Tips for a healthy holiday break

With this nice long school vacation ahead of us here are some tips to stay healthy.
1) Exercise: Get to the gym and get ready for the PACER when you get back.
2) Wash your hands: try to avoid the flu or other bugs going around
3) Snack wisely
4)  Get some R & R
5) Eat till stratified but don't over eat.

See you all in the new year : )

Masala Bhangra New Fitness Trend

Check out this new fitness class. Its called Masala Bhangra, its an India dance fitness class.  I took this class a couple of years ago with the creator and it was awesome.

 

For more information .....
https://masalabhangraworkout.com/

New Fitness Workout

With Thanksgiving right around the corner don't forget to be active and burn off those extra calories. Have you heard of the new fitness workout call "Pound Drumming".

Info from the POUND website
"POUND is a full-body cardio jam session, combining light resistance with constant simulated drumming. The workout fuses cardio, Pilates, isometric movements, plyometrics and Isometric poses into a 45-minute series. Burn between 400 and 900+ calories per hour, strengthen and sculpt infrequently used muscles, and drum your way to a leaner, slimmer physique – all while rocking out to your favorite music!

Through continual upper body motion using our lightly weighted drumsticks, called Ripstix™, you’ll turn into a calorie-torching drummer, POUNDing off pounds as each song flies by. Rock, rap, dubstep, pop and old school music fuse to create the POUNDtrack series, which is hand-selected by music enthusiasts, drummers and POUND founders Kirsten Potenza and Cristina Peerenboom."

What are we up to in Class?

This cycle the 10th grade students are beginning their mental health unit. We are starting off with Stress Management.
The 11th graders are finishing up their unit on substance abuse.
My 10th grade Physical Education class is preparing for their CT fitness test.

inspiration for Monday Morning

Here is inspiration for Monday Morning......
Thomas Edison is the creator of the light bulb who tried thousands of times to develop it and failed. This was his outlook on it.

Youth Matters Event Today

One of my wonderful students is helping organize an event through Youth Matter. The goal of the event is to help young adults find employment opportunities. It is at Gateway Community College starts at 3:30 and has events  till 7:30pm.

Week 3 of Motivation Monday

 

Inspirational Quotes

Cycle Change

Don't forget tomorrow is a cycle change.

Topics for the next cycle

When the freshmen and seniors return they will be covering the following topics.....

Freshmen: Bullying and Sexual Harassment
                 

Seniors: Human Growth and Development

Motivation Monday

New Week, Fresh Start

I decided this year I am going to do "Motivation Monday." I will post a motivational quote to help start you week off on a positive note.

Quote of the Day

 

The New School Year is Here!!!!!!

Start your year off right!

Prom Safety Tips

With the Senior Prom tomorrow night I have put together some safety tips for parents and teens.

Tips for Teens on Prom Safety
*Remember: Underage drinking is illegal and you can get arrested
* Discuss plans with your friends ahead of  and share that information with your parents/guardians.
* Make sure your phone is fully charged in case of an emergency or need to call for a safe ride home
*Pledge to have a safe prom with your friends.
* Plan what you will say if your friends offer you drugs or alcohol. Example: "No thanks, I would like to remember this night".
*Don't drive if your tiered
*Don't get into a vehicle where anyone has been drinking.
*Don't let your friend drive or get into a vehicle where the operator has been drinking
*Know where you are and where you are going at all times
*Trust your instincts- if you feel uncomfortable or endangered, leave and call for help.
*Do not accept any drinks from anyone.
* If you leave your drink, discard it and get a new one.



Tips for Parents on Prom Safety
 *Discuss the school's code of conduct before the prom with your child
*  Know who your child is attending the prom with and events for pre/post prom plans
*Discuss the dangers of drinking and driving along with that underage drinking can lead to arrest.
* Discuss travel plans

For more tips feel free to check out the SADD for more information

http://www.sadd.org/promplan.htm

Hoops for Heart

Have you seen the latest post on the Whitney Tech Hoops for Heart Fundraiser? If not check it out. our students helped raise money for the American Heart Association while staying active. Follow the link to check out the photo's of this great event!

http://www.cttech.org/whitney/academics/news/2014HoopsforHearts/Index.htm

Quarter 3 Projects

For Quarter 3 the students were working on their student portfolios last cycle. I have to say the students did an outstanding job. The 12th graders completed an educational project on the abuse of different drug related topics. The 11th graders made posters and facts sheets on different contraceptive methods.The 10th graders did informative fact sheets on different sexually transmitted diseases. The 9th graders made replicas of the new MyPlate nutrition facts. Our students are very creative and as you can see from the projects below very creative. Way to go Owls!!!!

9th &12th grade Student Projects

For this academic cycle the students are working on the following activities....

9th Health: Students will be working on their nutrition projects that are due at the end of the week. This project integrates the new MyPlate guidelines along with their SuperTracker evaluation which they completed last cycle. This project will be uploaded into their Career Cruising site.

12th Grade: Students will be working on their Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug educational projects. This project will be uploaded into their Career Cruising site.

Student Leadership: My Student Leadership class will be going and visiting their students that they are mentors for this cycle again. The program is going very well and we are looking forward to continuing this program next year.

Student Portfolios in Progress

My 10^th and 11^th graders are currently working on their student portfolio projects that will be uploaded into their career cruiser. The unit of instruction right now is human growth and development. Juniors are working on presenting information on methods of contraception, while sophomores are working on presentations on STD prevention.

Smoking-Related Health Risks

Fox News just reported today that the surgeon general has added more to the list of smoking related health risks. Interesting health news article. This is a good articles for the students to read with their free time and help improve their non-fiction reading skills. It also goes well with the ATOD unit that the 10th grade is currently working on.  
 
Check it out, here is the link....
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/01/17/surgeon-general-report-adds-to-list-smoking-related-health-risks/

9th grade ATOD Quiz This Cycle

Ms. Ruggiero’s 9^th grade classes don’t forget about your quiz next class on ATOD. Important Vocab terms that will be on the quiz(but not limited to) are the following…..

1) Overdose: Taking too much of a drug which can cause death.

2) Addiction: A condition in which a person can no longer control his/her drug use

3) Withdrawal: Uncomfortable symptoms produced when a drug user stops using the drug.

4) Inhalants: A drug that is inhaled as a vapor

5) Hallucinogens: A drug that distorts perceptions, causing the user to see/hear things not real.

6) Opiates: Group of highly addictive drugs derived from the poppy plant.

7) Stimulants: A drug that temporarily increases a person’s energy and alertness

8) Depressants: A drug that causes relaxation and sleepiness

9) Nicotine: The highly addictive drug that is found in all tobacco products

10) Carcinogens: Any chemical that causes cancer