“Supporting student health and wellness"”

When a school tries to solve student wellness one office at a time, everyone burns out and kids fall through the cracks. I’m joined by Dr. Jeanie Alter, Executive Director of the American School Health Association (ASHA), to talk about what changes when we treat school health as a coordinated team effort across counselors, nurses, teachers, administrators, families, and community partners.

Dr. Alter shares the story that pulled her into this work early: helping make her high school campus smoke free back in the early 90s. From there we trace how prevention, the eight dimensions of wellness, and community coalition work shaped her research and leadership, and why out-of-school time and home environments matter just as much as what happens during the school day. If you care about student mental health, substance use prevention, and whole child support, you’ll hear practical ways to connect the dots.

We also get real about barriers, especially privacy and information sharing in schools. HIPAA, FERPA, special education, IEPs, and 504 plans create genuine complexity, but coordination is still possible with clear roles, better communication, and shared responsibility. We close with concrete ways to get involved through ASHA committees, the Future Leaders Academy, conferences, and local school health advisory councils, plus one small step you can try tomorrow to build a stronger support network for students.

If this conversation helps you, subscribe, share it with a colleague, and leave a review so more educators and families can find it. What’s one cross-role connection you want to make this week?

Resources:

https://www.ashaweb.org/

Email: jalter@ashaweb.org

https://ma-hperd.org/

Thanks for listening! 🙏🏼

If you picked up a new idea or felt inspired by today’s episode, I’d love to hear from you and if your interested in being a potential guest on the show; email mahperdpodcast@gmail.com Please take a second to follow the show and share it with another educator who’s passionate and let’s keep the conversation going!” 

🗣️PSA******

P.E Teachers: Are you currently seeking graduate credits or professional development hours toward license renewal?​If so, you can receive $25 off any self-paced professional development course or year-long virtual course from my colleague at  Distinguished PE by using the code "nextlevelpe" at checkout. 

Visit www.distinguishedpe.com to learn more and find the course that’s right for you.

Transcript

Jake 0:03

Hello and welcome to Voices from the Field, a MAHPERD podcast where we talk with educators in the field to hear about their perspectives and experiences. My name is Jake Bursin, Advocacy Chair for MAHPERD, and today I have the pleasure of speaking with

Welcome And Guest Introduction

Jake 0:16

Dr. Jeannie Alter. Welcome to the show, Dr. Alter.

Dr. Alter 0:19

It's great to be here. I appreciate the invitation.

Jake 0:22

Here's a little bit about Dr. Alter. Dr. Jeanie Alter has served as the Executive Director of the American School Health Association since 2018. Prior to this role, Dr. Alter was an evaluator for substance abuse prevention coalitions in Indiana through Indiana University. Over the course of her tenure with Indiana University, she has been active in the field, classroom, and scholarship. Her research interests include evaluation of prevention initiatives, coordinated school health programs, and psychosocial factors related to health. She lives in Bloomington, Indiana with her husband and son. All right, Dr. Alter, let's get started. Terrific. Before we get into the podcast, I'd love to start with what drew you into school health in the first place?

Speaker 1 1:09

Yeah, that's such an interesting question because I think I was involved in school health far longer than

First Steps Into School Health

Speaker 1 1:17

I realized. So as a high school student, I was involved with a school and community coalition to, and this might sound a little odd to some listeners, but to make our high school campus smoke-free. Because in the early 90s, friends, teachers and students, if you were 18 or older, were allowed to smoke on campus. And we set out to change that. And that was, I can't even honestly, Jake, remember how I got involved in this, but it was something that I was really passionate about. And we got the policy changed in our school. Now, again, I think that sounds like a crazy thing that teachers and staff and students would be smoking together outdoors. But anyway.

Jake 2:13

It did happen at one point, right?

Dr. Alter 2:14

It did happen. I like to say the 90s were a confusing time. So I was involved in school health in that way, and it wasn't sort of an intentional move, if that makes sense. And then I moved on to college where I was a resident assistant, and I was in the substance-free unit. So even students who were of age to smoke or use tobacco products or alcohol, they had sort of made this commitment that they were not going to. So not only were we in this special area of the dormitory that students had made that commitment and wanted to live in that environment, but we also centered our work and our social activities and things that we did with the students around the eight dimensions of wellness. And that was something that I learned about through being a resident assistant. I was a resident assistant for three years in college, which is quite a long time. It has sort of a high burnout rate. So to do it for three years was quite a while.

Jake 3:24

Was this Indiana University or somewhere else? This university. Yes, absolutely. So you mentioned PhD. What are some of your research interests that you've either taken part of or still participate in?

Dr. Alter 5:01

Yeah. So I did a lot of work in the out-of-school time. I supported a group of community coalitions that worked with schools as well, but provided

Research Roots And ASHA Path

Dr. Alter 5:14

sort of that coordinated approach to health and well-being of students and acknowledged that there needed to be something that happened in the after-school time. There needed to be something that happened to address the home environment. And so that became a primary focus of my work and my research was sort of exploring how those things come together and impact substance use behavior. Typically, middle and high school was kind of my area of focus. But it was it was great work, and I think really led me then to Asha and working with this particular organization. I started as a student, as a graduate student. That was, oh goodness, I'm not even sure if I want to talk about how long ago that was. Over 20 years. Oh wow. I started as a member, I was on a committee, then I moved into our Future Leaders Academy, which is sort of a leadership development opportunity to teach you about leadership in general, as well as leadership in a nonprofit organization or a professional association like ours. And from there, I joined the board. And then eventually I became the director. So it was it has been an exciting path and trajectory.

Jake 6:48

That's really cool. It sounds like you really did all the steps, climbed up that ladder, so to speak. So, Dr. Alto, what sparked the decision to create a partnership with Mayford, our state organization?

Dr. Alter 7:00

One of the things that has been really important to our association is partnerships. Because the whole

Why State Partnerships Matter

Dr. Alter 7:08

idea is that we don't have to do any of this work alone. In fact, we shouldn't. And so, as an organization, we want to model that as well. That we are working together in a collaborative fashion and in a coordinated fashion. And so we've spent some time thinking about our partnerships. And that's with national organizations. That is also with state-level organizations. Because as a national organization, sometimes it's difficult to attend to all of the nuances and needs of an individual state. You know, schools are very different depending on the state. We have local control. So things can look very different depending on where you are. So I think that there's a strength there of us sort of representing maybe a more national audience, but having these partnerships with state-level organizations that can really speak to, you know, how does licensure work in your state? How does PD work in your state? How, you know, how do we maintain our licensure with professional development? That looks different depending on where you are. So I think that was what sparked that desire to formalize a relationship like MAHPERD.

Jake 8:36

You bring up a good point because even just as far as the number of times that we have health or P in a week, I mean, even within our state, it's different. So I can't imagine the difference between the different states. And I know every state's different, so that's an excellent point.

Dr. Alter 8:49

And I learned a lot about that presenting at the conference last year in late 2025, is just the differences between my experience in Indiana or other states, and the differences in the room from people who were all in Massachusetts. And there was that opportunity to share, and that I think that's the most impactful is to share information, to share strategies, approaches, how to get buy-in. So it I found that to be one of the most exciting and I think helpful thing for me being at the conference, getting to hear those stories and hopefully facilitating conversation within the room.

Jake 9:43

Right. It sounds very valuable to have that opportunity.

Speaker 1 9:47

Yeah.

Jake 9:48

Dr. Alter, can you talk a little bit about the Asha core belief in mission?

Dr. Alter 9:53

Yeah. So our mission is to transform all schools into places

Mission And Coordinated Support Systems

Dr. Alter 9:57

where every student learns and thrives. And I think that's really important now more than ever, that we are attending to the needs of all students. There's been a lot of disruption in our work in the last little bit. And I think paying attention to what each student needs, and that looks different. That's why schools look different, depending on where you are, is because the needs are different. And so that is even more pronounced when you look at each individual student. That is our mission. And in order to get there, we want to make sure that you know we have healthy students who learn and achieve in safe and healthy environments and are nurtured by those caring adults that are functioning within that coordinated school and community support system that I mentioned before. My work was around community coalitions that involved schools that wanted to make sure that if you think about it in terms of maybe concentric circles and the students in the center, the school is their primary location. They're waking, most of their waking hours are at school, but then that community also plays a part. Obviously, family plays a part and just recognizing the importance of all of those elements and working together to ensure that students are being nurtured and getting their needs met in whatever unique ways those are.

Jake 11:38

It makes sense. And you mentioned coordinated a few times. So meaning that there's different folks involved. It's not just one entity, it's not just the parents, it's not just the teachers, it could be outside agencies, it could be administration, it could be all the above.

Dr. Alter 11:53

Absolutely. And even within the school environment, there's coordination that that should and could happen there. Because I think a lot of school faculty and staff are really feeling a lot of burden to address a lot of needs. I always say, you know, it's not just the counselor or social worker if you are so blessed as to have a social worker in your school or a school psychologist, which is even more rare, but it's not just their role to attend to the mental health of a student. We know that nurses get a lot of the stomach aches and the headaches and the I don't feel good. And we know, you know, as adults who are hopefully in tune with our bodies and and our minds and how we feel and think, maybe a bit better than a second grader, right? We know that when we aren't feeling well in terms of mental health, that we feel that in our bodies. And so it's silly to think that it's just the counselor's role to tend to the mental health when the nurses are seeing a lot of this. So that coordinated effort needs to be really state it enough that it's it's all of our responsibilities, it's all of our jobs, and it makes everything a lot easier if we're able to work together. There's so many barriers to that, but that's what we're here to help with.

Jake 13:33

The communication piece, too, I would think would be important with from the teachers talking to the nurses and vice versa, or the caregivers maybe explaining a little bit about their child. They know their child best, but I mean, like you said, we see them during the day, but there's parts of the day we don't see them. So maybe something happened at home or vice versa, something happened at school.

Dr. Alter 13:52

So that's really and I think one of the initiatives that we are involved with is

Privacy Rules And Information Sharing

Dr. Alter 13:57

I serve on a national advisory group or a group that is really trying to the Center for Excellence on protected health information because it does become tricky at school. You have HIPAA, which protects health information, and you have VERPA, which protects educational information, and there is an overlap there. And this particular project is more is not just specific to schools, but my involvement in that group and Asha's involvement in that group is to help keep the focus on what do we do in schools? It's one thing in a community mental health center, but how does this look in schools? Because we have some specific, we're talking about minors, we are talking about specific, you know, health and education laws and privacy and how does that work? So we try to contribute in those ways. That's just an example of how we try to help keep that on the forefront of these great projects. And they've built out a whole section about school health and how, you know, in terms of professional development and resources and things like that, because of our involvement, not to take all the credit, but you know, we were asked to be on that group just to pay attention to schools in particular.

Jake 15:18

Because there are so many different elements, especially with special education and the IEPs and 504s, that all comes into play.

Dr. Alter 15:25

Absolutely. And things change all the time. So we have to keep paying attention to that.

Jake 15:29

So, Dr. Alter, what are some of the goals of the collaboration between Asha and Mayford?

Speaker 1 15:34

Yeah. Well, I think I mentioned one in terms of I think it brings strength to our organization to have uh individuals at the state level who are attending to what's happening

Collaboration Goals And Advocacy Stories

Speaker 1 15:48

in their district, what's happening in their school building, what's happening at the state level to help provide some context to what things look like in different states and in different contexts. I think that just makes us more knowledgeable and helps us understand sort of the variation that you can see. But I also think, you know, just the simple fact of creating partnerships that allow for sharing of information, dissemination of great products and tools. Again, we all do not have to do it alone. And so, as an example, we have on our website some resources that are mostly not ours, that are just great resources that we want to make sure that we elevate and amplify. And so being able to just be a dissemination partner to you all is something that's important to us. And I think that we are, you know, this partnership is very new and I think has a lot of opportunities, but we are looking for ways to collaborate on things like new resources, professional development, whether that's a webinar or a conference session or a self-study or self-paced kind of professional development grants. We've partnered on some grants that are state-based. Just because we're a national organization doesn't mean that we have to do work all over the country. We are based in Indiana, and so we focused on Indiana schools for that one because we're we're here and the this is our you know community as as individuals. And, you know, I think another really great opportunity for collaboration is also advocacy. Because I typically when you go to the hill or you have conversations with legislators, they want to hear the the stories that are impacting teachers and students and staff and administrators, and those are so helpful in sort of grabbing the attention of legislators and helping them understand the difficulties they're facing. And I think, you know, Mayford has a really great ability to share those stories. I've experienced that just being a speaker at the conference. And I try to do less speaking and more listening about you know what the challenges and barriers are.

Jake 18:37

That's a great point you bring up about the stories in the legislators because they're the ones that are making the decisions. So if we can kind of stick our neck out a little bit and share what's going on in their classrooms or in our in our spaces, that's so important.

Dr. Alter 18:49

So absolutely. I think the other piece too is being able to share successes because it can be very daunting work and it can feel lonely at times, it can feel like the systems are working against us, and I think being able to say, and I wish that I could remember the the details of of this individual that shared during my session last fall, but she was sharing that she had a very supportive administrator, and she shared some of the successes she had seen in her school. And I think we desperately need to hear that.

Jake 19:32

Definitely that could be so motivating to hear somebody else that's kind of been through that path and through those barriers, and you can learn from from each other, right? Absolutely. So, are there opportunities for members to contribute, such as leadership roles or programs or other research collaborations? I know you might want on your website, and there's something called the Future Leaders Academy. Can you talk

Leadership Programs And Getting Involved

Jake 19:55

a little bit about that?

Dr. Alter 19:56

Yeah, so I mentioned that earlier, and that was the way that I sort of entered into a leadership position with the association was this two-year program, it's a two-year program, which sounds daunting, but it's really wonderful. Where we bring a cohort on board and they're from different geographic areas, they're from different roles within, you know, sort of student life, and they are from they're playing, you know, a different role in different settings. So it's really wonderful to get these great perspectives. And my time on the Future Leaders Academy, we did some leadership readings and discussions. We have done projects that either apply to leadership in school health or leadership in the American School Health Association. So it could be broader than just our organization. And we have folks who complete this two-year leadership academy and join our board. We have others who continue their work maybe at a university and they use those leadership skills in their work at their university or in their school. And that's a really great way to get involved. And you also learn so much about our association in the process. And I think that helps in terms of even if you don't continue to engage with Asha as an organization, join the board and do the whole thing. It is helpful to understand some of the inner workings of a nonprofit, the finances, the decisions that you make around conferences and those kinds of things. So I found that very, very interesting. We also have committees that are really in. Engaged in things like professional development, advocacy, research, and leadership in general. And that's where the Future Leaders Academy sits. But we also do other leadership types of things. And some of those are just recognizing the leaders in the field and learning from them. So committees is a great way to get involved and get to know people. We have webinars regularly. I mentioned our resources on our website that are sort of vetted. We don't just post what, you know, anything that somebody comes to us with. We have to make sure that it's something that we feel is valuable, evidence-based, something that that we don't want to waste our precious time. We want people to go there and find good stuff. And then our conference. Our conference is a great way to just get the vibe of who we are. And I will say that as a student, I went to a variety of conferences just to kind of see what was out there. And I really liked I enjoyed all of the conferences that I attended, but I think what really drew me back again and again to ASHA was that it was smaller. I saw the same people each year, and I had my conference friends, and it was just sort of a little family. I'll say we had our conference in Hawaii a while back, and I attended that conference. I went by myself and had the most wonderful time. I had a few people that I had met at a previous conference. We went and did excursions together in the afternoons. We had wonderful dinners. It was just a really wonderful experience. And I think that was what sort of solidified for me that this was the place for me. I can show up by myself and find my tribe. So I really urge students to do that and kind of check out different organizations to see what fits them best. We won't

Conference Community And Kissing Bricks

Dr. Alter 24:12

fit everyone. But you know, we are really trying to be a home for a lot of different people, professional home for a lot of different people who are looking to sort of close that gap or that lack of connection between those other professionals in their schools and communities. So health, PE, counseling, nutrition, the administration, those youth-serving organizations that are in your community, boys and girls clubs and the why and all those different things that are looking for a a way to better understand or ideas on how to work together.

Jake 25:02

That conference you were talking about is going to be in Indiana.

Dr. Alter 25:05

It's in Indiana this year. As I said, we're based in Indiana and we don't always, we're not always here, but this year we'll be in Indianapolis, and it should be a great time. We're going to go to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. And as our night out, we always do some kind of event where if folks want to go sort of explore our host city a little bit, we're going to go there. And are you familiar with this concept, Jake, of kissing the bricks?

Jake 25:28

Kissing the bricks. Never heard of it. What's that? How does that look like that?

Dr. Alter 25:32

So at the Speedway, it used to be a there, there might be some real indie car people who are going to correct me on some of this. So I welcome it. And so it is not anymore. But there is one small strip of bricks that are sort of the original bricks. And you can go on a tour and you can kiss the bricks, which is what the winners do after they win. They also drink some milk. So you can kiss the bricks or you can blow it a kiss or you know, whatever you want. But it should be a fun time. And yeah, October in Indiana is a nice time to be here.

Jake 26:12

That sounds great. If a student, educator, or parent is listening right now, what's one thing that you might want them to either think or start doing differently tomorrow? Just something to think about.

Dr. Alter 26:23

Yeah. I would

One Change To Try Tomorrow

Speaker 1 26:25

say make those connections across those different roles, right? So the counselor, the nurse, obviously, teachers, administrators, make those connections. If you're a parent and you are maybe noticing something in your child and you want to reach out to the counselor, maybe also reach out to the PE teacher as well and talk to them about what they're seeing in a what may be a little different setting. But reaching across those different components or those different roles within a school or even within your community, I think is a really nice way to help, I guess, create that collaborative and coordinated environment within your school. I think that's probably the the best thing. And and if your school has a school health advisory committee or council, they're sometimes called different things.

Jake 27:33

Yeah, the shack, right?

Dr. Alter 27:34

Yeah. Join that. Either as a professional in your community or a parent. I represent the parents on our local shack. And it's a really great, and I plan to do that even beyond my child's time in K-12. It just really, I think, helps you see all the things that are going on. You don't get a lot, especially when you have a teenager. How is your day? Fine. You don't see that they're doing these great things in the schools, like inviting them to taste different foods that they're not used to, or the farm to table initiatives that they're doing, or the or the gardens at the school, you know, those kinds of things you don't you won't get that unless you reach out.

Jake 28:22

So I agree with you. And I also want to second what you said earlier about being on committees and different boards. A lot of stuff happens behind the scenes that your lay person doesn't typically know. I mean, these conferences they don't just happen at the drop of a hat. There's a lot of planning that goes into it, as you know. There's a lot of behind the scenes. Years ahead of time. Right. And details and and and planning. And so people won't know unless they they either volunteer or they're part of a board or a committee or something where they're absolutely seeing it firsthand. So that's so important to get involved.

Dr. Alter 28:52

Absolutely. And committees are the lifeblood of organizations such as ours. And I'm sure yours as well. That's where the real work happens, and that's where the input is so valuable. It really is, it's an incredible aspect of an organization.

Jake 29:11

So, Dr. Alter, as we come to a close, how could our listeners connect with you or find out more about Asha?

Dr. Alter 29:18

Well, I would say first visit our website. Now, you have to know that there are two Ashas.

How To Connect And Closing

Dr. Alter 29:25

So we are the American School Health Association, and our website is ASHA Web, like the World Wide Web.org. There's also Asha, which is the American Speech, Hearing, and Language Association. So there's another Osha in the mix. So sometimes people get confused, but we are AshaWeb.org. So visit us and learn about all the different partnerships and initiatives and committees and all that great stuff and learn more about our conference. Anybody is also welcome to reach out to me at any time. And I will tell you what my email address is. It is J Alter A-L-T-E-R at oshaweb.org. And I welcome hearing from all of you. I love the input and I'm really excited about our partnership and what that can bring for both of us.

Jake 30:26

Me too. The sky's the limit.

Dr. Alter 30:28

Absolutely.

Jake 30:29

Dr. Alter, I really want to thank you for saying yes to the podcast and thank you for this insightful conversation. Really learned a lot.

Dr. Alter 30:36

I so appreciate the conversation and just thrilled that you invited me. So thank you so much.

Jake 30:42

Definitely. And listeners, please share this episode with a colleague or friend. Thank you all for listening so much. Thank you for the work you do. We will be back soon.