As the end of the school year approaches, different organizations honor those who have provided service to public schools or students above and beyond the call of duty. In the case of the Healthy Schools Campaign, National School Nurse Day on May 7 was celebrated by naming the first-ever School Nurse Leadership Award winners:
- State Leader: Cheri Dotson, Santa Fe (N.M.) Public Schools
- Policy Leader: Katherine Park, Oak Brook Elementary, Ballwin, Mo.
- Urban School Leader: Kathleen Ryan, Lincoln High School, San Diego
- Rural School Leader: Kelly Wagner, River Valley Local Schools, Marion, Ohio
- Innovative Program Leader: Kay Stukenborg, Kettering City Schools, Dayton
Honorable mentions this year included one school nurse from Illinois:
- Gena Byrd, Green County Schools, Snow Hill, N.C.
- Deanna Dubay, Saginaw Intermediate School District, Saginaw, Mich.
- Juanita Gryfinski, St. Charles (Ill.) Community School District 303
- Nick Herrick, Beechwood Schools, Fort Mitchell, Kan.
The Chicago-based Healthy Schools Campaign runs several programs in schools throughout the country, programs the organization hopes will transform school fitness, school food, school facilities and operations, school nursing, and the classroom experience. Their policies focus on education, empowerment, health, and food, of course, and include Cooking up Change, Fit to Learn, Green Clean Schools, Health in Mind, Indoor Air Quality in Schools, Parents United, Space to Grow, and the School Nurse Leadership program, which gave rise to the awards reported here.