What's Happening

By Suzanne Schrag | March 27, 2019

If you’re an educator, you know that children and youth communicate all the time. Most classrooms and school grounds present an absolute flurry of communication. It’s no wonder the National Health Education Standards expressly include interpersonal communication as an essential element of effective health education.

This is because communicating about health, and knowing how to communicate in ways that build relationships, are distinctive skills that take practice to master. 

By Suzanne Schrag | January 22, 2019

“In 2019, I’m finally going to…eat better…meditate daily…get fit…stop smoking…”

Ah, the New Year. A time for making plans and setting goals—often ones that are health related. But moving those aspirations from wishful thinking into action steps isn’t always easy, and it definitely takes skill.

In fact, goal setting is one of the essential skills for health literacy defined in the National Health Education Standards (NHES), which means it’s also a skill focus in the HealthSmart program. 

By Suzanne Schrag | March 22, 2018

Here’s a different take on a familiar saying: Those who can, do. Those who really can, teach! And those who teach health know the value of teaching advocacy skills.

Giving students practice in advocacy is a great way to build engagement, review key concepts and personalize what they’ve been learning about healthy behaviors. Advocacy also helps communities hear vital information about health-related issues from critical stakeholders—young people themselves!

By Suzanne Schrag | February 20, 2018

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 Suzanne Schrag | January 9, 2018

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 Suzanne Schrag | November 14, 2017

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.

By Suzanne Schrag | November 7, 2017

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.

By Suzanne Schrag | October 30, 2017

I’ve been working with HealthSmart, ETR’s comprehensive, K-12 health education program, since its inception. We’ve recently been traveling to different states to introduce schools, districts and DOEs to the HealthSmart program. Often we are presenting HealthSmart alongside more traditional textbook publishers.

HealthSmart is not a textbook program. In fact, it’s quite different from a textbook approach to health class. We’ve given a lot of thought to how we explain what may be a new way to think about health instruction for administrators and educators.

By John Henry Ledwith | August 11, 2016

Someone asked me the other day, “Why are you such an evangelist for HealthSmart?” Actually, I get this question a lot. HealthSmart is ETR’s premiere health education program, and I talk about it all the time—not just as part of my job, but as part of my life.

By Susan Telljohann, HSD, CHES | April 11, 2016

I want to talk to you about power—the power you have to influence students and support them in choosing healthy behaviors. I also want to tell you about one of the most effective tools you can use to put that power to work in the real world of your classrooms and schools.

This is a concrete, research-proven resource that educators can put to work simply, right now, to build greater success with students. And yes, as you may have guessed from the title of this post, that tool is the 15 Characteristics of An Effective Health Education Curriculum.

By Susan Telljohann, HSD, CHES | August 18, 2015
Professor Emeritus, Department of Health Education, The University of Toledo

Something quite remarkable has occurred over the past two decades in the field of school health education. We’ve gotten evidence!

We’ve explored, examined, tested and refined everything we know about how to provide meaningful, effective health education in school settings. We know enough now to design and deliver programs that have a true impact.How do schools committed to program success choose the program that’s going to work best in their setting?