Guiding Principles
Health courses focus on the core concepts of the MA Health frameworks: health literacy, healthy self-management, and health promotion. The guiding principle is that health education enables students to maintain a positive attitude and healthy body, and by doing so, improves a student’s ability to thrive and persevere. Students work to develop strategies to improve personal, family and community health, practice skills, analyze information, and identify health care services needed throughout their lifetime to promote and maintain good health. The courses support and advance both the mission statement and student expectations of Hingham High School.
Through health literacy, healthy self-management skills, and health promotion, the health education courses teach fundamental concepts, promote habits and conduct that enhance health and wellness, and guide efforts to build healthy families, relationships, schools, and communities.
Health education in grades 7 and 8 will comprise one-fourth of the physical education requirement. A separate health grade is given to all students who attend a health class every other day for one term in lieu of a physical education class.
At HHS health education is a one-semester course designed for sophomores. Successful completion of this course is a graduation requirement.
Objectives:
- To understand the implications, interrelationships and benefits of emotional, social and physical health
- To assess personal health risks and increase knowledge to make health enhancing decisions
- To identify health care services necessary to maintain good health now and in the future
- To find and accurately interpret health information in order to improve one’s health.
- To practice skills that promote and protect health
- To examine the influence of peer, family and community factors on personal health
- To use technology to assess health and create strategies for life-long health maintenance
- To increase awareness of community resources that support health challenges