Welcome to the Health Bodies Healthy Minds Institute Conference

About The Institute

Healthy Bodies Healthy Minds Institute ("HBHM" or "The Institute") is an annual conference designed to nurture the interdisciplinary roles of educators, administrators, and researchers in fostering school environments that promote wellness as a core component of school culture, student achievement, and student, staff, and community well-being.  

2024 Date, Location, and Theme 

Healthy Bodies Healthy Minds conference is scheduled for August 6, 2024.  The 2024 Conference Theme is:  Charting the Course: A Professional Development Voyage toward Engagement and Wellness.   This year’s event will be an in-person experience.   The site for the in-person event is Montgomery County Community College, Pottstown Campus.  The conference is free to attend and professional development credit for PA educators will be provided. 

Conference Tracks

• Community Connections

• Nutrition and Physical Activity

• Wellness Initiatives and School Wellness Checklist

• Supporting Mental Health

• Fostering Positive Relationships

• Social and Emotional Learning

Track Descriptions

Presentations will promote best practices in the following areas:

• Community Connections - School and community partnerships are essential for helping students achieve at their maximum potential.  Presentations will demonstrate how schools offer a platform for partnerships with other public agencies and organizations to engage students, staff, and families in meaningful and culturally appropriate ways to actively support youth development and learning.  

• Supporting Mental Health – Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act, and helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. 

• Social and Emotional Learning -  Social and emotional learning (SEL) is an integral part of education and human development. SEL is the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions (Casel)

• Fostering Positive Relationships - Positive student relationships are fundamental to success. When students feel supported, they’re more likely to engage in learning and have better academic outcomes. Plus, when students have positive interactions with teachers, they have fewer behavioral problems. These relationships are more important — and more challenging — than ever in uncertain times, like during the coronavirus pandemic. 

• Nutrition and Physical Activity  - Eating a nutritious, balanced diet and being physically active are two of the most important things one can do to be and stay healthy at any age.   Presentations in this track will address food access and security for students, integrate practices to nurture and integrate physical activity into learning strategies and provide knowledge and best practices for healthy living, healthy eating, and the promotion of evidence-based practices to integrate nutrition and physical activity as core components of a healthy lifestyle for students and school staff.

• Wellness Initiatives and School Wellness Checklist © Implementation - The School Wellness Checklist© is a research-based tool utilized by schools across the country as a guide to self-select and implement effective wellness activities and strategies each school  year.  Presentations will demonstrate how school leadership, communities partners, and other actors across the school community leverage recommended policies, programs, and activities across the seven core components of the Checklist (Wellness infrastructure, Nutrition,  Physical Activity, Social-Emotional Wellness, Wellness Culture, Staff Wellness, Sustainability ) to ultimately impact student health and academic performance.

Meet the Sponsor

Healthy Bodies Healthy Minds Institute is sponsored by the Pottstown Area Health & Wellness Foundation.  The Foundation is a community nonprofit organization whose mission is to enhances the health and wellness of area residents, providing education, funding, and programs that provide equitable access and inclusive opportunities for all residents to adopt healthy lifestyles.

The Foundation awards grants to area nonprofit organizations which use their resources and services to develop and enhance programs that support our purpose of promoting health and wellness. Grant awards are based on four key priority areas which include improvement in healthy behaviors through schools.

Since 2004, more than $12 million has been awarded to the public and private schools within the Foundation’s service area. In short, the Foundation’s role is to help area residents improve their health and well-being every day. By doing so, we are creating a more dynamic and more vibrant community in which to live now... and into the future.

Contact Us

Please direct any questions to our contact us form, and a member of the event team will respond accordingly.  

Acknowledgements

The 2024 Healthy Bodies Healthy Minds Institute could not be made possible without the following individuals and organizations.  

Venue Sponsor

• Montgomery County Community College

Planning Team 

• • • Amanda Jackson - Pottsgrove School District

    • Ashley Griffith - Daniel Boone Area School District

    • Rebecca Kilfoy - Owen J. Roberts School District 

    • Howard Brown - Pottstown Area Health & Wellness Foundation (PAHWF)

    • Josh Hoyt, Ed.D. - JBCA Consulting, LLC 

    • Lucie Bergeyova  - Boyertown Area School District

    • Kori Wilson - Pottstown School District

    • Maclain Gutkin - Medical University of South Carolina

    • Dr. Kelly Murray - Spring Ford School District 

    • Allison McGovern - Owen J. Roberts School District

Collab Facilitators and Notable Contributors

• Amy Auwaerter - Montgomery County Community College

• Christopher Wierzbowski - PAHWF

• Dr. Craig Colistra - PAHWF

• Dave Kraybill - PAHWF

• Heather Bloodworth - Huemanworks

• Jayden Pray - PAHWF

• Mina Pomante - PAHWF

• Rose Walters - PAHWF

• Sam Mirarchi - PAHWF

• Sheri Waldman - PAHWF