The Mississippi Healthy Students Act, passed in the 2007 legislative session, required public schools to provide increased amounts of physical activity and health education instruction for K-12 students. The Act mandated 45 minutes per week of health education instruction and 150 minutes per week of activity based instruction in Grades K-8. In grades 9-12, there is a ½ Carnegie Unit requirement for graduation in health education and ½ Carnegie Unit requirement for graduation in physical education.
In an effort to assist school districts to comply with this law, the Office of Healthy Schools through a Request for Proposal (RFP) process identified eligible supplemental resource providers for districts to ensure consistency and effectiveness within the state. School districts may select from the Approved Supplemental Resources.
Requirements for Supplemental Resource Providers:
Supplemental resources must include at least one of the following components to guide children to develop the skills and knowledge needed to adopt and maintain a healthy lifestyle:
Curriculum; Training; or Equipment.
These resources must be of high quality, research-based and specifically designed to meet the state standards for health education and/or physical education. Below are listed the minimum specifications for Approved Supplemental Resource Providers for Health and/or Physical Education for the State of Mississippi. Resources must comply with all requirements listed below in order to be placed on the approved list of providers:
• Aligned with the Contemporary Health Curriculum (K-12) or Physical Education Curriculum Frameworks for K-12;
• Sequentially planned;
• Age appropriate;
• Demonstrate effectiveness;
• Monitoring of student progress;
• Sound financial and organizational capacity; and
• Resource for Local School Wellness Policy
The Office of Healthy Schools may be contacted for additional information concerning Supplemental Resource Providers. (601-359-1737)