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Department Philosophy: The primary goal of our health education curriculum is to influence our students to make responsible physical, mental, emotional and social decisions. To accomplish this, grade appropriate units that correlate to the Massachusetts Comprehensive Health Frameworks were carefully designed for our students. These responsibly crafted units assist students to make proper nutritional choices, understand the dangers of substance use, identify mental health issues and implement appropriate conflict resolution and interpersonal skills. At various points in a student's educational experience they will have the opportunity to study other health topics such as growth and development, reproduction and sexuality, bullying and violence prevention, first aid and CPR, etc. To remain current with continually evolving health education topics, faculty use district specific data gathered by our health services staff and through state and district issued surveys to reflect upon and revise curriculum as students' health education needs change.

Our Faculty:
Ms. Jaime Dwyer (SHS) - jdwyer@scit.org - (781) 545-8767
• What Ms. Dwyer likes most about teaching in Scituate: "Having the opportunity to provide students with health knowledge and the wellbeing skills so they can make good choices makes my job personally rewarding."
• Began teaching in Scituate: 2000
• Extracurricular Involvement: Gates Faculty Team Leader and Bullying Prevention Committee

Ms. Amy Heffernan (SHS) - aheffernan@scit.org - (781) 545-8750 x440 - EdLine

• What Ms. Heffernan likes most about teaching in Scituate: "Is talking with parents and students to learn more about Scituate, so I can use that understanding to shape what we learn about in class. The home, school and community commitment to student wellbeing is energizing."
• Began teaching in Scituate: 2005
• Extracurricular Involvement: Gay/Straight Alliance and the SHS Academic Advisory Program

Mr. Matt Cherner (Gates & SHS) - mcherner@scit.org- (781)545-8750 x346 - EdLine

• What Mr. Cherner likes most about teaching in Scituate: "Working with enthusiastic students that want to learn how to be healthy and take advantage of the strategies we learn in class. Students having health education is vital so they can live a long and healthy life."
• Began teaching in Scituate: 2007
• Extracurricular Involvement: SHS Class of 2011 Advisor and Member of the SHS Restructuring Committee.

Resources & Toolkit:
• District Wellness Policy - Wellness Policy: Scituate Public Schools
• Snacks and A La Carte Evaluator - Nutritional Standards.xls

Helpful Internet Links:
• KidsHealth.org - Very user-friendly website with a variety of elementary and middle school appropriate health & wellness topics.
• Mypyramid.gov - Offers personalized eating plans and lots of interactive tools to help plan and assess food choices based on Dietary Guidelines.
• National Institute on Drug Abuse - Created by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to educate teens on drug use and abuse.
• Sex, Etc. - A leader in teen-to-teen sexuality education. Sex, etc. is an award winning newsletter and was developed by the Network for Family Life Education which is a non-profit organization.
• TeenSafe.org - Teen Safe was produced by the Center for Adolescent Substance Abuse Research (CeASAR) at Children's Hospital Boston. Our purpose is to empower parents to better protect their teenaged children's lives, health, and futures.
• The Nutrition Source - Sponsored by the Harvard School of Public Health, The Nutrition Source provides clear tips for healthy eating and also cuts through common nutritional myths.