On the heels of the Wellness Committee's tasting of the greens event this past Friday, we present a national wellness issue as spearheaded locally by Heather MacIntosh, the Wellness Committee Chair. Please consider signing the petition below which is working toward making High School start times later than 7:17am.
Deirdre
Sign
the petition for Start School Later: The Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) have linked sleep deprivation in teens to a host of physical
and mental health problems, including an increased risk of depression, suicidal
thoughts, obesity, substance abuse, and other risky behaviors. Further,
studies link more sleep to academic success. Click
here for just the latest article in a growing body of work on the importance of
sleep in students. Healthy sleep schedules, along with exercise and
good nutrition, make up the three essential ingredients. Anne Arundel County
has the earliest High School start time in Maryland (7:17 a.m. with bus
pick-ups as early as 6:00). Our High Schools start time is among the
earliest in the country!
As
well as working on the national level meeting with federal health and education
groups and pursue legislation to set a minimum healthy start time across the
country, there is a local chapter working to try and budge AACPS on this issue
and make a positive change for our own kids.
We
have a brand new petition, on Signon.org, and I would really appreciate it if
you would take a look. There is background information on the petition itself
and an easy way to share through Facebook, twitter and email.
If you support the idea, please sign and pass it on to
as many of your contacts and networks of friends and colleagues as you
can. Ignore the request for $5 for SignOn, unless you’re interested, and
feel free to opt out of future mailings – if you’d like to hear more about
Start School Later, please visit the website at www.startschoollater.net
and join the newsletter mailing list.Thank you,
Heather MacIntosh
Wellness Chairperson
Bates Middle School
