In the United States, more than 30 percent of teachers leave the profession within five years. In urban areas, attrition rates are even higher. Clearly, we need to invest in teachers to ensure that they stay focused and fresh and have opportunities to renew their passion for the profession, because teachers cannot share enthusiasm for learning with students when they simply feel tired and overburdened.
ASCD's Whole Child Initiative calls for students to be healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged. Part of the Whole Child Initiative is the Healthy School Communities pilot program, a grant-sponsored effort by ASCD that was initiated in spring 2006 to promote the integration of health and learning. The 11 pilot sites in North America that participate in the Healthy Schools Network receive resources to expand their capacity to teach students about healthy living and to engage the local community in providing services for children. (For more information about the Healthy School Communities Initiative, read "Healthy School Communities Pilot Program Enters Second Year" in the April 2008 issue of Education Update.)
One key component of a healthy school culture is supporting and facilitating the physical and mental health and well-being of educators to assure high-level job performance and healthy role models. Momentum is building for teacher renewal opportunities as educational leaders in many states form partnerships to support teachers.
One exciting partnership in South Carolina will create a Teacher Renewal Center over the next year with a $10 million donation in cash and prime real estate from developer Jim Anthony. The center, a collaborative effort of Anthony, the State Department of Education, and Clemson University, will provide transformative professional development for practicing K–12 teachers. At the center, they can renew, reflect on, and revise goals and develop new strategies for helping students. The center will offer a place for groups of 20 to 25 teachers to participate in weeklong, residential, nature-based programs and, simultaneously, for students to participate in experience-based learning.
South Carolina State Superintendent Jim Rex says that he hopes the Teacher Renewal Center will help "elevate and reinvigorate the teaching profession." The goal of investing in teachers' health and mental renewal is to help them reconnect with the core reasons they chose teaching as a career. Investing in teachers will yield huge dividends as they share their learning with students.
The Teacher Renewal Center is not Anthony's first foray into educational support. Four years ago he formed a nonprofit organization that developed ZestQuest, a curriculum that emphasizes nutrition and exercise. Placing wellness coaches in local elementary schools to foster teacher and staff wellness, the ZestQuest program has served 13 schools and reached 7,000 students.
Similar to these innovative programs in South Carolina, the Healthy School Communities pilot program directly supports the commitment of ASCD's Whole Child Initiative to encourage students to adopt healthy lifestyles. Development of programs like ZestQuest and partnerships that yield opportunities like the Teacher Renewal Center are examples of the way the Whole Child compact is creating better learning communities.