District to hold talk on wellness

Laguna Beach schools must decide how to implement health standards that have been mandated by state officials.The school district will hold an informational panel discussion on how the district plans to implement a state-mandated student wellness policy at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 7 at Thurston Middle School Library.

The meeting is sponsored by the Quest for Excellence (Q4e) high levels of wellness committee.

The student wellness policy which will encompass standards in five areas:

* nutrition education goals,

* physical activity goals,

* methods to promote wellness through other school-based activities, and

* nutrition guidelines for all foods on campus.

Faced with this new mandate from the state to have a student wellness policy in place by July 2006, Debra Appel, director of food services for the district, is seeking the input of parents, teachers, administrators and students as well as experts in nutrition, food service, farmers markets, grocery distribution, gardening and menu planning.

For more information, or to view a working draft of the policy, contact Appel at (949) 497-7700, ext. 216, or [email protected].