Welcome to Teaching Health Today!

Our students really need us now, and we really need each other.

What’s this newsletter all about?

Hi friends! My name is Christopher Pepper. I grew up in Wisconsin, got a degree in magazine journalism from the University of Missouri, moved to California, and — after writing about health and wellness for several years — started teaching health classes in San Francisco public schools in 2002.

I’m still at it 21 years later.

I love this work.

I’m now a “teacher on special assignment” for my district — I coach new teachers, write curriculum, run professional development sessions, and support educators when they need help.

I also make a weekly newsletter for our health teachers, and regularly hear feedback like this:

I really appreciate these newsletters. I always read them and I get so much good and relevant info from them. Thanks for making them.

and

What a great newsletter, full of information useful for teachers, school support staff, and mental health professionals.

and

This newsletter is amazing! Thank you for all the time and effort that's put into creating this and sharing it with our district.

Over time, I’ve started getting a requests from educators in places like New York City, Boston, and Chicago, wondering if they can be added to the list. It made me think that maybe there was a need for a newsletter like this beyond our district.

That’s where I got the idea for Teaching Health Today.

Here’s what to expect - and how you can help

Look for Teaching Health Today in your email on Tuesdays. I welcome your feedback and ideas on how to make it better and more relevant to you.

The MOST USEFUL thing you could do right now is to forward this to people who might want to see it.

Send it to the people you know who help youth learn about mental health, substance use, nutrition, exercise, relationships, or sexuality, and encourage them to subscribe.

Here are two other ways you can contribute:

Tell us about a great lesson

In a feature called “One Great Lesson.” Teaching Health Today will be shining a spotlight on health-related lessons that teachers love. I’d love to hear about one of YOUR favorites! 

Tell us about an awesome person

In a feature called “Awesome People You Should Know.” Teaching Health Today will be shining a spotlight on health educators, speakers, lesson creators, leaders, video makers, authors, and advocates. 

Do you have a suggestion about who we should feature? Please tell us about them! 

Thanks for reading to the end!

If you need ideas or resources, there’s a lot on my website: MrHealthTeacher.com.

Photo by Kevin Butz on Unsplash

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