Florida

Florida School Health Snapshot

The Society Members:

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NicholeWilder
Florida Department of Education
Office: 850-245-0813
Fax: 850-245-5116
nichole.wilder@fldoe.org
Committee: Prof. Development, Chair-Elect

AntionetteMeeks
Florida Department of Education
Office: 850-245-0480
Fax: 850-245-5116
antionette.meeks@fldoe.org
Committee: President-Elect

PennyDetscher
Florida Department of Education
Office: 850-245-5089
Fax: 850-245-5116
penny.detscher@fldoe.org
Committee: Professional Development

WandaJubb

Office: 941-625-3177
Fax:
whjubb@comcast.net
Committee: Membership

DebbyMitchell
GeoFitness, Inc.
Office: 407-275-0510
Fax: 407-275-3031
d.mitchell@geomotiongroup.com
Committee:

MichaelCordier
Fizika Group, LLC
Office: 717-575-7465
Fax:
michael@fizikagroup.com
Committee: Membership Chair

Florida Department of Education Office of Healthy Schools:

Most of our accomplishments during the year fall into two categories: 1) Information development and dissemination, and 2) Providing training opportunities.

Information Development and Dissemination:

• Loans and Distribution of Materials from the Resource Center
  From our resource center, we loaned over 300 items (DVDs, models, kits, curricula, etc.) and distributed thousands of free materials (books, brochures, posters, etc.) A bookmark that we developed based on The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy's "Ten Tips for Parents to Help Their Children Avoid Teen Pregnancy" was distributed with the report cards of all students (over 3,000) in Madison County.  This rural school district has STD rates among youth that are 2nd highest in the state and has a majority of Black students.  Another way we provided information was by hosting exhibits at 7 statewide conferences. We developed several informational documents that have been used for planning activities in districts of high need and distributed to stakeholders at various local and statewide meetings.  These include a booklet entitled "Youth Sexual Behavior and Sexual Health Education in Florida" which presents Florida data related to youth sexual behaviors, provides an overview of the current status of sexual health education laws in Florida, and provides recommended strategies for prevention education. We developed two brochures entitled "Sexual Health Education: Definition, Needs, and Requirements" - one designed specifically for educators and the other for parents.  These are available on our website and have been distributed at professional development trainings and information sessions statewide. 
• Carryover funds were used to provide an evidence based curriculum, Positive Action, to the Madison County School District.  We are partnering with that small rural district in a Pilot Project to affect youth STD rates.  Teachers are being trained and the curriculum is being implemented K-12. 

Website Activity:

• The HIV page of our website had almost 4,000 visits.
  

Tool Kit Development:

• We have been working diligently on a document entitled "The Florida Sexual Health Education and Advocacy Tool Kit: Building Community Awareness and Support" which will provide stakeholders with guidance in identifying and addressing the sexual health needs of youth in their districts and in developing effective policies and programs to improve sexual health outcomes of youth. The initial concept and content of the "Tool Kit" was developed during several meetings of our Florida AIDS Education Advisory Council and with input from a special group that was convened last year called the High Risk Task Force. We applied for and have been awarded a $15,000 grant through CDC and NASBE that will be used to have the "Tool Kit" reviewed and to provide training on the "Tool Kit" in several pilot locations where there is a high concentration of youth at high risk of STD/HIV and teen pregnancy. The Florida State Board of Education will be one of the reviewers.

Training Opportunities:

• Blood Lines Video Professional Development
  • Trainings for health education professionals included a training designed for staff of Community Based Organizations that serve youth in Department of Juvenile Justice facilities. The participants were trained to provide an intervention using the video program "Blood Lines".  We partnered with the Florida Department of Health to deliver these trainings in five regions of the state.  There were 125 participants at the Blood Lines Video trainings.
• Implementing Effective Sexual Health Education to Reduce Teen Pregnancy and STD/HIV Infection Online Course
  • A course called "Implementing Effective Sexual Health Education to Reduce Teen Pregnancy and STD/HIV Infection" was provided to classroom teachers and district staff twice online and three times in live settings.  Eighty teachers and school nurses completed the online and onsite courses.   Participants who completed the online course received 20 hours of professional development credit.  
• HIV in the News Online Course 
  • An online course for school nurses, called "HIV in the News," was provided in February 2010.  There were 25 participants who completed the course.
• Office of Healthy Schools Summer Academy
  • During a three day "Summer Academy for Teachers of Health Education", sponsored by our Office of Healthy Schools at the Florida Department of Education, the HIV Prevention Education Program provided two professional development trainings and four information sessions regarding sexual health education and STD/HIV and Teen Pregnancy Prevention.   There were 180 Physical Education, Health and Science teachers from around the state in attendance at the sessions provided by our project. 

Conferences:

• We provided a preconference entitled, HIV/AIDS, STDs and Teen Pregnancy: Issues & Answers for the Sunshine State, as well as an information session at this year's Florida School Health Association annual conference.   There were 35 participants in our preconference and information session.
• Last fall, we provided a professional development opportunity regarding STD prevention at the annual conference of the Florida Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, Dance and Sports.  There were 12 participants in our training. 

Training and Technical Assistance to Districts:

• Hours of technical assistance and training have been provided in Madison County, the rural school district, mentioned above, that has a high proportion of high risk minority youth.  We provided technical assistance and training to two districts that are in the process of changing from an abstinence-only to an abstinence-plus curriculum. 

Other:

• We completed the 2010 School Health Profiles survey, and achieved weighted data for the third year in a row.