AUGUST 2018
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Alaska School Health & Wellness Institute that Supports Healthy, Successful Students
Registration opens this week for the 13th Annual
School Health & Wellness Institute (SHWI).
The Institute will be held Oct. 29–31, 2018, at the BP Energy
Center in Anchorage. Registration is free and required to attend.
The Institute
began in 2006 as a collaboration between the Departments of Education and Early
Development and Health and Social Services to provide school staff with the
skills and resources to develop local school
district wellness policies. Conference attendees include teachers,
school nurses, school administrators, community health and education
professionals, school counselors and anyone working with school or student
health.
More than a decade later, the
Institute is still a collaboration and offers sessions on wellness policies. It
has grown over the years, however, in scope and attendance. This year, Institute sessions will focus on many
aspects of student and school health, from nutrition and physical activity to
social and emotional learning and suicide prevention.
“Our core message
from the very beginning has been the same: Healthy students are successful
students,” said Wendy Hamilton, School Health Program Manager for the Division
of Public Health. “Study after study shows that healthier students do better
academically, have lower absenteeism rates, higher graduation rates and fewer
behavioral concerns. Children and adolescents spend most of their waking hours
at school, and their health and well-being is a very important component of
their education.”
The Institute opens Monday, Oct. 29, with a preconference day that
includes sessions called the Neurobiology of Stress, Resources for Keeping
Students Safe, Coaching Boys into Men, 4th “R” Relationship
Curriculum and others. Check the website for a
full agenda and any preconference requirements.
The Institute continues Tuesday, Oct. 30, with 15 breakout
sessions and Wednesday, Oct. 31, with five plenary sessions. The presentations will
cover a broad range of topics, including chronic health conditions like obesity,
asthma and diabetes; substance abuse and protective factors; peer-led suicide
prevention; physical activity in the classroom; consumption of sugary drinks;
the Trauma Informed School Framework and more.
The departments leading the Institute are offering several
different types of federally-funded travel scholarships to support attendance and promote
representation from all over the state. Scholarships will be awarded on a
competitive basis and descriptions of the different types of scholarships and
applications can be found on the website.
“Travel costs from rural areas often prohibit attendance at
conferences,” Hamilton said. “The
Institute provides scholarships to bring in people from outlying areas.”
A popular session
during the yearly Institute is School Health Success Stories, which includes a
panel of professionals sharing inspiring examples of how school health is
succeeding around the state. Anyone can submit a Success Story nomination form
for themselves or someone else. Professionals selected to present their success
story will receive a travel scholarship to support their attendance at the
SHWI. Success Story applications also can
be found on the website.
For more information about the School Health &
Wellness Institute, contact Wendy Hamilton, School Health Program Manager, at wendy.hamilton@alaska.gov
or (907) 465-2768.
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