Web-Based Health Education Curriculum Project Funded
January 28, 2005
Health Care Medical Technologies, Inc., of Sioux Falls
has been awarded a $335,000 federal appropriation to begin developing an
Internet-based curriculum for health education. K-12 students, teachers,
and parents will all have the opportunity for access to the new website, both
in classroom and home settings.
Project director Marsha Kucker says that, "KidsHealthEd.com
will provide access to comprehensive health, wellness, and guidance education
in areas where school nurses are not available and guidance counselors just do
not have the time or resources to teach such content. We will provide this
Internet-based curriculum free of charge to South Dakota schools."
Kucker says that each of the K-12 grade levels on the
"one-stop education website" will have a variety of units, with each unit
stressing both concepts and skills. Some units will cover fundamental and
traditional topics like first aid, dental care, and academic success skills,
while other units will cover areas of escalating concern within our society
such as substance abuse, diabetes, and obesity.
The curriculum will be continuously updated to reflect
changing classroom needs, evolving cultural sensitivities, and advancing
medical technology. "What we are creating," says Kucker, "must be both dynamic
and interactive. It must be dynamic in that it recognizes the growing
diversity of South Dakota's school population and the breathtaking new
developments in research and technology. It must be interactive in that
it recognizes that students learn best when they actively participate in a
process, rather than just sitting like sponges while information is poured over
them."
The curriculum being developed will be based upon South
Dakota's academic content standards for health education, which were adopted in
1998. Those standards were based upon the National Health Education
Standards, which were adopted in 1996.
"The twin ultimate goals of the new web site are
education and prevention," says Kucker. "The curriculum will help prevent
high-risk behavior and promote health lifestyles. The investment in the
project will ultimately pay dividends in insurance cost containment, worker
productivity, and in the overall quality of life for future generations."
Kucker says that integrated within the curriculum will
be a survey instrument that will give health care professionals a predictive
modeling tool based upon health risk assessments. "There is not enough money in
the federal treasury to clean up all the health-related problems in our
society," she says. "With this project, we are investing money into identifying
risks and then preventing problems before they can plague children and burden
taxpayers."
The development of KidsHealthEd.com is a
partnership of healthcare agencies and facilities, public and private
corporations, state and federal agencies, and school districts and
universities. Project partners already include the Department of
Education, Avera Health, and Dakota State University.
Kucker said that the federal funding was achieved
because of bipartisan support from all of South Dakota's political
leaders. Former Congressman Bill Janklow first endorsed the project with
the House leadership. During the time when the state's lone congressional
office was vacant, Governor Mike Rounds stepped in and sent the initial funding
request to House appropriators. Both Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth and former
Senator Tom Daschle wrote personal letters of support to key committee chairmen
and ranking members. Senator Tim Johnson, who sits on the powerful Senate
Appropriations Committee, provided project proponents with valuable information
on the funding process.
"This is the first comprehensive project of this type
ever developed in South Dakota for South Dakota students, educators, and
parents," says Kucker. "It took a lot of cooperation to get the initial
funding, and it will take a lot of cooperation to complete the project. That's
how we get things done out here."
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