the actual effectiveness of the wellness policy and the school’s compliance with state requirements and mandates using reliable tools such as the School Health Index and the Health Education Curriculum Analysis Tool.

The results from these assessments should be made public, and specific action plans should be put in place to address any weaknesses.

3. Invest in Professional Development

Health and physical education, nutrition services, mental health services, and health services staff should be provided with professional development specific to their respective fields to address deficiencies, as well as the time necessary to make improvements.

When we place significant value on student health, we create the circumstances necessary to support student achievement. Students who feel safe, who are healthy and fit, who are able to assert themselves and their needs and avoid the dangers inherent to adolescence — instead making choices that protect their lives now and in the future — are vastly more capable of achieving their potential.

Collectively, with small, precise, and consistent steps, we can ensure students succeed in school and in life.

I encourage you all to begin today.

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Pair this blog post with the following:

More, More, More! or More Better by Jim Davis

Using What We Teach to Build a Champion Mindset by Maria Schneider

From Health Class to the Front Office by Anna Marriott

Why Health Class Might Be the Only Longevity Hack You Need by Andy Milne