Creating safe, positive environments for learning
Hennepin County's partnerships within the schools and the community are helping create healthy school environments that reduce chronic disease, increase student attendance and achievement, and increase student and staff wellness.
Read more
The importance of public health initiatives in schools (PDF)
Consultations
Health@School staff are available to provide no-cost consultations on the following topics:
- Active recess and other physical activity initiatives
- Healthy cafeteria assessments and other healthy eating initiatives
- Safe Routes to School
- School climate initiatives
- Tobacco-free K-12 schools
- Tobacco-free post-secondary schools
For information, email Catherine Stahl at catherine.stahl@hennepin.us or call 612-596-7467.
Youth mental well-being resources
Change to Chill training
Hennepin County Public Health offered a virtual training for school employees in collaboration with Allina Health on their award-winning Change to Chill program. It educates school staff on mindfulness concepts, resilience techniques, and models deep breathing techniques and other strategies to help young people be their best selves.
Change to Chill spring 2022 training recording – 1 hour (YouTube)
Change to Chill training December 2022 on new BIPOC and LGBTQ+ resources – 1 hour (YouTube)
Health Powered Kids training (November 2022)
Allina Health offered a virtual training for school employees working with younger children ages 3-12. Health Powered Kids offers activities and videos for school staff to promote healthy eating, physical movement, stress management and more.
Health Powered Kids training – 15 minutes
Calm spaces in schools: Health Powered Kids training (November 2022)
This calm spaces in schools resource guide is available to school staff to design calm rooms or calm corners in their schools.
Calm spaces in secondary schools resource guide (PDF)
Calm spaces in elementary schools resource guide (PDF)
Youth tobacco prevention
A parent's guide to vaping
Talking to youth about the dangers of vaping is more important than ever. Caregivers can learn about youth vaping from a series of free videos and begin conversations with their child to prevent use. All resources are free. We encourage you to share them with other caregivers.
Videos en español
Hablar ahora con los jóvenes sobre los peligros del vapeo es más importante que nunca. Los cuidadores pueden informarse sobre la práctica del vapeo entre los jóvenes a través de una serie de videos gratuitos y comenzar a conversar con sus hijos para prevenir el consumo. Se proporcionan guías de apoyo y preguntas para el debate. Todos los recursos son gratuitos. Le recomendamos que los comparta con otros cuidadores.
En español: Enlace aquí
Somali videos