Saugus board begins wellness outreach

SAUGUS – A new town board will tackle everything from nutrition and obesity to drug and alcohol use, from teen pregnancy to bullying.The School Wellness Advisory Committee met for the first time Wednesday afternoon in a preliminary meeting to discuss goals. School Committee member Corinne Riley led the group and was appointed chairman.?This is a big scope to cover,” said Riley. “We have to start as a committee to look for information and bring it back to the group. This has been mandated by Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, but we?re going to set our own goals of what we want to do and what?s important.”The committee, which must meet a minimum of four times a year, comprises school officials and parents, and is also looking for a student representative.?I invited health officials too,” said Riley. “It?s a community thing. It?s not just a school issue.”Committee member Maria Prisco said she has been teaching her own kids about proper nutrition, something she advocates professionally as a wellness teacher at the Veterans and Waybright elementary schools.?When I taught second grade at the Oaklandvale, I would send out a letter to parents saying what kinds of snacks I didn?t want in my classroom,” said Prisco. “Even on Parent Night I would give them a little semi-nutrition lesson because it affects their learning. It?s huge.”Prisco said some of her students even go on to teach their parents about healthy eating.?I have to start some place, at least I can get the kids to do it,” she said.While proper nutrition is key to fighting childhood obesity, Riley said physical activity is equally as important.?I think we?re pretty good as far as how many kids are in some kind of sport or physical activity at the middle school and high school,” said Riley. “I think we do pretty well, but we should hit the elementary schools to get them started early.”Committee member Jeannie Meredith said with more and more parents using social media, school issues and announcements should be front and center.?In this town there is no excuse to not know what?s going on at any of the schools,” said Meredith.Saugus Youth and Recreation Director Greg Nickolas said after school programs are also important for students? health, especially when it comes to substance abuse. However, Nickolas noted the programs are useless without participation.According to a power point handout from Riley, some of the data the committee will look at includes body mass index for students as they progress through the district, school incident and police reports, information from school nurses and youth risk behavior surveys.Superintendent Richard Langlois appoints members to the board and said it should think about what it wants to accomplish in its first year while also serving as a resource for the school.?I think that would be a healthy beginning to get it off the ground and going,” said Langlois.Any member of the public is welcomed to join the committee, which has yet to be officially appointed.Committee members will come up with goals and discuss them at its next meeting on Nov. 20 at 3 p.m.Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].