We are thrilled to announce that Donna Franklin, Director of Health Services at Clarkston School District in Washington State has been selected as the recipient of Cairn Guidance’s annual 2025 School Health Leadership Award.
This award highlights an Education Leader who demonstrates prioritizing the health and well-being of student and staff health. They see the link between health and education. Their dedicated work helps create healthier systems, policies, programs, and procedures.
Donna’s visionary leadership and unwavering commitment to student health and wellness have transformed the lives of countless students and families in this small, rural community in Eastern Washington State. Her work has been impactful to her community, including those from the Nez Perce Tribal community, students of color, LGBTQ+ youth, student parents, and students experiencing homelessness.
Donna’s leadership introduced transformative school wellness. Through leadership, the district shifted focus from punitive measures to compassionate, barrier-removing approaches. This enriched their culture and values. Collaborative relationships grew among the school district, community organizations, and local healthcare providers.
Together, they formed a Wellness Center at the local high school. Her efforts have now led to funding for a District School-Based Health Center. This achievement testifies to the shared vision she created. Students reported feeling ready to reengage in learning after just 10 minutes, and class-skipping has decreased significantly. As one student shared: “Being able to use a Wellness pass when I need a mental break has been a big deal. I can now self-refer to the Wellness Center to calm down before an outburst or episode happens in class.” Donna has helped to reshape and reimagine what school health leadership can accomplish. Most importantly, she impacts the students who deserve support and care.
Please join us in celebrating Donna Franklin’s extraordinary achievements and well-deserved recognition as our School Health Leadership Award recipient!
Congratulations on your well-deserved achievement Aunt Donna! We’re so very proud of you!
Much love – The Boise Schaff/Maklos/Hendrickson crew
Congratulations Donna! This is SO well deserved and you have impacted many lives by your leadership and compassion. I look forward to the opening of the SBHC!
You deserve this award, my friend. Let’s go back to the times you thought about retiring! The struggles you faced during COVD, leading the Community Engagement Board to help students get back into school, then committing to the wellness center and moving forward to apply for the SBHC. What a culmination of hard work, lots of doubts, and way more belief in this community and our students. Congratulations!
Donna has not only helped within my classroom with the students we serve but also in my personal life. We both have had a similar life event and she was there for me, supporting and comforting me through those rough weeks and months and she continues to do so. I doubt I would still be working had she not reached out to me with her insight, wisdom and compassionate care.
Congratulations, Donna, very well deserved award! I’m honored to call you my friend as well as colleague.