Sherdina Williams, MEd, RN, LSN, School Nurse
Cleveland Metropolitan School District
Though I’ve always subscribed to a community health framework, it took me years of practicing to find my way into schools – the heart of our communities. What prompted the move? I became a parent and was seeking a schedule that was more conducive to taking care of a child, particularly a child with special needs. That’s how I landed at Cleveland Metropolitan School District nearly two decades ago, and what a ride it’s been.
As a school nurse, not only do I treat students and staff when they walk through the doors of the clinic, but I also chair the wellness committee at several schools so that I can ensure that we address health and wellness proactively.
A few years ago, several schools in our district enrolled in the Alliance for a Healthier Generation’s Healthy Schools Program, which has really helped our wellness committee take a proactive approach to our school wellness efforts.
One of our schools, Garrett Morgan High School, was especially quick to adopt changes and the school’s leadership was enthusiastic about integrating health into the school day. Along with the wellness committee and our Healthy Schools Program Manager, Zerrine Bailey, we began working toward the Alliance’s National Healthy Schools Gold Award criteria. In 2016, I’m proud to share that Garrett Morgan was named one of America’s Healthiest Schools by the Alliance!
How did we do it? Well, it was truly a community-wide effort. Here are just a few of the initiatives that made a real difference:
- Expanding our school breakfast program;
- Removing sweetened drinks from our vending machines;
- Welcoming parents into our building to get moving on our walking track;
- Serving fruit and vegetable smoothies every Friday in our clinic;
- Swapping non-food rewards for candy or pizza parties;
- Inviting parents, staff and students to Zumba and track exercise programs at school;
- Incorporating wellness into our academic curriculum, from gardening to cooking classes; and
- Through a collaboration with the Cleveland Food Bank, opening a “market” for families to access fresh fruits and vegetables and recipes at school.
I’m thrilled by the support that we’ve received to make these changes, from corporate partnerships such as NutriBullet University that connected our students to fresh fruits and vegetables, community partnerships facilitated through the Morgan Stanley Healthy Cities Initiative and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation for providing the umbrella under which we coordinated all of these wellness initiatives.
I’m so passionate about this work partly because I believe there’s no one more qualified to lead school wellness efforts than nurses. Not only are we prepared to be wellness leaders thanks to our strong educational backgrounds, but we’re in a unique position to see the whole student population.
From that vantage point, we can see the big picture. And from where I stand, that picture shows me that children’s health is so critical to how they perform in the classroom and on the sports field, and ultimately, influences their chances for a bright future. Won’t you join the movement to make your school one of America’s Healthiest?