What's Happening

By Mia Barrett, MEd | March 8, 2018
Research Associate, ETR

I spend a lot of time traveling for my work as a research coordinator. I’m in airports and on airplanes all the time. I board my plane, find my seat and listen to the flight attendant deliver the pre-flight safety speech. As a sexuality educator, I’d like to see us teach that sexual interactions should come with a similar safety briefing.

By Marcia Quackenbush, MS, MFT, MCHES | March 6, 2018
Senior Editor, ETR

The Kirby Summit is a one-of-a kind experience. This small, invitational convening gathers experts from across the nation. They meet over two days to talk about promoting adolescent health and reducing health risks.

Okay, you’ve probably heard about other events similar to this. Why is the Kirby Summit so special?

By Louise Ann Lyon, PhD | February 28, 2018
Senior Research Associate, ETR

Why bother learning to write computer code? That’s a question I used to asked myself. I believe that many women are still asking this question. They don’t perceive the value of coding until they get into the workforce and discover a host of ways coding can increase the impact of their work.

This is just one more reason we should celebrate, support and advocate for the improvement of alternative computer science (CS) training grounds such as coding boot camps.

By Stephanie Guinosso, PhD | February 26, 2018
Senior Research Associate, ETR

“Our goal is to create a beloved community. This will require a qualitative change in our souls as well as a quantitative change in our lives.”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

This quote resonates deeply for me. It truly captures the journey we must embark upon to become trauma-informed professionals working within trauma- and healing-informed systems.

By Suzanne Schrag | February 20, 2018
Editor/Project Manager, ETR

Where do young people get health information? Health educators hope their students understand how to find accurate answers to their questions from reliable resources. Such children and youth are in the best position to increase their knowledge in ways that will empower them to practice healthy behaviors and reduce their health risks.

By Vignetta Charles, PhD | February 14, 2018
Chief Executive Officer, ETR

How’s your love life? Today is Valentine’s Day, so no surprise if your thoughts turn to romantic relationships. But I’m actually talking about a different kind of love at the moment—love related to leadership, mission and work.

By John Henry Ledwith | February 13, 2018
National Sales Manager, ETR

The great state of Texas. Known for its sports teams, exciting weather, roots-based eclectic music and grand landscapes. After my visit to northern Texas a couple of weeks ago, I’m going to add to that list: outstanding health education teachers.

I was working with health education master Susan Telljohann, PhD, as she delivered a training on the 15 Characteristics of Effective Health Education.

By Louise Ann Lyon, PhD | February 8, 2018
Senior Research Associate, ETR

Finally! More and more attention is shifting to the fact that community colleges could play a critical role in diversifying computing fields.

The National Science Foundation and Google have given momentum to this movement by funding and hosting a workshop, the “Authentic Inclusion of Community Colleges in Broadening Participation in Computing.” It was held January 30-February 1, 2018, at the Google headquarters. 

By Karin Coyle, PhD | February 6, 2018
Chief Science Officer, ETR

The Kirby Summit has disrupted the ways I think about sex education. I hope it’s going to disrupt your thinking, too. ETR’s invitational Summit assembled some of the nation’s best-known developmental neuroscientists, along with similarly respected sexual and reproductive health specialists. The things we’ve learned by bringing our disciplines together are altering the ways all of us are conceptualizing sex education.

By Marcia Quackenbush, MS, MFT, MCHES | January 26, 2018
Senior Editor, ETR

Here at ETR, we care about sexual and reproductive health. We produce and distribute materials used in sexuality education. We do research. We train trainers and educators.

That means we often use words such as “sex” in our blog posts and newsletters. 

By Teresa McGeeney, MS | January 24, 2018
Epidemiologist, REACH Evaluation

I am a suicide prevention researcher. One of my early experiences in the field ultimately led me to a powerful conclusion. When schools (1) put effective, evidence-based anti-bullying polices in place, (2) make sure students know how to report bullying, and (3) ensure responses to these reports are perceived by students to be effective, schools are likely to see fewer suicide attempts among their students.

By Manveer Sahota | January 18, 2018
Community Outreach and Advocacy Specialist, ETR

Inspiration is powerful. From the time I was a teen, inspiring people have come into my life at just the right moments. They’ve given me encouragement to move forward, to grow and to give back, exactly when I was ready to do so.

Today, because of those experiences, I’m working with the California Clean Air Project (CCAP). 

By Pamela Anderson, PhD | January 11, 2018
Senior Research Associate, ETR

Sex trafficking among U.S. teens is real. It’s happening in most communities—in schools, at the mall, online and in other situations. If you work with young people, I hope you’ll check out some new free resources you can use to share facts about youth trafficking with both young people and adults. 

By Suzanne Schrag | January 9, 2018
Editor/Product Manager, ETR

Skills are a vital part of effective health education. And, in addition to acquiring knowledge, a focus on practicing skills is becoming more and more accepted as the best way to help young people establish healthy behaviors. This, in turn, helps them reduce their health risks. 

By Narinder Dhaliwal, MA | January 3, 2018
Program Manager, ETR

What’s in a name? Is it medical marijuana that’s supported by 29 states plus the District of Columbia? Or should we be calling it medical cannabis?

By Marcia Quackenbush, MS, MFT, MCHES | January 2, 2018
Senior Editor, ETR

We’re back! And so are you. Welcome to 2018.

We have some exciting posts coming up. Look for content addressing developmental neuroscience, sexual risk reduction, our Health Equity Framework, tobacco control, legalized cannabis and more. 

By Vignetta Charles, PhD | December 19, 2017
Chief Executive Officer, ETR

ETR values Workplace Wellness—and a way to live those values is to ensure that our incredibly hardworking team takes a well-deserved break for the holidays. We close down December 23 and open again January 2, 2018. As we come upon our annual all-staff mini-sabbatical, I’d like to share three wishes from ETR to you.

By Laura Perkins, MLS | December 14, 2017
Project Editor, ETR

We live in an age of distractions—distracted eating, distracted driving, distracted walking.

So, health educators. How do you get your message across to your distracted clients? ETR is excited to introduce a new line of products designed to grab attention and spark curiosity.