Health Education

Health Education at SMS | Health Education at SHS

Health Education Curriculum

Health Education at Shaker Middle School

All students study one quarter of health on an every other day basis opposite physical education in grades 6-8. This NYSED mandated course is based on NYS and national standards with an emphasis on social-emotional learning.

Shaker Middle School Health Education includes the age-appropriate study of self-management, personal values, communication, decision-making, drug use/abuse, mental wellness and stress management, HIV/AIDS, relationship management, and adolescent changes. The goal of the course is to provide students with the knowledge and skills needed to live a healthy life.

Visit the Shaker Middle School Health Education website.

Sixth Grade

Students will:

Identify the differences between social, emotional, and physical health as they assess their own physical, social and mental health
Develop organizational and time management skills
Understand risk taking behaviors and the effects of positive risk taking
Identify the different styles of communication focusing on assertive communication and refusal skills as a way to address peer pressure
Familiarize themselves with the idea of personal responsibility and students’ contribution to their world
Demonstrate respect for others by contributing to the well-being of their school and community
Recognize internet and social media safety and responsibility
Explore the emotional changes behind puberty and demonstrate respect and awareness of other people’s emotion and perspectives
Learn to self regulate their emotions and develop strategies to express their emotions in a healthy and constructive way.

Seventh Grade

Students will:

Recognize personal strengths and weaknesses
Understand steps to planning and goal setting
Learn effective ways to communicate
Practice the ability to be assertive, including the use of refusal skills
Develop skills in decision making
Recognize signs of peer pressure and practice strategies to combat the pressure
Identify their personal/family values and how they can impact and support future healthy behaviors
Explore the risks associated with illicit drug use on the adolescent brain
Explore the spectrum of changes adolescents experience during puberty
Introduce risk reduction and prevention strategies for HIV and AIDS with an emphasis of abstinence from risky behaviors

Eighth Grade

Students will:

Identify factors to increase longevity
Discuss online behavior related to personal values
Analyze personal stressors and stress management strategies
Recognize risk factors for mental health and sources of support
Identify the impact of substance abuse
Review and examine HIV/AIDS information and prevention with an emphasis on abstinence from risky behaviors
Consider the signs of a healthy relationship and how to communicate wants and needs related to personal values
Reflect on one’s personal health and wellness, highlighting progress and future goals

Adaptive/Special Class Health

This course is specific to students enrolled in our 6-8th grade “functional life skills” program.

Students will build skills in positive health behaviors with an emphasis on personal hygiene, interpersonal communication, and developmental changes. Students will be exposed to content at a developmentally appropriate level.

Health Education at the High School Level

Health is a condition of well-being that is required for the development of each individual and for society as a whole. Optimal health is dependent upon one’s knowledge, attitudes and behaviors. The Health course is aligned with the NYS learning standards and the Guidance Document and is approved by the North Colonie Board of Education. The Health curriculum is structured around the overarching skills of Self-Management and Relationship Management and is supported through the development of Planning and Goal Setting, Decision Making, Communication, Stress Management, and Advocacy. Topics are presented in connection to a specific skill area. The instructional focus is on promoting abstinence and to provide accurate, age appropriate information to support student’s ability to make informed decisions, to problem solve, to be safe and to achieve a high level of wellness. Health is offered during the sophomore year and students are required to pass this course in order to graduate. Students entering Shaker High School after 10th grade will be required to take Health unless the requirement was fulfilled in a previous school.

High School Health

Either semester, 1/2 unit. Prerequisite: None.
Students will:

Identify factors to increase longevity
Predict short- and long term benefits and harmful consequences of behaviors based on a personal health and safety assessment
Make a personal commitment to achieve a personal health goal
Apply a decision making model to real-life health-related situations
Identify healthy nutrition and physical activity strategies
Demonstrate proper hands-only CPR steps
Employ active listening and response skills in health-enhancing ways
Apply effective verbal (assertiveness) and non-verbal verbal communication skills in real-life health situations
Demonstrate strategies to prevent and manage conflict in healthy ways
Take a clear health-enhancing stand while persuading a target audience to support or act on the health-enhancing issue
Review and examine HIV/AIDS information
Consider the signs of a healthy dating relationship and reiterate abstinence