In this issue:
- Communication Is the Key To Success
- OSDE's Fitness Assessment Guidance: Now Available
- OSDE’s OKRising Website: Free Physical Education Resources
- 2026 Oklahoma Academic Standards for Health and Physical Education
- November Fitness Challenge Calendar
- Certified Healthy Schools Application: Closes Soon
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Hello, health and wellness champions! We are entering a busy time of the year. Be sure to read on, and if you know a new health or physical education teacher, coach, or school nurse in your school/district, please forward this newsletter. In November, the OSDE will receive updated contact information, so sharing the newsletter and encouraging new teachers to sign up will help communication. Thanks! |
 The Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) Fitness Assessment Guidance document in support of the President Donald J. Trump Physical Fitness Act, which takes effect November 1, 2026, is now available.
The guidance is designed to help school districts, administrators, and educators understand the new state fitness assessment requirements. It outlines the fitness assessments that districts will implement and provides instructions for conducting those assessments in a safe, supportive, and developmentally appropriate manner.
Oklahoma’s vision for fitness assessment emphasizes personal progress, confidence, and lifelong physical activity, with a focus on helping students recognize their strengths and set personal goals rather than compare their performance with others.
School leaders and educators are encouraged to review the guidance document carefully in preparation for the implementation. The Fitness Assessment Guidance document is available on the OSDE's Physical Education Resources website.
 The Oklahoma State Department of Education is excited to introduce the OKRising website for Oklahoma’s physical education teachers. OKRising, funded by the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET), is a free online hub offering open educational resources (OER) designed specifically for PreK–12 physical education in Oklahoma. Explore ready‑to-use activities, customizable lessons, and high‑quality instructional tools that have been created to support your teaching and elevate student experiences.
What makes OKRising special?
- All resources align with the Oklahoma Academic Standards for Physical Education.
- Every activity reflects the principles of Meaningful Physical Education (MPE): emphasizing motor competence, challenge, social interaction, enjoyment, and personal relevance.
- Teachers have full autonomy and choice to build lessons that meet their students’ unique needs, and everything is free, accessible, and easy to use.
Visit the site today and discover fresh ways to engage students in joyful, meaningful physical activity. Let OKRising help you inspire students, strengthen instruction, and bring more purposeful movement into your classroom. This project is funded by the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET).
The 2026 Oklahoma Academic Standards (OAS) for Health and Physical Education are a revision of the 2023 standards. The eight overarching standards for health remain the same, and Standard 1 continues to meet the requirements of the Health Education Act (A.10).
Some of the major shifts in the physical education standards are the following:
- Moved from grade-level to grade-band objectives for elementary physical education and from grade level to level 1 and level 2 objectives in middle school.
- Emphasized the components of physical literacy: motor competence, challenge, personal relevance, social interaction, and enjoyment.
Download your copy of the standards today.
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The 2026 November Fitness Challenge Calendar is here! Educators can share this calendar with students and encourage them to keep a record of their fitness activities. The Alliance For A Healthier Generation created this fitness calendar for this month. Click here to print the Fitness Challenge Calendar or click on the image below.
The 2026 Certified Healthy Oklahoma (CHO) Application Period is now open! The Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) will be accepting applications until November 13. This year, applications will be self-scoring, and you will be able to download a certificate and badge at the end, if certified. Here are a couple of things to note this application season:
- Early Childhood, Campus, and Congregations have been added as categories in the Business application.
- If you are a previous applicant, you should have received an email from noreply@qemailserver.com with last year’s copy of your application. You'll receive a copy of your answers this year after submission, and OSDH encourages you to download and save your responses.
- The application will not time out as long as you leave the window open.
- You can request a clone link if you have multiple sites. This will automatically notify OSDH and they will e-mail you a clone link as soon as possible. Please allow for 24 hours during the business week for the clone link to be sent. If you submit in the evening or weekend, OSDH will e-mail the clone link the following business day.
- The CHO website has been updated and you can find copies of the applications, resource guides, scoring matrix, and more.
- All application links are on the homepage under the icons.
- Please click forward to the end to get your self-score. You'll click the forward arrow button after the scoring page to get your certificate and badge. Please download both of these before closing the window. You will be able to type in your organization's name on the certificate after you download it.
- There will no longer be any uploads required for the application.
OSDH is excited to be able to provide the certification level, certificate, and badge immediately this year. Hopefully, this new process is quicker and smoother. Please reach out to Karin Leimbach with any questions.
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