Tuesday, October 11, 2011

BPS Wellness Program Gets High Marks

BrocktonPost
BROCKTON--Brockton Public Schools Wellness Coordinator Mary Ellen Kirrane is in Louisville, Kentucky today after being named Health Coordinator of the Year by the American School Health Association.
She will accept the honor and a plaque during the association's 85th annual conference Wednesday, Oct. 12.
"This isn't an award I earned, this is an award the school system earned," Kirrane said in an interview before she left for Kentucky. "This isn't my award this is the school district's award," she said.
Kirrane, who heads wellness and health programs for K-8, has been recognized for her professional leadership in the coordination of school health initiatives across the district.
Officials said Kirrane is the first non-governmental coordinator to win the award.
For the past 18 years, Kirrane has written and implemented several system-wide grants that have impacted the district greatly, officials said.
Those initiatives include middle school fitness centers, international nutrition events, peer programs and violence prevention curriculum.
Kirrane also acts as a liaison with other departments and community agencies in implementing local and state health mandates, most recently the newly signed Anti-Bullying Prevention and Intervention Model Plan project.
“Mary Ellen is always at the forefront of issues concerning student health and wellness,” said Superintendent of Schools Matthew H. Malone. “Our students benefit directly from her proactive approach to wellness,” he said.

Kirrane received a bachelor's of science in health education from Northeastern University in 1981 and a master’s in administration from Suffolk University in 1988. She certified as an elementary school principal and she has completed the New England Division of School Health Institutes Coordinated School Health Leadership Program.

One of Kirrane’s major focuses has been in advocacy for broadening health education in the Brockton Public Schools. She has worked closely with classroom teachers to integrate health concepts and skills into daily lessons. Kirrane has often begun presentations by reminding administrators and teachers that, “all teaches are teachers of reading, writing and arithmetic and also can be teachers of wellness when given the right tools.”
Kirrane chairs the Brockton Public School District Coordinated School Wellness Team, which utilized the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s model approach to connecting school wellness initiatives to community resources.
Over the past four years, the district team has established school-based teams that meet regularly to assess the wellness needs of their buildings and to create yearly goals and objectives.
Through the coordination of the district team, each school is provided resources and support to achieve their goals.
This initiative was highlighted in the first issues of the Massachusetts Coordinated School Health Program Healthy Kids Better Students newsletter in the spring of 2009.
Kirrane has been an active advocate for school health at state and local levels.
She has served on the Massachusetts Interdisciplinary Health and Health Services Advisory Council as co-chairperson since 2008.
She is a regular presenter at health and wellness symposiums and in 2004 was named The Distinguished Outreach Partnership Award winner by the University of Massachusetts for her collaboration with UMass Extension Family Nutrition Program.
Kirrane serves as an adjunct faculty for Fitchburg State College teaching graduate level courses in wellness, classroom management and fostering responsible behaviors for life and also is the professional seminar advisor for graduate health and family consumer science candidates at Cambridge College.

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