As the school year comes to a close, it is time to show you what our new sixth-grade health classes have been doing across the county. We are thrilled at the success of this course and have heard great things from our students and staff. Traveling around to several schools we have seen some of Pasco County's teachers doing amazing things in their classrooms. For example, Coach Hack at RRMS has created a classroom with flexible seating for his students to feel comfortable and sit where they feel is going to be most conducive for their learning. Then we travel East to CCMS and see how Coach Pelliccia is showing his students instruction on CPR. This course offered a two-day lesson on CPR and it was also implemented at RBSMS with Coach Scheuerman and the help of the school Nurse. There are also exciting things happening at SSMS in Mr. Greens classroom, he has students engaging in reflective practices of mediation to keep their mental health in check! Overall, it has been a great year in the health classrooms in Pasco County Middle Schools.

With the rise of vaping, there is no surprise that the rate of tobacco use is at an all-time high.

According to the 2017 Florida Youth Tobacco Survey, high school students used e-cigarettes at more than three times the rate of conventional cigarettes– 15.7 percent compared to 4.2 percent. The FDOE administers NO-COST Online Tobacco Prevention Training for educators and school nurses through the School District of Palm Beach County. These trainings include information on Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS). Participants can earn 30 or 60 teacher in-service points as approved by the district. The training is highly interactive and multi-media oriented and provides information related to current tobacco and e-cigarette use trend among youth, dangers of youth tobacco use including vaping, and strategies to resist the pressures of marketing and peers. Find attached the course promo flyer.

Registration closes on April 26, 2019 and participants will have until June 6, 2019 to complete the course. Registration can be accessed at:http://www.tobaccopreventiontraining.org/