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I choose it. I'm fortunate enough to live anywhere and I picked Louisville.I've been hearing that a lot lately from family, friends, colleagues and even strangers. People that know me are curious to know why a Jewish girl who grew up in CT, went to school in NY and has lived in Portland Oregon for 16 years choose to live in Kentucky.  Read ▸ about What? Why Louisville?

For the first time, I was invited to be part of an expert panel (volunteer) for the Alliance for a Healthier Generation (AHG) in Washington DC at the beautiful Pew Charitable Trust building yesterday! The national advisors from AHG were of course present as were about 20 invited content experts from different areas of school health. It was like a family reunion for me! I walked into the room and was thrilled to see many familiar faces, including close colleagues. We Read ▸ about Alliance for a Healthier Generation Content Expert Meeting

List of grantees. Amazing! OEA Choice Trust hosted their 5th annual Journey to Wellness event in Eugene Oregon yesterday. Over 25 grantees were in attendance. They came together to learn, share and network. The mission of the OEA Choice Trust Wellness Grant Program is to improve the health and well-being of Oregon school employees through grant-making; focusing on empowering and enabling the participants to take responsibility for Read ▸ about Journey to Wellness

This week I'm in Phoenix alongside 20 other invite-only trainers in the field of health and physical education to participate in the first ever national training of trainers (TOT) lead by a partnership between CDC, Nike, Alliance for a Healthier Generation, AAHPERD and the President's Council on Physical Fitness. The TOT is being facilitated by a longtime colleague of mine, Deb Christopher from Bolder Learning and the Physical Activity Leader (content) training is being facilitated by Aaron Read ▸ about Let’s Move Active Schools!

Within 10 minutes it’s obvious to anyone who meets me that I’m incredibly passionate about the field of school health. I started my career as a middle school teacher in schools that had students living in poverty. As the pressure to raise test scores, increase attendance and time-on-task grew, I began to ask questions. I was expected to raise test scores when Charles’ home didn’t have heat on the night prior? Or Lexi just found out that she’s pregnant? Or Tom didn’t know who’s couch he was going Read ▸ about The Best Field in the World

So, I’ve been fortunate enough to have been a part of the school health ‘glory days’ at the Oregon Department of Education (DOE) when we were funded for Coordinated School Health, HIV Prevention and Asthma Friendly Schools. And, sadly, I was part of the destruction of it by leadership, one key sabotager who has since been ‘let go’. I am grateful for the Oregon Health Authority, our Department of Public Health, Adolescent Health Department that actually has sustained our School Health Read ▸ about School Health in Kentucky… and what I’m familiar with

I rarely watch the news when I’m at home. I don’t have a television, and I don’t watch news online. I read it online or in a newspaper. Receiving news via print is very different than the sensationalized news you’re fed in a 30-minute TV program. It’s incredibly depressing and leaves me feeling horribly sad. I’m currently visiting my parents and they watch the news. So, the other night, we watched the news about Aaron Alexis, the alleged Navy Yard shooter and Rebecca Ann Sedwick, the 12 year Read ▸ about Another Suicide Related to Bullying

Transitioning from a 4,197 mile bicycle ride across the United States back into work has proven easy and difficult at the same time. I'm still exhausted, but I love what I do so much that I'm considerably motivated for my daily conference calls, check-ins and preparations for upcoming events and meetings. For those of you new to my school health blog, my business name, Cairn comes from the term used for a pile of rocks that lead or guide the way on a hiking trail. Since 2006, my consulting Read ▸ about From Road to Rhode to Cairn