Springing into Healthy Habits

This spring, Ranney School is running a special Healthy Habits for Life campaign that aims to educate students, faculty and staff – as well as the local community – about the benefits of physical fitness, safety and healthy eating. Several events have been built into the two-month-long campaign, which kicked off February 27, with a Helmet Safety program and will conclude on Sunday, April 19 with a community-wide Health Fair sponsored by Monmouth Medical Center’s Unterberg Children’s Hospital.

Ranney families and area residents are invited to the Ranney School campus in Tinton Falls for the special Health Fair on Sunday, April 19, from 1-3 p.m. Put on by and in support of the Unterberg Children’s Hospital at Monmouth Medical Center, the early afternoon event will feature interactive learning experiences with pediatric specialists in neurology, blood disorders, cardiology, allergy and more; healthy snacks sponsored by Whole Foods Middletown; music lessons by Little Rockers in Red Bank; child yoga lessons by EvenFlow Yoga Studio in Red Bank; a tour of the Monmouth Medical Center’s ambulance; and a live Story Pirates performance. Story Pirates is a national education and media organization; the actors will perform an interactive comedy musical based on health and wellness stories written by children from around the region. The performance is aimed at children ages 3-12. The fair and performance are $25 for adults and $15 for children 12 and under; all proceeds will benefit The Unterberg Children’s Hospital. To purchase tickets or submit your child’s story, which may be picked up and performed by the Story Pirates, visit www.barnabashealth.org/uchlc. 

 

In addition to the fair, Ranney School’s Healthy Habits for Life campaign has involved a helmet safety assembly for grade 4-8 students led by the Jersey Shore University Medical Center in collaboration with the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office and the Brain Injury Association; a healthy breakfast week in connection with National Healthy Breakfast in School Week and Healthy Eating in Schools Month; a Kessler Institute “THINKFirst” program, focusing on injury prevention of the brain and spinal cord (the program incorporated the importance of safe driving, including avoiding texting while driving); and a visit from the Tooth Fairy and Sea Girt Dentistry about dental health for younger students. Coming up in April, students will plant new vegetables in the school’s campus garden and participate in an assembly by the New Jersey Playwright Theater regarding bullying and additional social-emotional issues.

 

“This school-wide initiative brings student health and wellness to the forefront of school planning as a way to incorporate daily physical activity and healthy choices into our students’ school lives,” explains Kathleen Deeken, Ranney School’s director of student support services. “Creating a wellness environment where physical fitness, proper nutrition and sound social choices are part of a designed curriculum for children of all ages enhances student academic learning and social-emotional resiliency—strengths that establish a ‘wellness for life’ attitude.”

Overall, these events aim to educate students—using practical applications and examples—about the importance of developing healthy habits. Please mark your calendars for the April 19 family and community Health Fair and read more about Ranney's Health & Wellness programs here.