Welcome to the very first issue of the Wyoming Healthy Schools Newsletter! I plan to send this out monthly, except for a short break over the summer. Each issue will include upcoming events, opportunities, and resources, plus a brief Diving Deeper feature about a healthy schools topic. This month’s feature is “6 reasons schools are important to health you may not know.” If you have a question related to healthy schools, please let me know, and I’ll do my best to answer it in a future issue. (If you’d rather it’s answered privately, that’s ok, too.) Similarly, please let me know if there’s a topic you’d like to learn more about, or if you have expertise on a healthy schools issue you’d like to share. Our members include students, families, community members, teachers, school staff, and others, so I’ll do my best to include something for everyone in each issue. Your support of healthier schools makes all the difference.
Events, Opportunities, & Resources
Want to connect with others interested in healthier schools? If you haven’t already, join the Wyoming Healthy Schools Facebook Group, https://www.facebook.com/groups/409859487987677/.
Opportunity for energy efficient and healthy schools to receive recognition, deadline 4/5/24, learn more at https://efficienthealthyschools.lbl.gov/20232024-recognition
Resource: Healthy Air Quality in Schools – Tips for Administrators, Custodians, and Teachers; Washington State Department of Health, https://doh.wa.gov/community-and-environment/schools/environmental-health/air-quality
Diving Deeper: 6 reasons schools are important to health you may not know
1. Many students spend the majority of their waking hours at school. While there, they are exposed to many different chemicals—cleaning and disinfecting products, fumes from school supplies (like dry erase and permanent markers), scented products, hand sanitizer, pesticides, art and science materials, off-gassing of new materials, emissions from copiers and printers, fumes from building maintenance activities, additives in processed foods, and more. These chemicals can enter the body by being inhaled, ingested, or absorbed through skin.
2. Indoor air can be up to 100 times more polluted than outdoor air, especially in sealed buildings where windows don’t open.3
3. Children’s unique behaviors, such as putting their hands in their mouths, laying their heads on desks, and sitting on the floor, expose them to more chemicals than adults. Kids also breathe, eat, and drink more in proportion to their body weight than adults, so they are exposed to more chemicals in air, food, and water.3- 7
4. Children are at a greater risk of serious health problems from chemicals because their bodies are still developing, and they’re less able to metabolize, detoxify, and excrete toxins. These health problems can show up immediately or later in life.6-8 Those with pre-existing health concerns are at the greatest risk. Environmentally related diseases in U.S. children cost $76.6 billion per year.5
5. Cancer is the second leading cause of death for kids ages 1-14 in the United States. (Accidents/injuries are the first.) Research suggests environmental contaminants are playing a role. 5, 7, 9
6. That’s a lot of bad news, but the great news is that something can be done about it. Reducing pollution sources at school lowers these risks and can lead to improved student learning, staff performance, and health. It can also reduce absences. 1 Everyone has a role to play in reducing pollution in schools, including families, community members, school staff, and administrators. In future newsletters we’ll get into some specific actions that can help. Don’t want to wait? Visit our website, www.wyominghealthyschools.org, to learn what you can do today.
References can be viewed at https://wyominghealthyschools.org/families-and-community-members/ near the bottom of the page.
Wyoming Healthy Schools 