30 October 2014 By Rafael Otto
Our annual school health conference, this year held in partnership with the American School Health Association (ASHA), attracted more than 400 participants to downtown Portland. With dozens of workshops and sessions designed to support school health professionals in Oregon and around the country, we also featured an SBHC-focused workshop track and celebrated some great school health work taking place in Oregon.Mark Pinder and Michael Ralls of Milwaukie High School were featured as keynote presenters and discussed their successes improving achievement and graduation rates through a coordinated school health model. ASHA recognized their successes by awarding the John P. McGovern medal to both Pinder and Ralls for their pioneering efforts to link the often disconnected sectors of health and education. Here are a few video clips from the keynote presentation with key points from Michael Ralls.
On bringing together educators and health professionals:
On building relationships in the school strong communication channels:
On the need for building shared language and meeting regularly:
And if you only have about 30 seconds, listen to Michael's clip on working together:
Additionally, ASHA recognized Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici for her record of supporting issues related to school health. And, our Statewide Youth Action Council presented their 3-hour preconference workshop called Eye to Eye: Discussing Sensitive Topics with Youth, to wide acclaim by those who attended. Read the post about Eye to Eye and watch a couple of video clips from their presentation.
Of course the conference would not have been a success without the support from our sponsors. We thank all of the exhibitors and sponsors for your contribution to a great event!
