Young people have an opportunity to make it a beautiful day in their neighborhoods with an activity that asks them to identify what is healthy and unhealthy in their community and develop some ideas about what they can do to fix the...

Seniors work with teachers, counselors, and administrators to organize a community wellness fair. Committees take on the responsibility for the various tasks (publicity, set up, hospitality room, agency contact, thank you letters, etc.)....

Sexual harassment and sexual violence are by no means new issues. What has changed is the role of social media in these issues. This powerful and troubling lesson uses a specific rape case to launch research into a discussion of the...

Young scholars determine a working definition of class in order to determine how social class can affect personal health. They research their own nutritional needs and work to encourage healthy change in their communities.

Middle schoolers learn how to protect themselves from risky behaviors with a lesson that has them role play several scenarios and demonstrate ways that they might do to stay safe. Class members then use what they have learned to build a...

Having a strong and supportive community is key for adolescent success. Teenagers explore the circles of their own communities, including the rights and responsibilities of being in their families, peer relationships, and their country,...

What are your values? Where did you learn them? How are they reflected in your everyday life? Middle and high schoolers reflect on their personal and community values with a variety of group activities.

As high schoolers seek to grow more and more independent, they must constantly make choices. Some options are healthy and some not so much. To begin the discussion, class members are asked to identify five safe and healthy (or...

Peers can exert tremendous pressure that can lead to positive and negative consequences. To conclude the Risky Business unit, class members create a Personal Safety Plan. They list things or situations that cause stress, things they have...

Opioid abuse is becoming a national crisis, but combating the influence of opioids requires examining the ways it affects individual communities. A thorough teacher guide provides step-by-step instructions about implementing an...

A "Causes of the Causes" diagram enables class members to examine the contributing factors to a problem. After reading a poem that models the process, class members, either in gorps or individually, diagram an issues they are passionate...

Using an Equity Impact Review (EIR) tool, developed by Washington state's King County to "identify, evaluate, and communicate issues of equity when making a decision," class members design a GSI program for two Seattle neighborhoods.

Take the time to teach learners with moderate disabilities how to identify recyclable materials. They learn how to recycle as a mode of social responsibility and community involvement. They practice identifying and sorting recyclable...

Exploitation is a real issue for the disabled community. Secondary Special Education students learn what exploitation is, their personal rights, and how to say no. They focus on finding a trusted adult to get help if they have been taken...

The focus of the fourth unit in the Youth Risk Behavior Survey Curriculum is on healthy eating and exercise. Class members examine healthy habits data from the YRBD Youth Online Tool, learn about the importance of a healthy diet and...

Learners research ways to help a women's shelter in a service project. In this service project lesson, students develop ways to meet needs of a women's shelter. Learners select a need, plan, and conduct a service project to meet that need.

Kids engage in a series of activities that ask them to consider differences and similarities in characteristics, both visible and invisible. With this new understanding, the class investigates the Special Olympics program and develops...

The teenage years are tough. Internal and external pressures lead 1 in 15 high schoolers to attempt suicide. Two activities focusing on suicide prevention provide class members with information about when and how to get help for...

Scholars become STAR deputies in a lesson that encourages them to be problem-solvers. Small groups gather to complete a worksheet by answering questions. A discussion presents a scenario in which a problem occurs on the playground. Small...

Members of the LGBTQ community are more likely to be bullied online than their peers—and bystanders who do nothing can be as problematic as the bullies themselves. Middle schoolers explore ways to protect themselves and others on the...

To get the word out about the realities of teens and tweens drinking alcohol, class members engage in two activities. For the first, groups design highway billboards about the dangers of alcohol drinking. Class members then create a...

The final lesson in a series of 10 focusing on Social, Physical, Emotional, Cognitive and Spiritual (SPECS) health investigates the effects of legal and illegal substances, their risks, and the consequences of their misuse.

Ninth graders consider how perceived standards of beauty influence body image as well as the relationship between body image and eating disorders. The class brainstorms traits the media presents as beauty standards for males and females,...

There are a lot of myths and misinformation out there about mental illness. Help set the record straight with a resource that debunks the falsehoods and provides high schoolers with accurate and important information about the various...