Even if you currently have insurance, you may find that these new products can improve upon your current coverage. Its products meet stringent association insurance standards and offer unique features.

Inquire about Insurance Products (You will need to enter your ASHA membership number.)

If you are not a member of ASHA and would like information on this and other member benefits, visit our Categories and Benefits page.

Brenda Z. Greene, a friend of many and stalwart advocate for school health in all its facets, passed on Friday. This is tough news to share with the broader children’s health family. She will be sorely missed, but she will be remembered as a key advocate and friend. This is tough news to share with the broader children’s health family. Thanks for everything, Brenda.

Read about Ms. Greene:

• NSBA remembers leading school health advocate, February 5, 2012
• Health is Academic Author Profile, 1998
• Washington Post Notice, February 4, 2012, February 4, 2012
• Read and Sign her Guest Book 

• an evaluation of good and poor example abstracts as seen through the eyes of program planners and reviewers
• insight into questions that the reviewers may have while considering your abstract
• tips for proactively demonstrating that your work belongs on the research council’s annual program
• the relative merits of applying for oral presentations versus poster sessions

Making Your ASHA Conference Abstract More Concrete – Tips for Getting Your Research Accepted
Thursday, February 23
1:00 pm – 2:30 pm Eastern

Space is limited. Reserve your webinar seat now.

If you are a student or new professional with less than two years experience, this program is for you. Participation isn’t limited to members of the research council.

If you are a current research council member with two or more years of research experience and a strong publication and presentation history, please consider serving as a mentor. In this role, you will give constructive feedback on your mentee’s abstract through one or more rounds of revision.

To participate, contact Sherry Everett Jones at sce2@cdc.gov by February 17.

Remember, research presentation abstracts are due to ASHA no later than April 2, 2012. Read More.

1. Share stories easily. Just click on the icons at the end of each post to share the story with your Facebook friends, Twitter followers, or anyone else via email.
2. Make comments. A blog isn’t about just one voice, it’s about many voices coming together in a common space to share ideas and information, to ask questions or make unlikely connections. You’ll find the comment box at the end of each post. You can comment on the post or respond to other readers’ comments. All comments will be reviewed before they are made public. Here are some etiquette tips for commenting.
3. Subscribe. Thanks to the famously distracting nature of the internet, our good intentions can often be derailed (surfing dog video, anyone?). The blog’s subscription feature will notify you via slightly less distracting e-mail each time a new post is published. To subscribe, look for the box in the lefthand sidebar.
4. Search by keyword or category. It’s easy to find what you are looking for on the blog. If it’s an old post you want to go back to, just type a keyword in the “Search” box in the lefthand sidebar to be able to see a list of posts that contain that word. You can also search by topic using the “Categories” drop down menu in the lefthand sidebar.
5. Contribute. You don’t have to be an honest-to-goodness “blogger” to contribute to The Pulse. You can write a guest post, collaborate with our editor on a story, or simply submit a topic idea. Just use the comment feature on this post or any post to reach our blog editor.

Now that you know more about The Pulse and how blogs work, we hope you will read our blog frequently, and share, and subscribe, and comment…

• School Health Education
• School Nursing
• Pediatric / Adolescent Medicine or Dentistry

In addition to the financial award, scholarship recipients receive a complimentary 0ne-year ASHA membership and complimentary registration for ASHA’s Annual School Health Conference, October 10-13, San Antonio, Texas.

Read about our 2012 scholarship recipients: Catherine Jean Christensen, Camille McGirt, Harpreet Singh-Gill.

ASHA’s Research Grants Program provides financial support for a graduate or undergraduate student to complete research in areas related to the association’s mission.

Please apply by April 2, 2012. Details

If you are thinking about it, but feel reluctant to commit, here are 5 reasons why it’s good for you to present:

• Raises your profile within the school health community  and makes for easier networking.  The exposure can lead to new partners, new customers, and unexpected opportunities.
• Allows you to share your experience and knowledge, putting you firmly in the camp of “expert.”
• It’s good for your career and for your organization. It’s something you and your organization can be proud of.
• Gives you public speaking practice in front of a supportive audience and helps build confidence.
• It’s good for your association. When you present at ASHA’s conference, it helps reinforce our credibility to the public and solidify our status as the organization of choice for school professionals.

If you are a seasoned presenter, you are likely well aware of the benefits of presenting, so for you, we’d like to offer these tips for presenting to a tweeting audience from Pistachio Consulting.

Applications are due April 2, 2012.

Space is limited. Reserve your Webinar seat now.

Middle school bullying behavior has been identified as the most critical factor in student learning, absenteeism and depression. Both the American School Health Association and the Children’s Health Education Center of Children’s Hospital of Milwaukee are committed to reducing bullying in schools across the nation as a means to increase academic success.

Together, these organizations present this webinar featuring Kevin Jennings, CEO of Be the Change, and former Assistant Deputy Secretary of Education, who was head of the department’s Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools 2009-2011.

Mr. Jennings will be joined by Dr. Susan Limber, professor of psychology at Clemson University, Bridget Clementi, director of community health at the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, and Dr. Richard Schafer, development, research and evaluation manager at the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin.

The panelists will provide participants with the critical components, implementation strategies, evaluation and research components and results of an effective bullying prevention program that will meet school needs and state requirements.

The webinar is approved for CHES credits and for school nurses in Pennsylvania through the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

Kevin Jennings is the CEO of Be the Change, a nonprofit that creates national issue based campaigns on pressing problems in American society. ServiceNation, the first campaign launched from Be the Change, Inc.’s platform, helped to achieve the strongly bi-partisan Kennedy Serve America Act — the greatest expansion of national service in our country in 60 years. Opportunity Nation, their second campaign launched in 2011, promotes thoughtful, practical and bi-partisan solutions to increase opportunity and economic mobility in America.

Susan Limber, PhD., MLS, is the Dan Olweus Distinguished Professor at the Institute on Family and Neighborhood Life at Clemson University.  She is a developmental psychologist also holds a Masters of Legal Studies.  Dr. Limber’s research and writing have focused on legal and psychological issues related to bullying among children. She oversees dissemination of the Olweus program in the United States. Since 2001, she has provided consultation to the National Bullying Prevention Campaign, supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  She has published numerous articles and books on the topic of bullying.

Groundbreaking National Sexuality Education Standards Set the New Gold Standard for Sexuality Education in Public Schools 

Today, four leading health organizations released the first-ever national standards for sexuality education in schools. Published in the Journal of School Health, the ground-breaking National Sexuality Education Standards: Core Content and Skills, K-12  provide clear, consistent, and straightforward guidance on the essential minimum,core content for sexuality education that is developmentally and age-appropriate for students in grades Kindergarten through grade 12.

The standards are the result of a cooperative effort by the American Association of Health Education, the American School Health Association, the National Education Association Health Information Network, and the Society of State Leaders of Health and Physical Education, in coordination with the Future of Sex Education Initiative. Nearly 40 stakeholders including content experts, medical and public health professionals, teachers, sexuality educators, and young people developed the standards in a two-year process.

“These National Sexuality Education Standards provide teachers, schools, school districts, and state education agencies with a new national standard—the minimum they need to teach to set students on a path to sexual health and responsible adulthood,” said Jerry Newberry, Executive Director of the National Education Association Health Information Network. “They set forth minimum, essential sexuality education core content and skills responsive to the needs of students and in service to their overall academic achievement.”

For years, research has highlighted the need to provide effective, comprehensive sexuality education to young people. The United States has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the industrialized world and teens bear a disproportionate impact of the sexually transmitted disease and HIV epidemics facing our nation. One in four sexually active teens has a STD and two young people every hour become HIV positive. Furthermore, there is also a pressing need to address harassment, bullying and relationship violence in our schools, which have a significant impact on a student’s emotional and physical well being as well as their academic success. The National Sexuality Education Standards set the groundwork for the minimum of what sexuality education should look like in America’s public schools.

“These standards are presented in a user-friendly way, making it possible for a health education teacher or parent, say, of a seventh-grader, to easily find out what is the next step in the learning process for a thirteen-year-old in regards to sexual health,” said Stephen Conley, Executive Director of the American School Health Association.

The standards focus on seven topics as the minimum, essential content and skills for K–12 education: Anatomy and Physiology, Puberty and Adolescent Development, Identity, Pregnancy and Reproduction, Sexually Transmitted Diseases and HIV, Healthy Relationships, and Personal Safety. Topics are presented using performance indicators—what students should know and be able to do by the end of grades 2, 5, 8, and 12—and are based on the National Health Education Standards. 

“The National Sexuality Education Standards translate an emerging body of research related to school-based sexuality education so that it can be put into practice in the classroom,” said Brian Griffith, President Elect of the Society of State Leaders of Health and Physical Education. “These standards, developed by education and health professionals, present sexual development as a normal, natural, healthy part of human development that should be a part of every health education curriculum.”

The National Sexuality Education Standards were developed to address the inconsistent implementation of sexuality education nationwide and the limited time allocated to teaching the topic. General health education is given very little time in the school curriculum. Even less time is dedicated to sexuality education. According to the School Health Policies and Practices Study, a national survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of Adolescent School Health, a median total of 17.2 hours is devoted to instruction in HIV, pregnancy and STD prevention: 3.1 hours in elementary, 6 hours in middle and 8.1 hours in high school. Studies have repeatedly found that health programs in school can help young people succeed academically and programs that included health education have a positive effect on overall academic outcomes, including reading and math scores.

To schedule an interview, please contact Dr. Stephen Conley, at 301.652.8072. Press Release (.doc)

 To view the complete National Sexuality Education Standards, click the image below.

The National Sexuality Education Standards are the first to provide clear, consistent, and straightforward guidance on the essential minimum,core content for sexuality education that is developmentally and age-appropriate for students in grades Kindergarten through grade 12.

The American Association of Health Education serves educators and other professionals who promote the health of all people through education and health promotion strategies. 

The American School Health Association works to build the capacity of its members to plan, develop, coordinate, implement, evaluate and advocate for effective school health strategies that contribute to optimal health and academic outcomes for all children and youth.

The National Education Association – Health Information Network works to improve the health and safety of the school community through disseminating information that empowers school professionals and positively impacts the lives of their students. 

The Society of State Leaders of Health and Physical Education utilizes advocacy, partnerships, professional development and resources to build the capacity of school health leaders to implement effective health education and physical education policies and practices that support success in school, work and life.

The Future of Sex Education (FoSE) Initiative is a partnership between Advocates for Youth, Answer, and the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the U.S. (SIECUS) that seeks to create a national dialogue about the future of sex education and to promote the institutionalization of comprehensive sexuality education in public schools.