July 02, 2001

Coordinated School Health Institute July 16-19 At WKU

Bowling Green, Ky. - The sixth annual Kentucky Coordinated School Health Institute will be conducted July 16-19 at Western Kentucky University.

The institute will provide professional development opportunities for more than 50 classroom teachers, administrators, health department health educators, school nurses, family resource center personnel, school food service managers, parents and others involved in the health of students in preschool through 12th grade.

Gene Wilhoit, Kentucky's education commissioner, will be the keynote
speaker at 11 a.m. July 16 in the Downing University Center's auxiliary dining room.

The purpose of the four-day institute is to give participants the knowledge and resources to begin or enhance coordinated school health programs with the goal of improving school health, which research has indicated improves academic outcomes.

Daily workshops will focus on the eight components of a coordinated school health program: health education; health services; family/community involvement; nutrition services; staff wellness; counseling, psychological, social services; healthy school environment; and physical education.

Session topics include character education; health, fitness and nutrition issues; sexually transmitted infections; working with high-risk students; teen pregnancy prevention; the changing face of HIV/AIDS; domestic violence; tobacco issues and bullying. Most of the sessions will be in Tate Page Hall.

Each school or school district team will leave the institute with a plan to implement one or more components of a coordinated school health program the following year.

The Kentucky Coordinated School Health Task Force reviews the plans and awards grants of $600 to $2,000 to implement the programs. During the past five years of the institute, schools and school districts from 46 counties have been awarded $90,000 in coordinated school health grants.

WKU's Department of Public Health is sponsoring the institute in cooperation with Eastern Kentucky University, Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky PTA, Kentucky Association for School Health and the Kentucky Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.

For information on the Coordinated School Health Institute, contact Dr.
Michael D. Ballard at (270) 745-5862 or by E-mail at michael.ballard@wku.edu.

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