PRO CONNECT
photo by Kerry Van Dusen
An educator provides a warning in this manifesto: Teach health now or suffer the consequences.
In this debut book, Van Dusen delivers a stark message to those who can—and, he insists, must—help incorporate heath studies into K-12 public schools. The author has the insider track on the subject as the founder of CATCH Global Foundation, which trains school personnel to effectively teach health. He drives home a simple and irrefutable point: Healthy children get a head start in life, learn more, and have a greater chance of success as adults. That’s not a new concept, but Van Dusen examines it from fresh angles, emphasizing “whole child” programs that focus on health, safety, engagement, support, and challenges. He’s not talking about offering a health class as an elective but making it mandatory. He takes an expansive view of the components: exercise, diet, and behavior avoidance (such as resisting tobacco). He zeroes in on the youth vaping epidemic and urges that schools consider it a high priority to address. The author supplies guidance to educators on how to make health studies a mandatory subject. The book includes well-documented case studies from six schools or districts: New York City, Connecticut, Oklahoma, and three in Texas. Key points are illustrated with simple graphs, charts, and other visuals. The work is streamlined and straightforward, answering two basic journalistic questions: What and when. The other traditional “W” inquiries (Who and where) are implicit. “Who” is the volume’s target audience, which Van Dusen identifies as “all K-12 educators,” among them principals, teachers, parents of school-age children, curriculum directors, superintendents, local school boards, community advocates, and state and federal education policymakers and departments. “Where” is the public school. The book is emphatic but never preachy. Van Dusen has a jocular way of expressing himself, eschewing formalities and connecting with readers through real-life examples. He explains public health as “the fluoridated water that streams from the tap” and “the eighth and final email demanding your son’s immunization record before he can enroll in school.” The work is definitely consciousness-raising. Readers will not be able to close this volume without pondering the consequences of schools’ failing to make health studies as important as geography, mathematics, and history.
An illuminating work that presents a strong case for teaching health in schools.
Pub Date: Oct. 29, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5445-0761-3
Page count: 236pp
Publisher: Lioncrest Publishing
Review Posted Online: Feb. 19, 2021
Book launch webinar
Favorite author
Victor Hugo
Favorite line from a book
"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." (Anna Karenina)
Hometown
Austin TX
Passion in life
Building & motivating teams
Unexpected skill or talent
Speak 4 languages
WHEN ARE WE GOING TO TEACH HEALTH?: LET’S TEACH HEALTH AS IF EACH CHILD’S LIFE DEPENDS ON IT – BECAUSE IT DOES: Foreword INDIES Finalist - Education category, 2020
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