BPS Health and Wellness Youth Advisory Board Member hosts Read Aloud Event

Boston Latin School 10th Grader Writes Children's Book as part of Youth Advisory Board Project

The BPS Office of Health and Wellness is deeply committed to helping students learn how to make healthy decisions. This includes empowering students to take action to help other students learn more about the importance of making healthy decisions.

Empowering Teens Through Health (ETTH) Youth Advisory Board (YAB)

The Office of Health and Wellness established the Empowering Teens Through Health Youth Advisory Board during the 2020-2021 school year as a way to increase student voice in health programming across BPS. The group meets weekly in person and the meetings before the winter recess focused on community building and building health knowledge and skills.

Public Health;
Health Equity;
Health Communication;
Health Advocacy; and
Health Data.

After the winter recess, YAB students identify a health initiative they would like to lead and work in small groups for their projects. YAB hosts a pitch panel where students pitch their ideas in January and YAB groups engage with internal and external partners to get feedback on their projects throughout the second part of the year. YAB members also have opportunities to hear presentations from departments and give feedback on the programming. Last year, YAB had the opportunity to present their work to the District Wellness Council.

This year's YAB project focus on the following topics:

Bike promotion and safety education;
Health Education for All Learners;
Mental Health promotion - instagram and podcast; and
Reducing food waste in schools.

Hennigan Read-Aloud with Jilliane Liranzo

Jilliane's project last year was to write a children's book focused on disability advocacy. She was passionate about bringing disability representation to storybooks to create a sense of belonging for people with disabilities.

Following the District Wellness Council YAB presentation in May 2024, Hennigan K-8 School Principal Tanya Woodard expressed interest in piloting Jilliane's book at her school.

Jilliane was excited to share her story with young students in BPS and we are hoping to organize another read aloud and identify ways to bring the book to all elementary schools in the district. She led a reading of the book she created, "We Are All Human,” a children’s book about understanding and accepting people with disabilities.

A two-year board member of the Empowering Teens Through Health Youth Advisory Board, Jilliane wrote her book last year and plans to host other read-alouds throughout the BPS community!

< Back to the Newsroom

Guides and Frameworks

Chart showing the benefits of community school

Community Schools Forward

"Community Schools are places where educators, local community members, families, and students work together to strengthen conditions for student learning and healthy development. This framework for Community Schools includes the key practices, supportive infrastructure, enabling conditions, essential players, and guiding vision for all students to thrive. Developed by the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution, the Children’s Aid National Center for Community Schools, the Coalition for Community Schools at the Institute for Educational Leadership, and the Learning Policy Institute as part of the #CSForward project."

-Community Schools Forward

Guides

Cover of Youth Voice In Community Schools

Cover of building a community schools system

Cover of leading with purpose and passion

Youth Voice in Community Schools Guide
published August 2022

Building a Comunity Schools System
published August 2022

Leading with Purpose and Passion: A Guide for Community School Directors
published 2017

Articles and Research


Smart Strategies for Reducing Student Absenteeism Post-Pandemic published May 2023	These Factors Are Linked to High Student Attendance. Does Your School Have Them? published August 2022
The disruptions of the pandemic underscored the importance of engaging with families to ensure that students are attending school regularly and succeeding academically. A survey in Kansas asked parents to assess five aspects of family engagement: a welcoming environment, support for student learning, effective communications, sharing power, and community involvement. Overall, the districts with the strongest scores for family engagement had lower chronic absenteeism rates. This was particularly true in places recognized for a welcoming environment and for sharing power with families through their input and advocacy.	Chronic absenteeism can serve as a barometer of a healthy school environment because everyone from classroom teachers to custodians plays a role in helping students build strong attendance habits.


Value of Volunteer Time published April 2022	Increased government funding recognizes the need for strong community school technical assistance published August 2022
In its newest Value of Volunteer Time report, Independent Sector, with the Do Good Institute, announced on April 18, 2022 that the latest value of a volunteer hour is estimated to be $29.95, which is a 4.9% increase from 2020 to 2021. Read the full report for national and state-by-state data on volunteer hours.	The U.S. Department of Education recently announced a notice inviting applications for the Full-Service Community Schools Program to provide high-quality academic, integrated health and social service, and engagement support for all students. The exponential growth in investments signals a consistent interest and confidence in community school strategies as a powerful approach to whole-child educational transformation of schools and communities. Similarly, dedicated state funding opportunities in Maryland, New York, and California reflect a growing body of evidence from decades of implementation expertise about how community school strategies—when supported and sustained—can leverage the assets and voices of the full community to support student success.