A record turnout of more than 200 people attended the 9th Annual Nebraska Child Health and Education Summit Tuesday at the Michael F. Sorrell Center for Health Science Education at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
Each year, the summit brings together children’s health advocates in Nebraska as well as leading educators and several state senators to explore potential children’s health and education policy issues. The theme of this year’s summit was, "Health Care and Education: An Emerging Partnership."
"This was an excellent summit," said Bob Bartee, vice chancellor for external affairs at UNMC and one of the organizers of the event. "In the nine years the summit has been held, this is the largest attendance in the history of the event. The speakers were outstanding and the panel discussions were invigorating. I think everyone benefited from the information that was shared."
Sharon Hoover, Ph.D., co-director of the Center for School Mental Health, delivered the keynote address. A licensed clinical psychologist, Dr. Hoover is an associate professor in the division of child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
Dr. Hoover is a leading figure in advancing school mental health research, training, policy and practice at the national, state, and local levels. She made her case for how school-based health is the key for producing safe and successful students.
Another highlight of the summit was an education panel looking at state trends in partnerships between health providers and K-12 schools. Maddie Fennell, executive director of the Nebraska State Education Association, served as moderator. Panelists included: Jack Bangert, a teacher at Omaha South High School; John Spatz, executive director, Nebraska Association of School Boards; Tawana Grover, Ed.D., Ph.D., superintendent, Grand Island Public Schools; and Howard Liu, M.D., interim chair of the UNMC Department of Psychiatry and director of Behavioral Health Education Center of Nebraska (BHECN).
Three Nebraska state senators – Lou Ann Linehan, Tony Vargas and Rick Kolowski – participated in a second panel discussion, which looked at policy priorities raised by the audience. Liz Lyons, director of advocacy and government affairs at Children’s Hospital & Medical Center, served as moderator.
Jeffrey P. Gold, M.D., chancellor of UNMC and the University of Nebraska at Omaha, delivered the welcome, while Bartee made closing comments.
Keynote speaker: ‘Mental health has to be part of conversation’
Some of the key points made by Sharon Hoover, Ph.D., the keynote speaker who is co-director of the national Center for School Mental Health, included:
- "There’s a lot of discussion at the national level about how we keep our schools and students safe. One thing we know is that mental health has to be part of the conversation."
- "Many people have talked about students being stressed and being under more pressure than ever. We know this is also true of our teachers and other educators in the building. So, if we are talking about student mental health, we also need to be attending to teacher well-being."
- "There’s a lot of fear right now among families, among those who work in schools that schools may not be a safe place. The reality is – when we look to the data – we know that schools still are the safest place for young people to be."
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