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Cook Children’s outlines school health programs and supports for Granbury ISD
Summary
Cook Children’s Center for Community Health presented to the Granbury ISD SHAC on its community health needs assessment and several programs — 5210 healthy-lifestyles, mental-health toolkits, school garden support, caregiver roundtables and asthma in‑services — that the agency offers to district schools and staff.
Emily Everson, program manager for the child wellness team at Cook Children’s Center for Community Health, told the Granbury ISD Student Health Advisory Council that Cook Children’s conducts a community health needs assessment every three years and uses those findings to design local health programs and partner services.
“Part of that IRS community benefit requirement is that we conduct a community health needs assessment,” Everson said, describing Hood County as one of eight counties served by her department. She said the assessment informs strategies implemented with local partners.
Everson outlined the team’s core topics — healthy lifestyles, mental health, asthma and caregiver support — and described classroom-ready curricula and toolkits that are intended to complement state requirements. On healthy lifestyles she highlighted the 5210 program, which promotes five servings of fruits and vegetables, less than two hours of recreational screen time, an hour of daily physical activity, drinking more water and prioritizing sleep.
“We provide lesson tools that teachers or community partners can use,” Everson said, adding that in some districts secondary students have been trained to deliver 5210 lessons to younger students. She also described support for school and community gardens, including seed and soil supplies and curricular connections.
On mental health, Everson described a toolkit titled “Children’s Feelings Are a Work of Art,” designed to help students identify and express emotions through artwork, plus three annual virtual wellness workshops that offer free continuing education credits for mental health professionals. The team also runs counselor roundtables and a Parent Café curriculum to strengthen family–school engagement.
Everson said the group hosts an annual asthma in-service for school nurses that covers recognition of symptoms, trigger management and individualized action plans.
SHAC members thanked Everson and noted counselors at Granbury ISD have used the roundtable resources in the past. Everson agreed to share her slides with the SHAC contact for distribution.
Next steps: Cook Children’s will share materials with the district contact and continue coordinating with school counselors and nurses on in‑service opportunities and parent engagement events.
