What's Happening

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.

By Stephanie Guinosso, PhD, MPH | December 12, 2017
Senior Research Associate, ETR

Dr. Douglas B. Kirby was an extraordinary man. His lifetime contributions to adolescent sexual and reproductive health transformed the field, both in research and in practice. In February 2016, ETR hosted the inaugural Kirby Summit in honor of Dr. Kirby. We continued our exciting conversation at our second convening in May, 2017.

By Lisa Edelman | December 7, 2017
Regional Account Manager, ETR

I’m a happy traveler. That makes me doubly-blessed when I travel for ETR. I get to spend time with very impressive people, learn about their work, and come home more inspired than ever about the work I do.

In September, I had an opportunity to meet a few of the fine people of North Carolina. 

By Jennifer R. Geisler, MS, RN—San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians | December 5, 2017
Community Outreach Coordinator, ETR

I was born and raised on the Rincon reservation in Southern California. They are a neighboring tribe to my tribe, the San Pasqual. There’s a good chance, even if you know about reservation life, mine was not what you would expect.

My parents sheltered the children in our family. I had no idea that my community was struggling with serious issues around diabetes, alcohol and drug use. 

By Marcia Quackenbush, MS, MFT, MCHES | November 30, 2017
Senior Editor, ETR

Okay. It didn't happen at the water cooler. It was at an intersection of three cubicles—just a coincidental collection of colleagues crossing one another’s paths. We were talking about topics many of you have also been discussing with workmates, family and friends over the past several weeks—the instances of sexual harassment and assault that have been before the public eye.

Whom do we believe? What should be done? What can we do in our lives and our work to bring this kind of violence to an end?

By Sue Potter, MS | November 28, 2017
Research Associate, ETR

I’m with the “away team.” For the last several years, I’ve been part of ETR’s Distributed Workforce. Roughly one in five staff are located away from our organization’s main offices in Scotts Valley, Oakland and Sacramento, California. You’ll find us in other regions of California and in other states across the country. I live in Boston.

It hasn’t always been easy being one of the remote staff. But we’re an organization that believes in continuous improvement. 

By Vignetta Charles, PhD | November 20, 2017
Chief Executive Officer, ETR

My six-year-old son came home from school during the first week of November with an assignment to ask his family what we’re thankful for this year. I immediately rattled off the names of ten people, starting with his name.

He jumped in and clarified, “It can’t be people. You have to be grateful for a non-people thing.” I paused and then quickly gave him my heartfelt answer that couldn’t be people (I’ll tell you later what it was). 

By Gina Lepore, MEd | November 16, 2017
Research Associate, ETR

Here’s an engaging and powerful activity that’s a great way to introduce a learning process related to consent in sexual or romantic relationships. It’s ideal for a Training of Educators or Training of Trainers. With adaptation, it can also be used as a classroom activity with teens or young adults.

By Suzanne Schrag | November 14, 2017
Editor/Product Manager, ETR

How do we give students the concepts and skills they need to choose healthy behaviors for a lifetime? From the 15 Characteristics of Effective Health Education Curricula identified by the CDC, we know that an effective program “provides functional health knowledge that directly contributes to health-promoting decisions and behaviors.” It also “builds competence and self-efficacy by addressing skills.” Let’s see some examples of how these two key components of a great health education program play out in Grade 2 of HealthSmart.

From an interview with Linda Kekelis, PhD | October 26, 2017
Principal, Linda Kekelis Consulting

We need girls in tech. We need women in tech. We need women and underrepresented minorities across all areas of STEM. There are good reasons for this, reasons that benefit society, industry, the economy and international competitiveness.

But for me, one of the most persuasive is simply that girls and women deserve the freedom and opportunity offered by access to STEM fields.

By Suzanne Schrag | November 7, 2017
Editor/Product Manager, ETR

It’s not enough to simply teach students information about health. As health educators, we must help them master key concepts and skills that promote health literacy and lifelong health. HealthSmart, ETR’s comprehensive K–12 health education program, targets Healthy Behavior Outcomes as its primary goal. This sets HealthSmart apart from a more traditional textbook health program.