Description
Part I. Setting the Foundation for Skills-Based Health Education
Chapter 1. Understanding a Skills-Based Approach
Incorporation of Sociocultural and Sociopolitical Context
Alignment With the National Health Education Standards
Skill Development and Assessment
Participatory Methods
Functional Information
Chapter 2. Designing Your Health Curriculum
Six Steps of Curriculum Design
Using This Text
Part II. Skills in the Classroom
Chapter 3. Accessing Valid and Reliable Resources
Skill Overview
Skill Cues
Unit Outline
Assessment Description and Rubric
Lesson Plans
Lesson 1: What Do I Know About Mental Health?
Lesson 2: ACCESS
Lesson 3: Prevalence of Mental Health Conditions
Lesson 4: Root Causes
Lesson 5: Mental Health Jigsaw Part 1
Lesson 6: Mental Health Jigsaw Part 2
Lesson 7: Getting Help
Lesson 8: Connecting With Community Resources
Lessons 9 and 10: Assessment
Chapter 4. Understanding and Analyzing Influences on Health Behaviors
Skill Overview
Skill Cues
Unit Outline
Assessment Description and Rubric
Lesson Plans
Lesson 1: Influences? What Influences?
Lesson 2: Exploring the Impact of Influences
Lesson 3: (Re)Defining Health-Promoting Eating Habits
Lesson 4: Exploring Influences Through Children’s Books
Lesson 5: My Food Story
Lesson 6: Influence of Location and Culture
Lesson 7: Food Availability
Lesson 8: Food Justice
Lesson 9: Influences All Around
Lesson 10: Summative Assessment
Chapter 5. Using Interpersonal Communication for Health and Wellness
Skill Overview
Skill Cues
Unit Outline
Assessment Description and Rubric
Lesson Plans
Lesson 1: Effective Communication
Lesson 2: Digging Deeper
Lesson 3: Practicing Communication
Lesson 4: Let’s Practice
Lesson 5: Exploring Relationships
Lesson 6: Cultivating Compassion
Lesson 7: Setting and Maintaining Boundaries
Lesson 8: Unsafe or Unsupportive Relationships
Lesson 9: Health-Promoting or Unsafe or Unsupportive?
Lesson 10: Summative Assessment
Chapter 6. Decision-Making for Positive Health Outcomes
Skill Overview
Skill Cues
Unit Outline
Assessment Description and Rubric
Lesson Plans
Lesson 1: Exploring Decisions
Lesson 2: Decision-Making and the Teen Brain
Lesson 3: We’re the Experts
Lesson 4: Sharing Our Learning
Lesson 5: Leveraging the Teen Brain
Lesson 6: Exploring the “I” in DECIDE
Lesson 7: Making Thoughtful Decisions
Lesson 8: Health-Promoting Decisions About ANOD Part 1
Lesson 9: Health-Promoting Decisions About ANOD Part 2
Lesson 10: Summative Assessment
Chapter 7. Setting Goals for Digital Well-Being
Skill Overview
Skill Cues
Unit Outline
Assessment Description and Rubric
Lesson Plans
Lesson 1: My Health, My Vision
Lesson 2: Let’s Get GOALing
Lesson 3: Impacts of Our Digital World
Lesson 4: Mind Control
Lesson 5: Teen Voices
Lesson 6: Digital Well-Being: Define and Describe
Lesson 7: Digital Well-Being: Values Clarification
Lesson 8: Tech Check
Lesson 9: Habits and Goals
Lesson 10: Summative Assessment
Chapter 8. Developing Health Practices and Behaviors
Skill Overview
Skill Cues
Unit Outline
Assessment Description and Rubric
Lesson Plans
Lesson 1: Practicing Health Behaviors
Lesson 2: Character Strengths
Lesson 3: Purpose
Lesson 4: Affirmations
Lesson 5: Well-Being Day
Lesson 6: Community Connections
Lesson 7: Thriving Together
Lesson 8: Accessing Valid and Reliable Resources
Lesson 9: Building a Plan
Lesson 10: Reflecting on Your Well-Being Toolkit
Chapter 9. Advocating for Yourself and Others
Skill Overview
Skill Cues
Unit Outline
Assessment Description and Rubric
Lesson Plans
Lesson 1: An Introduction to Health Advocacy
Lesson 2: Starting With You!
Lesson 3: Self-Advocacy Role Plays
Lesson 4: What Is Public Health?
Lesson 5: Investigating Assumptions
Lesson 6: Investigating Possibilities
Lesson 7: Advocacy in Action: Getting the Facts
Lesson 8: Advocacy in Action: Know Your Audience and Strategy
Lesson 9: Advocacy in Action: Taking Action
Lesson 10: Advocacy in Action: Celebrate and Share
Sarah Benes, EdD, MPH, CHES, is an assistant professor and the coordinator of the school health education program at Southern Connecticut State University. She earned a BS in athletic training at University of Connecticut, an EdM in human movement from Boston University in 2006, and an EdD in curriculum and teaching from Boston University in 2010. In 2021, she also completed a master’s degree in public health. She worked as a graduate assistant athletic trainer and an assistant athletic trainer at Boston University before transitioning to teaching full time and running the physical and health education programs for six years. Benes then held a position as an associate clinical professor in the School of Health Sciences at Merrimack College.
Benes’ research and scholarship interests include skills-based health education, equity and justice in health education, physical activity in the classroom, and enhancing school-based physical and health education programming. She is a past president of SHAPE America, after serving on the board for three years and serving as chair of the Health Education Council. She has done curriculum development with many districts in Massachusetts, has conducted skills-based health education professional development in multiple states across the country and internationally, and has written more than a dozen health education presentations and publications. She currently lives in Natick, Massachusetts, with her husband and two daughters. She enjoys yoga and meditation, reading, hiking, and going on adventures with her family.
Holly Alperin, EdM, MCHES, is a clinical associate professor at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) with over 20 years’ experience in both public health and education. As a faculty member and program coordinator of the department of kinesiology’s health and physical education teacher preparation program, she focuses on preparing preservice educators to teach using a skills-based approach. Prior to UNH, she worked at the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in a variety of roles that supported schools in their efforts to strengthen policies and increase capacity around school health education and programs, school nutrition programs, and professional learning experiences for educators.
Through her work at the local, state, national, and international levels, Alperin provides guidance to schools as they create a culture of health and well-being for each student—both in the health education classroom and throughout the school. In addition to other volunteer roles, she is the past vice president of health education for New Hampshire Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance; served on the task force to revise the National Health Education Standards; and is the past chair of the Health Education Council for SHAPE America.
Alperin received her master’s in education in policy, planning, and administration from Boston University and her bachelor’s degree in health education and health promotion from Central Michigan University. She holds the Master Certified Health Education Specialist (MCHES) credential. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband and two daughters. In her free time, you can likely find her in the mountains or at the beach enjoying the best New England has to offer.