5 minute Activities!!!

Create a food rainbow! The more colorful our fruits and veggies, the more nutritious. Have students try for three colors during lunch!

Friday, March 14, 2014

Employee Wellness: How do you stay healthy when you are stressed, busy, and just kinda tired!!

It's mid-March and we have battled winter, PLCs, common core, sick students, and sick adults.  Warm weather is coming but how do we keep Centennial Staff healthy and happy all year?

The District Wellness Committee has been working on this question all year and we want to hear from more people about supports that would help make your day a little bit better and more stress free.

Wellness programs in Centennial:

  • Weight Watcher- We meet every Friday in the CHS community room
  • Planet Fitness- A great resource, open 24 hours a day, and really easy on your wallet
  • Healthy Team Healthy U- need a pedometer and some more supports?  Sign up for free Healthy Team Healthy U
The district Wellness Coordinator will be attending the Oregon School Employee Wellness Conference.  Do you have any suggestions on how to keep our amazing Centennial staff healthy and happy?  Let the Wellness Committee  know and we will start working on some district wide promotions!!

Get ready for a relaxing spring break!!

Do you walk to school at Oliver or Parklane?  

If students live within a mile of school, they are not able to ride the school bus.  A mile is still a long way to walk to school especially for parents who may need to get to work or have younger children to care for.  To help students get to school safely, walk together, and lessen the need for adult supervision, Oliver and Parklane are creating Walking School Buses!


What is a walking school bus?

A walking school bus is a group of children walking to school with one or more adults. If that sounds simple, it is, and that’s part of the beauty of the walking school bus. It can be as informal as two families taking turns walking their children to school to as structured as a route with meeting points, a timetable and a regularly rotated schedule of adults.

Help us create Walking Bus Paths.

1.  Where do you start walking to school?

2.  What time do you leave by?

3.  On the map, trace your walking path.  
Oliver/Parklane Bus Map

Our plan: 


  • ·      Create a kid friendly map that shows three main walking paths to school with meeting points and departure time
  • ·      Paint symbols or create signs along the walking path that help people se the path and join in
  • ·      Have a Walking School Bus kick off party!






Centennial's Community Gardens are Open!!

On March 1st, Portland Parks and Rec officially opened the Community Gardens located at Centennial Park School and Oliver/Parklane.  It was a cold Saturday to gather outside but a lot of gardeners were ready to pick their plots and start gardening.  The CPS garden is already full with the OL/PL garden filling up quickly!

Superintendent Breyer was in attendance to dedicate the new gardens and Commissioner Fritz attended the OL/PL garden.  Each garden has space dedicated for the school's use and students will be able to do  hands on learning activities.  Tools and supplies were paid for by the Farm to School grant funds but Portland Nursery helped donate some items and gave us a community discount.  The Gardens were paid for by a generous grant from East Multnomah Soil and Water with funds being matched by Portland Parks and Rec.

Centennial's Community Gardens are numbers 49 and 50 for Parks and Rec and the furthest east.  Thanks everyone for all of your hard work and have a great growing season!!