Health for Success
in Virginia
Training Sessions

Workshop Overview

The summer Health for Success in Virginia Training Sessions (HFS) first began in 1997 at George Mason University.  For the last seven years, Longwood University (LU) has been the HFS site.  Since 1998, the Virginia Comprehensive Health Education Training and Resource Center (VCHETRC), now housed in the building with the Southside Area Health Education Center on the LU campus, has served as the site coordinator for these intensive training sessions.   

The HFS training sessions are designed to improve educators’ knowledge, skills, and comfort level in delivering instruction related to Family Life Education (FLE), including HIV prevention education, suicide prevention, and violence prevention.  Additional health-related workshops are scheduled to help educators increase awareness about general health topics and strategies for implementing coordinated school health programs at the school division and building levels.  For their work through the summer HFS events, it is possible for participants to earn teacher recertification credits, continuing education units, or three-hour graduate credits.   

Who Can Attend?           

The four-day HFS training sessions are marketed to school and community personnel, school health advisory board members, college and university staff members, and parents interested in strengthening state and local health programs that address educational and developmental needs of children and adolescents.  The interactive, skills-based workshops focus on theoretically based activities that can help school and community educators implement effective programs and strategies in practical day-to-day educational settings.   

The summer training sessions help school and community staff members promote parental involvement in FLE and comprehensive health instruction, foster positive self-concepts among children and youth, provide mechanisms for helping youth cope with peer pressure and the stresses of modern living, and design curriculum and lessons according to students' developmental stages and abilities.  The sessions also are intended to help educators enhance the health and well being of children and adolescents so they may be more productive learners in school and community programs. 

As a follow-up to the summer HFS events, the VCHETRC works with the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) and local school divisions to provide smaller one-day (and sometimes multiple-day) HFS-type training sessions throughout the state.  During the most recent school year, 2004-2005, 24 school divisions requested 37 training sessions.  The VDOE and VCHETRC already are setting up workshops for the summer and fall of 2005 in several locations around Virginia. 

           Funding  
     

Primary funding for HFS and the VCHETRC comes from federal dollars through the VDOE projects on HIV prevention education, coordinated school health programs, and safe and drug-free schools programs.  The Virginia Department of Health’s Center for Injury and Violence Prevention and the Virginia Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (VAHPERD) also provide financial support for the HFS training sessions.   For three years (2001-2003), the National Middle School Association served as a co-sponsor of the HFS events. 

          Training Topics            

The following topics will be offered during the Health for Success in Virginia Training Sessions, July 17-20, 2006:  

·      Understanding Human Sexuality Today

·      Strengthening Character-based Abstinence Education

·      Practicing Effective Teaching Strategies for Sexuality/HIV Education

·      Reducing Risky Behavior

·      Strengthening Parental Involvement in FLE

·      Managing “Sensitive” Issues

·      Dealing with Teen Pregnancy: A Focus on Fathers

·      Working with Diverse Populations

·      Preventing STDs

·      Preparing for the Future: Family Planning

·      American Heart Association: Heartsaver CPR, First Aid, and AED Training

·      Nutrition 101 and Health Education

·      Chronic Diseases Relevant to Today’s Children:  Diabetes, Obesity Prevention, Asthma, or    
   Mental Health

·      Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training

·      Second Step: A Violence Prevention and Character Education Curriculum

·      Grant Writing 101

·      Instructional Resources Review