Make Wellness the NormWellness 101: Starting on the Path to Wellness

Wellness 201: Creating Champions for Wellness

Wellness 501: Whole-School Wellness

What if...The language of caring conversations and the science of behavior change became a standard part of your school’s curriculum?

What would be different?You would…

» see more smiles and more joy » hear more expressions of kindness, concern, and

respect » notice more cooperation and collaboration » observe students making new friends » recognize students stretching to learn because

they feel accepted and not judged » catch students voicing more positive than

negative thoughts and concerns » witness fewer crises and conflicts because

students are in better control of their feelings

We know this is possible.

At the Institute for Wellness Education, we are making this vision a reality. Our evidence-based Make Wellness

the Norm program is helping students take charge of their lives to do better and be better.

By offering a program that combines social-emotional learning, the science of behavior design, and behavioral economics, we help students boost their personal well-being, improve their relationships with others, increase their confidence and self-efficacy, and express concern for others and the common good.

The language of caring and science of change count because they give students the tools and strategies to engage fully in learning and healthy growth; and ultimately, to craft a life worth living, which after all, is the purpose of education.

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Make Wellness the Norm enhances traditional high school wellness programming and

transforms school culture.

The purpose of Make Wellness the Norm is to help teens address three fundamental questions at the heart of their most pressing, but often unspoken, concerns:

1. Who am I?2. What am I going to do?3. Am I going to make it?

Helping students answer these questions is crucial because students’ overall well-being and success depend on their knowing who they are, what they stand for, and how their actions impact their lives and futures.

Our program starts with where students are “at” and guides them through a structured, evidence-based, reflective, self-change process. Students learn about, and practice, how to use tools and strategies within a science-based framework that helps them align their thinking, feelings, and behavior with positive values, and make the changes necessary to reach goals that are meaningful to them.

Make Wellness the Norm begins with Wellness 101. It is designed to change behavior by boosting motivation; increasing student readiness; showing students how to harness personal, social, and environmental factors that promote change; strengthening commitment; and building self-efficacy.

Scenario-based learning activities give students practice responding to relevant and realistic challenges that are common to today’s teens, including stress, bullying, risky behaviors, unhealthy lifestyle practices, and difficult interpersonal relationships. The program emphasizes practical skills rather than abstract concepts or theories. The strategies, models, and tools are evidence-based, listed or adapted from programs in the US National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP). Make Wellness the Norm works and fits for every school.

Make Wellness the Norm makes change not only possible, but easy. Regardless of where your school is starting on its path to wellness, we can help with the tools and resources to produce the results that make a difference.

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Make Wellness the Norm Promotes Social-Emotional Learning and Trauma-Sensitive Teaching

Social-Emotional Learning

Make Wellness the Norm builds students’ skills in the five core compentencies of social and emotional learning, plus self-regulatory and behavioral skills.

Trauma-Sensitive Teaching

Make Wellness the Norm helps school staff create the physical, social, emotional, academic, and behavioral safety all students need, particularly those students with multiple adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). ACEs include poverty, abuse, neglect; mental illness, addiction, or incarceration of a family member; or divorce or parental death or abandonment.

Self-ManagementManaging emotions and

behaviors to achieve goalsSocial &

Emotional Learning

Relationship SkillsForming positive

relationships, working in teams, dealing effectively

with conflictSocial-Awareness

Showing understanding and empathy for others

Responsible Decision-Making

Making ethical, constructive choices about personal and

social behavior

Self-AwarenessRecognizing one’s emotions and values as well as one’s strengths and challenges

Trauma-Sensitive Teaching

Safety

Collaboration

Choice

Trustworthiness

Empowerment

85% of employers rate social-emotional skills as more important than other specific-job related skills, and half of employers today have trouble filling vacancies because recent grads lack the “soft skills” to do the job.

Nearly one third of students in the US age 12-17 have experienced two or more ACEs. This makes learning difficult and puts students at significantly higher risk for behavioral, physical, and mental health problems as they age.

Program Overview

Wellness 101Starting on the Path to Wellness

Wellness 101: Starting on the Path to Wellness is designed to help students optimize the strengths and skills they already possess, develop new skills, and marshal the social and environmental resources that can significantly boost their success in school and beyond. The program is online and supplemented with personal journals that take students through a structured, science-based, self-change process.

Wellness 101 comprises eight units on key topics that foster a positive mindset and healthy, pro-social behaviors. The program offers schools maximum flexibility because each unit can be offered alone or in different combinations. Units can be incorporated into the regular schedule of classes; offered as electives, during free periods, after school and during summer programs; or as part of guidance and counseling sessions, or college-prep and career- and tech-ed classes.

The units may be taught in sequence or any other way that best suits the unique needs of an individual class, cohort, or school.

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“It’s really helped me manage my anxious mind and all the emotions I feel. It’s really valuable because it affects my

personal life and my school life.” – Student peer coach

Curriculum

Program Components

Wellness 101Starting on the Path to Wellness

UNIT 1. Wellness Counts: Be the Best You Can Be (The Mind-Body Connection) UNIT 2. Changing for Good (Behavioral Wellness)UNIT 3. What I Say Counts (Social Wellness)UNIT 4. What I Tell Myself Counts (Psychological Wellness)UNIT 5. My Feelings Good and Bad (Emotional Wellness)UNIT 6. Living By Strong Values (Spiritual Wellness)UNIT 7. Healthy Choices (Physical and Nutritional Wellness)UNIT 8. Financial Responsibility (Financial Wellness)

Each unit is sold separately as a stand-alone course. Each unit includes:

» 2-hour interactive online course » Participant workbook (fillable and downloadable pdf for each participant) » Teacher’s manual (downloadable pdf) » 60-minute teacher-training webinar » Online outcomes survey for participants » Formal outcomes report (downloadable pdf)

“As educators, we’re concerned not just about the theoretical knowledge; we’re concerned about creating

citizens. This program gives you the opportunity to focus on students’ ethical, social and moral development.”

– High school teacher

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“It’s not just about living your life. It’s about how to live your life better.” – Wellness class participant

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Wellness 101 Curriculum

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Unit 1. Wellness Counts: Be the Best You Can Be (The Mind-Body Connection) This unit introduces students to a holistic model of wellness and helps them recognize that many different factors contribute to their overall well-being. Students conduct self-assessments in each of ten dimensions of wellness and create a personalized plan for maximizing their wellness in all dimensions.

1. Wellness and well-being enable people to live healthy, happy, rewarding lives2. Ten different factors contribute to well-being and they all count3. Measure where you’re at in each of 10 dimensions of wellness4. Make a plan for hitting your target for overall wellness

Unit 2. Changing for Good (Behavioral Wellness) This unit introduces the science of behavior change and gives students a structured model they can use to make positive, lasting change in their lives. The model emphasizes a person-centered approach, helping students to take action based on where they are “at” in the change process, and use personal, social, and environmental strategies to support their change goals. Students can apply the self-change model they learn in this unit to all aspects of their lives.

1. How do people change and make it stick?2. Myths, fables, and misconceptions about change3. Change happens in stages4. Personal, social, and environmental factors count5. Small steps lead to big rewards

Unit 3. What I Say Counts (Social Wellness) Students learn fundamental principles of interpersonal communication and civil discourse, and practice active listening skills to forge healthy relationships based on honesty, respect, and empathy, as they apply at school, home, and on the job.

1. How to talk so people will listen2. How to listen so people will talk3. Words that help, words that hurt4. How to accept what someone says without having to agree5. How being assertive works but being passive or aggressive doesn’t

Unit 4. What I Tell Myself Counts (Psychological Wellness) Students discover how self-talk (positive or negative) affects their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Students learn and practice a cognitive-behavioral model to recognize and evaluate their self-talk and transform negative thinking into positive.

1. The good and bad of self-talk2. Growth mindset3. Basics of the ABCDE model

“The program creates a space where you can just be who you are. You don’t have to worry about always

getting the right answer. You can share what you want and your sharing might help someone else, too.”

– Wellness class participant

Wellness 101 CurriculumUnit 5. My Feelings, Good and Bad (Emotional Wellness) Students learn critical concepts about feelings and how to recognize and manage their feelings, particularly difficult feelings including stress, anger, worry, and fear. Emphasis is on acceptance, self-compassion, and managing feelings honestly and responsibly.

1. Facts about feelings2. Feelings and your body3. Strategies for coping with difficult feelings

Unit 6. Living by Strong Values (Spiritual Wellness) This unit helps students to identify values that are important to them, assess how their behavior aligns with their values, and take steps to achieve goals that reflect healthy, strong values.

1. What are values to live by? (What is honesty, responsibility, caring, respect and why does it count?)2. Connections between values, actions, consequences3. Do your actions match your values?4. Setting and achieving goals to live by strong values

Unit 7. Healthy Choices (Physical and Nutritional Wellness) Most students recognize that healthy eating and physical activity is important, but many do not know how to make manageable changes that are sustainable. This unit applies the science of behavior change to healthy eating and physical activity.

1. What is healthy eating and activity? Why should you care?2. Monitoring and measuring what you eat and how active you are3. Setting goals you can achieve4. Strategies to make change stick

Unit 8. Financial Responsibility (Financial Wellness) Students learn key skills to manage their money rather than allow money to manage them. This unit examines the personal, social, and environmental factors that influence spending and saving behaviors, and teaches students to manage those influences to come out ahead.

1. Budgeting basics: what it is, why, how2. Earning, saving, spending3. Wants vs needs4. Friends or foes, social influence and support5. Making money management pay off long-term

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“Students are building a community together in which they not only feel comfortable sharing, but they feel

encouraged and supported.” – High school teacher

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Wellness 201Creating Champions for Wellness

Choose the Program that Works and Fits for YOur Students and Your School

Program Overview

Wellness 201: Creating Champions for Wellness helps schools set the foundation for a whole-school initiative to improve well-being.

The program is novel because it harnesses the power of peers. First, it trains student leaders as peer coaches. Then, these coaches conduct group wellness sessions for other students. Research in healthcare and social sciences shows that peers can be as, or more effective, than adults in engaging peers in activities that foster social-emotional learning, healthy decision-making, and good self-care.

Wellness 201 training is comprehensive and experiential. It guides students through a self-change process to increase personal well-being in all ten dimensions of wellness. It helps them develop the strong leadership and communication skills they need to lead peers in informal and formal wellness classes and activities. Teachers are trained with the same curriculum as peer coaches so that everyone models the same language and behaviors that foster a culture of caring, collaboration, empathy, respect, and improve well-being for all.

I was skeptical at first, but after trying out some of the strategies, I found

that they were very useful for me, and I made a

huge lifestyle change. I’m much more confident speaking out. I’m really

happy I can communicate with all different

kinds of kids about my experiences and help them learn strategies

that will help them, too. – Student peer coach

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Wellness 501Whole-School Wellness

Program Overview

Wellness 501: Whole-School Wellness gives participants the same science-based skills to improve personal well-being and transform school culture as Wellness 201. The difference is scope and reach. Wellness 501 accelerates the pace and maximizes the benefits of a whole-school approach by including many more students as peer coaches, engaging more participants in wellness activities, training more teachers and staff, and providing multiple levels of support, consulting, and technical assistance.

Learning the language of caring and science of behavior change is simple but not easy. It takes concentrat-ed effort, mentoring, and supervision to develop coaching excellence. Therefore, Wellness 501 offers students rigorous training and abundant opportunities for supervised deliberate practice, rehearsal, and case-based learning in real time. It also offers extensive professional development activities for teachers and staff to optimize 501’s whole-school approach.

Wellness 501 boosts the program’s potential by providing technical assistance to orient all participants, train program supervisors, monitor and assess progress along the way, and measure outcomes.

“It’s very rewarding because I know the skills

I’m helping students learn are skills they’ll use for the rest of their lives.”

– Student peer coach

“It’s really nice to see your coworkers as

students alongside you during the training. It helps build a stronger teacher community.” – High school teacher

Module 1. What Is Wellness? Why Now?Module 2. What Is Wellness Coaching and How Does It Work? The Science of Change and Power of MindsetModule 3. Finding and Using Credible Data to Support Coaching PracticeModule 4. Physical, Nutritional, Medical and Dental Wellness Stages of Change Strategies for ChangeModule 5. Social, Environmental, and Spiritual Wellness Six Sources of InfluenceModule 6. Behavioral/Intellectual and Psychological/Emotional Wellness Self-talk: Turning Positive into NegativeModule 7. Occupational and Financial WellnessModule 8. Coaching Practicum

Topic 1. What Wellness Is and What It Means for Your Success Topic 2. Taking Charge of Your Life: How Behavior Design Helps You Get What You Want Topic 3. Healthy Coping: How to Keep Going When the Going Gets Tough Topic 4. Strong Values and How to Live by Them

Wellness 201 & 501Peer-Coach Training Curriculum

Wellness 201 & 501Topics for Peer-led Activities

“I really listen to people better, respond to people better, and show more openness to people who are

different than me.” – Wellness class participant

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>80% of students said the program was:“worthwhile” “informative” “impactful”

23% called it “life changing”

65% of students reported being better able to:

• Manage difficult feelings and stress

• Treat others more kindly• Manage their workload• Manage interpersonal conflicts

71% of students said the program improved their ability to:

• Be more honest• Listen without judging• Make positive changes in

their lives• Live by healthy values

Make Wellness the NormMakes a Difference!

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How Does Make Wellness the Norm Affect Behavior?

Students also reported engaging in fewer negative and anti-social behaviors, including:

• Using negative self-talk• Texting while driving• Cheating on tests• Engaging in mean gossip

In the two weeks after completing the program, students reported doing many more positive and pro-social behaviors, including:

• Greeting people in the hall• Making new friends• Using SMART goals and Tiny Habits• Starting the day with a positive outlook• Coping with difficult feelings• Using positive self-talk

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“I learned a lot of things that most people would say are common sense but they are really not. This is stuff that goes

a lot deeper.” – Peer coach

IWE set the national standard and created the competencies and curriculum for theUS Department of Labor’s Wellness Coaching Registered Apprenticeship Program.

IWE adapted the apprenticeship curriculum for its Make Wellness the Norm’s school-based program.

201-833-4461 dteplow@instituteforwellness.com https://makewelllnessthenorm.com