The 2011-2012 school year marked the second year of the five-year partnership between Miami Children’s Hospital, The School District of Palm Beach County and HealthTeacher. Approximately 12,500 kindergarten through high school teachers in The School District of Palm Beach County will have access to HealthTeacher’s comprehensive online health education curriculum and resources with the goal of improving the health literacy of students in over 187 participating schools.

“Education and good health go hand in hand,” said Dr. Narendra Kini, President and CEO of Miami Children’s Hospital.

“When children learn about health and safety practices, they are empowered to take ownership of their own health status and bring important information home to family and friends. It is our goal to advance wellness information in our area schools in hopes that these important messages will serve as building blocks for better community health.”

Miami Children’s Hospital’s tradition of service reaches far beyond the walls of the hospital. Miami Children’s Hospital believes their role as the region’s largest, licensed, freestanding children’s hospital is to support the community in prevention. With HealthTeacher, Miami Children’s Hospital can teach children how to become good consumers and to practice healthy lifestyle habits they can carry with them through adulthood. By integrating HealthTeacher into every school in The School District of Palm Beach County, Miami Children’s Hospital can extend their reach beyond the efforts of their school nurse and mobile health units program. Through underwriting the curriculum, resources and teacher training, Miami Children’s Hospital hopes to empower the teachers and their students of The School District of Palm Beach County to understand and proactively make healthier choices.

Celebrating its 11th year, HealthTeacher’s online library of classroom-ready K-12 lesson plans are aligned to Common Core as well as national and Florida health education standards. Complete with classroom activities, teaching steps, background materials, assessments and more, HealthTeacher’s resources are proven to enhance the culture of the classroom while imparting important health knowledge and skills. HealthTeacher lesson plans provide opportunities for non-traditional health educators to easily integrate health instruction into the classroom.

Last year, HealthTeacher’s ready-to-use lesson plans and resources were accessed by over 770 teachers in Palm Beach County, with approximately 13,000 lesson and resource views. There were 31 training events held in 20 schools, where over 750 district educators learned how to integrate HealthTeacher into their instructional day.

Stacey Lazos is the health education coordinator for Palm Beach County. She is available to train staff to use the HealthTeacher website as well as assist in implementing the lessons and resources into your classroom. Please contact stacey.lazos@healthteacher.com for more information.