Keynote Presentations and Special Sessions
Friday, December 4, 2009: 8:25 - 9:45 a.m.
What Does Health Have to Do with Academic Achievement? - A National and State PerspectiveKeynote Presentation with Bill Potts Datema and Bill Elder
Bill Potts-Datema will present the current CDC/DASH projects and discuss the association between student health and academic achievement. Bill Elder will connect the latest OSEDA reported Missouri health data with the results from the Missouri School Improvement Program questionnaire to demonstrate factors that influence student achievement.
William Elder, Ph.D., Director, Office of Social and Economic Data Analysis (OSEDA), University of Missouri-Columbia. Bill’s doctorate is in Rural Sociology from MU and his areas of interest are social change, communities and public policy particularly public education. He is a former National Library of Medicine Fellow in Health Informatics. At OSEDA Bill is responsible for program leadership and works projects concerning demographics, public school improvement, community information systems and program evaluation. He has authored dozens of articles and reports, many available at OSEDA.
William Potts Datema serves as Chief of the Program Development and Services Branch (PDSB) of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Adolescent and School Health (CDC-DASH). PDSB works to improve adolescent and school health outcomes nationwide through cooperative agreements and technical assistance for state, territorial, and large local government agencies, national organizations, and others. Bill has worked in education and public health for 27 years, including service from local to national levels. He has worked with Federal agencies, national non-governmental organizations, and state governments nationwide to improve health and educational outcomes for children and youth.
Bill holds Master of Science and Bachelor of Science in Education degrees from Missouri State University, and he has completed other graduate coursework at the Harvard School of Public Health and Kennedy School of Government. He has presented in 48 states and six other nations, and he has authored and contributed to a number of publications. Bill and his wife Susan have four children. Aside from his family, he lives for baseball season.
Friday, December 4, 12:45 - 1:45 p.m.
Champions for Wellness – The Power of Partnerships with ParentsKeynote Presentation with Barbara Flis
Barb’s passion, humor and grass-roots experience starting out as “just a parent” in suburban Detroit, empower audiences to try her innovative ways to engage parents as partners on behalf of healthier kids. Her efforts focus on building relationships and trust between parents and schools. Barb will share stories, successes and frustrations that point to effective ways to partner with parents that will be a win-win for everyone – especially our children!
Barbara Flis founded Parent Action for Healthy Kids. She is a nationally recognized expert in teen pregnancy prevention and parent education with more than 15 years of experience working with school districts and teachers in the areas of health, HIV and sexuality education. Flis is the Chair of the Schools Committee for the Michigan Surgeon Generals’ Michigan Steps Up Campaign and is a member of the Core Team for the American Cancer Society Coordinated School Health Leadership Training Institute. Her work coordinating Michigan Governor’s Talk Early & Talk Often program has been cited in national press including Newsweek Magazine.
Saturday, December 5, 8:30 - 10:00 a.m.
School Wellness Policies In Action: Café ConversationsHave fun taking part in this fast-paced session that will keep conversations flowing about building support for school wellness policies. Participants will learn what is happening with school wellness policies in districts throughout the state and be inspired by the exchange of ideas during their active participation in three roundtable conversations with three different groups of people.
Saturday, December 5, 10:00 - 11:20 a.m.
We’re All In This TogetherLearn from a panel of key school wellness policy partners – a principal, school food service director, school nurse and physical education teacher – as they share their stories of successes and challenges while implementing school wellness policies.