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Professional Development Resources

Building Advocacy Skills to Promote School Health

Introductory Guide to Advocacy: Working to Improve Advocacy for School Health Education and Services. This 52-page publication from the American School Health Association helps teachers and school health professionals learn how to advocate for school health programs to improve the health and academic achievement of students. It includes an introduction to advocacy, an overview of four essential advocacy skills (grassroots mobilization, coalitions and partnerships, lobbying or influencing decision makers, and media/communications), a description of how policy and legislation are made at the school board and local, state, and federal levels, and a glossary of terms. For more information, go to http://www.ashaweb.org/store/products/6.

Working with School Board Members

From California Project Lean comes Reaching School Board Members, a guide for community groups on how to create "win-win" situations when working on school district nutrition and physical activity issues. The publication was developed through feedback and discussion with California school board members, superintendents, school principals, and parents.

Reaching School Board Members is available in both English and Spanish as .pdf documents. You can download the guide and find other publications related to school advocacy issues for both students and adults at http://www.californiaprojectlean.org/resourcelibrary/default.asp.

Physical Education Advocacy Kit

The American Heart Association in Florida has developed this tool kit to promote improved physical education programs in the state. Its publications include How School Boards Adopt Policies. Learn more at http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3023536.

The December Teacher's Toolbox at NASPE (National Association for Sport and Physical Education) provides several classroom activity ideas that work physical activity into the curriculum. You can also find advocacy publications and resources for physical educators at http://www.aahperd.org/naspe/template.cfm?template=teachers_toolbox_dec06.html.

Resources for the Global School Health Initiative

As part of its Global School Health Initiative to increase the number of health-promoting schools, the World Health Organization (WHO) has published a series of papers designed to strengthen international, national, and local efforts to build support for school- and youth-focused prevention programs. These documents also provide guidance about specific actions that can be taken to advocate for such programs.

Some papers, such as Creating an Environment for Emotional and Social Well-being: An Important Responsibility of a Health-promoting and Child Friendly School, focus on broader topics. Others, including Healthy Nutrition: An Essential Element of a Health-promoting School, use a specific health topic as the focal point. You can access these resources at http://www.who.int/school_youth_health/resources/en/.