Colorado Legacy Foundation Invited to Speak at Forum with Secretary of Education and Secretary of Health and Human Services

DENVER, CO — Tomorrow the President and CEO of the Colorado Legacy Foundation (CLF), Dr. Helayne Jones, will present highlights of Colorado’s school health and wellness efforts to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius. Dr. Jones’s remarks will draw attention to the efforts underway in Colorado to promote, implement, and reward innovative health and wellness efforts, especially in Colorado’s rural districts.

“The Colorado Legacy Foundation recognizes the important link between students’ health and their academic achievement,” said Dr. Jones. “Colorado’s rural school districts face unique challenges with respect to information sharing, financial resources, and access to services. It is an honor to be invited to present the incredible strides being made in Colorado to support these and all districts as they work to improve academic achievement by focusing on student health and wellness.”

Dr. Jones will showcase the work of Colorado’s Healthy School Champions Scorecard, which has been successful in engaging schools and districts, especially in rural communities, in the adoption and implementation of health and wellness practices.  This year, 32 districts from throughout Colorado were awarded a total of $42,000 as part of the Scorecard program. She will also speak about CLF’s partnership with the Colorado Department of Education and how this type of public/private partnership can be effective in advancing strategic reform efforts.

“The partnership between the Colorado Legacy Foundation and the Colorado Department of Education is unique and gaining attention as a national model,” said Colorado’s Commissioner of Education, Robert Hammond. “Our collaboration allows us to work statewide to leverage resources to build capacity and sustainability in school health and wellness efforts in a way that meaningfully supports educators and positively impacts student achievement.”

Guests at the day-long event will also hear from Secretary Duncan and Secretary Sebelius, as well as a number of leaders who are successfully promoting health and learning in schools across the United States. The event is sponsored by Healthy School Campaign and Trust for America’s Health and will feature the release of their new report, Health in Mind: Improving Education Through Wellness.