Help Healthy Schools Campaign Find Great School Nurses
January 30, 2015 | Written By: Healthy Schools Campaign
Healthy Schools Campaign announces its second annual national School Nurse Leadership Award.
Kay Stukenborg remembers when she first began as a school nurse in Kettering, Ohio, at John F. Kennedy Elementary School. She’d come from years as a cardiac nurse, and turning her attention to the school community was eye-opening. “When I started 15 years ago, I would see all these kids who were overweight,” she says, “and I was kind of stunned by that.”
With that in mind, Kay began pioneering some of the many programs that would make her an invaluable asset to the area. For example, her Heart Healthy Day brings in a mobile “Heart Bus” and educators from the YMCA. Each grade then has special activities to learn about heart health, fun ways to be physical, and nutrition. “If you learn those heart-healthy habits when you’re young you have a better chance of not being an overweight adult,” she says.
Kay is just one example of a school nurse being an advocate for student health. Kay was one of five winners of Healthy Schools Campaign’s first annual national School Nurse Leadership Award in 2014. We are launching our second award to recognize these extraordinary individuals for the important work that they do.
Do you know a school nurse who is leading the charge to improve the health and wellness of students and staff? A school nurse who constantly goes the extra mile or has implemented a creative health-promoting initiative? If you know such a leader — or if it’s you! — we encourage you to apply for this award.
Applications will be available Feb. 9, 2015, and we hope you can help us find and recognize inspiring leaders from across the country in the school nurse profession. Through the School Nurse Leadership Award, we’ll share the stories of school nurses who are changing the lives of students in their schools and communities. Whether that’s a building or district nurse, or a state-wide school nurse leader, we want to highlight the people behind the great work that is happening to improve school health.
Up to five winners will be announced on National School Nurse Day, May 6, 2015, and will be highlighted among their peers across the country. Winners will also receive a $500 School Health gift card to use toward a catalog or online purchase.
Special thanks to our School Nurse Leadership Award sponsors — School Health Corporation and MAICO Diagnostics — for their commitment to school nurses and for making this award possible.
You can sign up here to be notified when the application is released. Applications will be available Feb. 9, 2015 and due by March 9, 2015.
