Healthy Okaloosa Schools

The Healthy Okaloosa 5210 Initiative focuses on:

1. Limiting unhealthy choices for snacks and celebrations
2. Limiting or eliminating sugary drinks and promoting water
3. Prohibiting the use of food as a reward
4. Providing opportunities to get physical activity every day
5. Limiting recreational screen time
6. Participating in local, state, and national initiatives that support healthy eating and active living
7. Engaging community partners
8. Partnering with and educate families in adopting and maintaining a lifestyle that supports healthy eating and active living
9. Implementing a staff wellness program
10. Collaborating with food and nutrition programs
11. Eliminating tobacco use
12. Promotion and support of breastfeeding

Our goal is to empower our partners to protect and promote health by providing them with personalized services that supplement and build upon their school’s established knowledge and strengths.

We work with our partners to implement sustainable policy and environmental strategies that support healthy behaviors. We help our partners assess their school environment, identify areas for improvement, and implement an action plan to meet their unique goals.

Your school must submit a partnership agreement form each school year to participate in Healthy Okaloosa Schools. The completed partnership agreement form can be emailed to Okaloosa-SchoolHealth@FLHealth.gov or faxed to 850-833-9258. The partnership agreement form may be completed online. 

Healthy Okaloosa Schools partners have the opportunity to become certified each school year. To become a certified Healthy Okaloosa School, partners must:

1. Implement one actionable school-based goal every two years to promote health and wellness behaviors.
2. Implement one parent engagement activity annually to provide education on health and wellness.
3. Implement one whole school activity annually to support health and wellness behaviors.
4. Complete the Healthy School Team Monitoring Tool annually.
5. Provide documentation of health promotion activities.

2022-2023

Antioch Elementary School, Baker School, Bob Sikes Elementary School, Crestview High School, Destin Middle School, Elliott Point Elementary School, Fast Track North, Florosa Elementary School, Fort Walton Beach High School, Laurel Hill School, Liza Jackson Preparatory School, Longwood Elementary School, Mary Esther Elementary School, Northwest Florida Ballet Academie School, Okaloosa STEMM Academy School, Plew Elementary School, Pryor Middle School, Richbourg School, Riverside Elementary School, Ruckel Middle School, Shoal River Middle School, Silver Sands School, Walker Elementary School

2021-2022

Antioch Elementary School, Bob Sikes Elementary School, Crestview High School, Destin Middle School, Edwins Elementary School, Elliott Point Elementary School, Florosa Elementary School, Fort Walton Beach High School, Kenwood Elementary School, Longwood Elementary School, Mary Esther Elementary School, Niceville Senior High School, Okaloosa STEMM Center, Plew Elementary School, Pryor Middle School, Richbourg School, Ruckel Middle School, Shalimar Elementary School, Shoal River Middle School, Silver Sands School, Walker Elementary School, Wright Elementary School

2020-2021

Antioch Elementary School, Baker School, Bob Sikes Elementary School, Crestview High School, Davidson Middle School, Destin Elementary School, Destin Middle School, Edwins Elementary School, Elliott Point Elementary School, Kenwood Elementary School, Longwood Elementary School, Mary Esther Elementary School, Plew Elementary School, Shoal River Middle School, Silver Sands School

2019-2020

No certifications issued for this cycle

2018-2019

Antioch Elementary School, Bob Sikes Elementary School, Bruner Middle School, Choctawhatchee High School, Crestview High School, Davidson Middle School, Destin Elementary School, Destin Middle School, Edwins Elementary School, Elliott Point Elementary School, Florosa Elementary School, Fort Walton Beach High School, Kenwood Elementary School, Lewis School, Longwood Elementary School, Mary Esther Elementary School, Meigs Middle School, Niceville High School, Plew Elementary School, Pryor Middle School, Riverside Elementary School, Ruckel Middle School, Shalimar Elementary School, Shoal River Middle School, Walker Elementary School, Wright Elementary School

2017-2018

Bruner Middle School, Choctawhatchee High School, Crestview High School, Davidson Middle School, Destin Elementary School, Edwins Elementary School, Elliott Point Elementary School, Florosa Elementary School, Fort Walton Beach High School, Kenwood Elementary School, Lewis School, Longwood Elementary School, Niceville High School, Plew Elementary School, Pryor Middle School, Riverside Elementary School, Ruckel Middle School, Shalimar Elementary School, Shoal River Middle School, Walker Elementary School

2016-2017

Bruner Middle School, Crestview High School, Destin Elementary School, Edwins Elementary School, Elliott Point Elementary School, Florosa Elementary School, Kenwood Elementary School, Lewis School, Longwood Elementary School, Mary Esther Elementary School, Meigs Middle School, Niceville High School, Plew Elementary School, Riverside Elementary School, Ruckel Middle School, Shalimar Elementary School, Shoal River Middle School, Walker Elementary School

2015-2016

Destin Elementary School, Eglin Elementary School, Kenwood Elementary School, Lewis School, Longwood Elementary School, Mary Esther Elementary School, Niceville High School, Riverside Elementary School, Walker Elementary School

• Area Health Education Center
• Crestview Dental Center
• Florida Heiken Children’s Vision Program
• Okaloosa County School District
• Okaloosa County Tobacco Free Partnership
• Parents Against Vaping
• Students Working Against Tobacco
• Tobacco Prevention Program

Healthy Okaloosa 5210 Initiative

The Healthy Okaloosa 5210 Initiative focuses on spreading a common message to improve the health of families and children throughout communities, where families live, learn, work, and play.

• Action for Healthy Kids – Brings parents and educators together and equips them with the tools and resources they need to support happier, healthier kids.
• Choose MyPlate – Offers ideas and tips to help you create a healthier eating style that meets your individual needs and improves your health.
• Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program – Provides WIC participants with coupons that can be used to purchase locally grown Florida fruits and vegetables. 
• Fresh Access Bucks – Fresh Access Bucks (FAB) increases the purchasing power of SNAP recipients to buy fresh fruits and vegetables.
• Fresh from Florida – Provides information on in season food, recipes, gardening, and more.
• GoNoodle – Fuels student engagement, behavior, and achievement with core-aligned physical activity breaks.
• KidsHealth – Provides dependable information on children’s health, behavior, and development from before birth through the teen years.
• Living Healthy in Florida – Collaborative effort to communicate consistent information to Florida’s children, families, and seniors about healthy eating, good nutrition, and active living.
• MouthHealthy – Helps others understand oral health by providing reliable resources, activity sheets, and lesson plans.
• National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education – Collection of national standards promoting healthy weight, best practices in nutrition, physical activity, and screen time for early care and education programs.
• Produce for Better Health Foundation – Offers expert advice, nutrition and storage information, shopping tips, healthy menus and recipes, kid-friendly recipes and healthy tips, as well as ways to save money using fruits and veggies.
• Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – Offers nutrition assistance to millions of eligible, lower income individuals and families.
• Team Nutrition – Supports the child nutrition programs through training and technical assistance for food service, nutrition education for children and their caregivers, and school and community support for healthy eating and physical activity.
• Women, Infants, and Children – Provides supplemental foods, health care referrals, and nutrition education for lower income pregnant, breastfeeding, and non-breastfeeding postpartum women, and infants up to children age five who are found to be at nutritional risk.

• Water and Healthier Drinks – Federal resource about the benefits of drinking water and limiting sugary drinks.
• ChangeLab Solution – Works with neighborhoods, cities, and states to create thriving communities. This resource contains model goals and actions to help overcome barriers around sugary drinks.
• FACTS – Provides a comprehensive review of the marketing techniques and nutritional quality of food and beverages targeted to children, teens, and parents.
• Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health – Resource about the benefits of drinking water and limiting sugary drinks.
• Healthy Food America – The Sugar Advocacy Toolkit is a resource designed to keep your sugar consumption at a healthy level.
• Children’s Dental Health – Provides resources to parents about how to care for the children’s oral health and overall wellness.

• Active Schools – Integrates evidence-based physical activity programs into PK-12 education.
• Federal Physical Activity Resources – Contains information on physical activity needs and benefits, data and statistics, community strategies, walking, and worksite physical activity.
• GoNoodle – Fuels student engagement, behavior, and achievement with core-aligned physical activity breaks.
• Green Strides – Drives the transformation of all schools into sustainable and healthy learning environments. This website provides resources, webinars, case studies, promising practices and collaboration.
• Healthy Kids, Healthy Future – Offers childhood obesity prevention resources and tools to assist childcare and preschool providers.
• KidsHealth – Provides dependable information on children’s health, behavior, and development from before birth through the teen years.
• Move Your Way – Provides tools, videos, and fact sheets on this page have tips that make it easier to get a little more active.
• National Center for Safe Routes to School – Facilitates communities in becoming places for safe walking, biking and rolling for everyone, starting with children and the trip to school. 
• National Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education – Collection of national standards promoting healthy weight describing evidence-based best practices in nutrition, physical activity, and screen time for early care and education programs.
• SHAPE America – Sets national priorities and develops policies related to active play, physical activity, high quality outdoor play spaces, and learning environments, along with proper nutrition.
• Small Steps to Living Healthy – Virtual program that allows Floridians to sign up for weekly tips and tricks delivered directly to their email.

• Be Internet Awesome – Teaches kids the fundamentals of digital citizenship and safety so they can explore the online world with confidence.
• Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood – Supports parents’ efforts to raise healthy families by limiting commercial access to children and ending the exploitive practice of child targeted marketing.
• Common Sense Media – Evaluates popular applications and edtech products so parents and educators can make informed choices about the media and tech they use with kids and prepares students to make smart choices online and in life, supports teachers with training and recognition.
• Screen-Free Week – In the first week of May, children, families, and communities around the world will rediscover the joys of life beyond the screen. Unplug from digital entertainment and spend your free time playing, reading, daydreaming, creating, exploring, and connecting with family and friends.

• Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids – Provides free tobacco cessation services in your area. 
• Florida Tobacco Prevention Training – Provides Florida educators and school nurses with tobacco and vaping prevention lessons.
• Great America SmokeOut – The American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout event is the third Thursday in November to encourage smokers to give up smoking.
• Live Vape Free – Provides teens with interactive content and one-on-one coach support to help them quit e-cigarettes.
• Parents Against Vaping e-Cigarettes – Grassroots organization founded by three concerned moms as a response to the current youth vaping epidemic.
• Smokefree Teen – Helps teens stop using tobacco by providing information and free tools that meet teens where they are—on their mobile phones.
• Students Working Against Tobacco – SWAT is Florida’s statewide youth organization working to mobilize, educate and equip Florida youth to revolt against and de-glamorizing tobacco use.
• Take Down Tobacco – Comprehensive youth advocacy training program geared towards middle and high school students to equips with the skills to create change in their communities.
• Truth – Dedicated to achieving a culture where all youth and young adults reject tobacco.
• Truth Initiative – Dedicated to achieving a culture where all youth and young adults reject tobacco. They educate about smoking, vaping, nicotine, and the tobacco industry.
• Tobacco Free Florida – Find reasons to quit and learn how to quit using tobacco, including free resources.