This Spring I had the incredible opportunity to complete a fellowship with the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) Title V program. I worked with the VDH School Health team and Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) developing strategies for school nurses to engage and connect with students in Virginia.
For my project, I designed a School Nurse Visibility and Health Promotion Toolkit for school nurses. The purpose of the toolkit is to increase parent and student familiarity with the school nurse and their services as well as foster comfort to go to the nurse for care. This toolkit includes flyer templates about school health services and health promotion topics relevant to youth including healthy relationships and mental wellness. The flyers can be adapted by school nurses and then distributed to parents and students through newsletters, email, bulletin boards, and other methods. The toolkit was designed in collaboration with youth in the VDH Youth Advisory Council (YAC) and school nurses who provided their feedback in discussion groups and surveys. This project honed my research, communication, and creativity skills to convey evidence-based public health information with different audiences. My favorite part of the fellowship was establishing meaningful partnerships with nurses, youth, and other stakeholders, a vital skill to have as a public health professional engaging in communities. I was inspired by the dedication of school nurses and youth to promote the health and wellbeing of students.
I also assisted in organizing and cleaning data from the annual School Health Survey. From this role, I developed transferable skills and ascertained the significance of using data to advocate for school health policies such as allocating funding for more school nurse positions.
The VDH Title V team provided additional professional development opportunities throughout my fellowship including participating in weekly Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Leadership Competency meetings and attending the 2025 Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP) Conference. These experiences allowed me to identify how I can grow as a leader and connect with other MCH professionals.
My fellowship with the VDH Title V program solidified my passion for adolescent health and fostered invaluable knowledge, skills, and relationships for my public health career. I am so grateful for the unwavering support of the VDH Title V team and the GW MCH Center of Excellence who made this opportunity possible!