The 2009 School Wellness Conference, held in Anaheim, California on October 6 and 7, was organized by the California School Boards Association, the California Department of Education and the California Department of Public Health. The conference was well attended, especially given the budget limitations throughout the state. Attendees included educators, health care professionals, politicians and community representatives from California as well as other states. Session highlights included the direct relationship of critical health issues to academic achievement, a coordinated school-health approach to successful learning and the importance of school and community collaboration in order to foster healthy students.

As a sponsor for this event, Dairy Council of California recognizes the value of combating childhood obesity and supports districts with their local wellness-policy efforts. Dairy Council of California was actively involved in the pre-conference event, Finding Common Ground: Collaborating to Prevent Childhood Obesity, which addressed strategies for overcoming key barriers to collaborating about nutrition and physical activity, shared use of indoor and outdoor recreational facilities and safe routes to school. We also had the opportunity to host an in-depth session highlighting our new Teacher Training Module. The new module was very favorably received by the conference attendees and is available on this website.

It was fun and rewarding to hear appreciative comments and enthusiasm from so many teachers who currently use our programs and came to visit us at our booth. We also received inquires from new contacts that would like to place orders, ranging from pre-kindergarten to high school and our parent education programs. Many districts expressed interest in partnering with us to work on their Wellness Policy Councils. Overall, this was a successful conference for learning, sharing and building relationships.