Host a Healthy Schools Summit
A story from North Dakota
Since 2010, the South East Education Cooperative (North Dakota) and PartnerSHIP 4 Health (Minnesota) have hosted the Healthy Schools Summit. This summit engages about 100 educators in both North Dakota and Minnesota annually. Generally, the summit highlights experts in physical activity and healthy eating, but no two summits are the same. Every year, the agenda is reflective of emerging topics, the needs of educators from around the state, and traditional “go-to” topics that reappear time and time again.
We spoke with Keely Ihry, Health and Wellness Coordinator for the South East Education Cooperative, along with members of the Summit planning team to learn more about their tips and lessons learned working on the Healthy Schools Summit.
Key Takeaways
Location, location, location! Finding a location that is accessible to a large number of participants is key. With the conference being held in Fargo, ND each year, the location of the summit allows for easy access for participants in both North Dakota and Minnesota. Partners from both states participate in the planning and execution of the summit as well.
Encourage or incentivize participation from teams, rather than individuals. Schools and districts are always encouraged by conference partners and sponsors to bring some or all members from their wellness team. In previous years when funding was available, schools were incentivized through monetary stipends to send teams of participants. For example, schools received $300 for sending a team of people and $500 if that team included an administrator.
“We’ve tried to incentivize schools to send teams to the Healthy Schools Summit because then it’s not one ‘lone wolf’ going back to their school wanting to make changes they learned. If there are three people there, and especially if an administrator is there, it’s a lot easier to start moving things forward or start the conversation about how to make that change at that school.”
Keely Ihry
Highlight emerging topics. Dr. Kristen Ford, Professor at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota and a member of the summit planning team, notes that the format of this annual Summit allows them to be “trendy.” The planning team has the freedom to explore new and emerging topics and bring in exciting keynote speakers who can address those topics.
Highlight local stories. Dr. Jenny Linker, Professor at North Dakota State University and a member of the summit planning team, reflected on the importance of using conferences to share local stories:
“You can tell national stories all you want, but people will say, ‘Oh that’s them. That’s that state.’ That’s what’s so powerful about the Healthy Schools Summit: there’s so much sharing of local stories.”
The theme of the last Healthy Schools Summit focused on local stories through various breakout sessions with panels of speakers who would share local stories and successes on a specific topic. Check out the agenda for the 2018 summit, including the breakout sessions with a local focus, here. As Dr. Linker notes: “People like having other people close by who can support and share their successes and challenges.”
Share additional opportunities for professional development. The Healthy School Summit provides a “sprinkling” of information on a number of different school health-related topics. During and after the Summit, participants are given information on additional professional development opportunities that could help round out their understanding of a particular topic.
“We try to weave in physical activity in the classroom or active recess within [the Healthy Schools Summit] hoping then that teachers will participate in a longer professional development opportunity on those specific topics.”
Keely Ihry