Students to Learn Health Education at FHS

Future students attending Foxborough High School will have a new graduation requirement: Completing two courses of health education.

During Monday night's school board meeting, committee members approved phasing in two sections of health education, which will be taught to sophomores and freshmen. Currently, health education is not taught in any form to high school students. Instead, there are only two wellness classes, each based in physical fitness. 

"I was surprised that a good majority of our students don't have a basic knowledge of, or understanding about their own body," high school wellness teacher Janelle Erskine told the board. "I had a student just the other day ask me a question about menstruation, and I tried to answer her, assuming she had basic knowledge about her own body, but she didn't."

The school board approved a general overview of the course,which would consist of teaching mental health, eating disorders, suicide prevention, stress and time management techniques, CPR, nutrition and weight management, human growth and development, sexually transmitted diseases, prevention of dating violence, bullying and cyber bullying, alcohol and how to access reliable health information and resources. The class is designed to help students gain an understanding of health concepts and skills and to apply them in making healthy decisions to improve personal and family health. 

"I think teaching (health education) went by the wayside because of the massive budget cuts we had in 2004," explained committee member Martha Slattery.

The curriculum would be skills-based, where students would work on refusing techniques to develop good habits, Erskine said. The program would not teach students about alcohol and drugs in detail; rather, students would learn how to make the right decision should they be put in a position where those substances were offered. 

"This is long overdue," said committee member Kate Kominsky. "We need this regardless (of the budget) and we need to stand up and explain to the public that this is needed, and not just as a part-time position."

The current wellness teachers will offer the health education courses, but only in a part-time capacity. Their responsibilities shifted to allow implementation of the program without bringing on another full-time staff member.

"I think this is just the right start," said Debra Spinelli, schools superintendent. "It's a conservative plan that we can hopefully add on to in the future."

Specifics about the course will be discussed during the January school board meeting when Foxborough High School Principal Jeffrey Theodoss presents the course descriptions.