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More Health offers free in-class safety lessons to Pasco-area students, executive director says
Summary
More Health, a 35-year-old nonprofit, delivers free, standards-aligned health and safety lessons in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties and says hands-on visuals and one-class-at-a-time sessions help students retain safety behaviors; scheduling is by phone or email and lessons are sponsored.
More Health, a nonprofit that has taught health and safety to schoolchildren for about 35 years, is offering free, in-class lessons across the Tampa Bay region and is partnering with Pasco County Schools to make those lessons count toward state standards, the organization’s executive director said in a studio interview.
"I see the difference we're making in the lives of children every day," said Karen Buckenheimer, executive director of More Health. Buckenheimer described lessons that bring large visuals and hands-on activities into regular classrooms rather than via assemblies, allowing students to practice behaviors such as proper tooth brushing and bike safety.
Buckenheimer said More Health began as a Junior League of Tampa project and now operates in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties. "We teach a lot," she said. Schools can schedule lessons by calling the More Health office or sending an email; Buckenheimer said she has "full time schedulers" ready to arrange presentations.
The program emphasizes kinesthetic learning, Buckenheimer said, using concrete demonstrations to teach safety. She illustrated with a poison-prevention exercise that compares grape juice and purple cough syrup so children learn to ask a parent before touching unknown liquids. She also described an instance where a child identifying a mole led a parent to seek a dermatologist appointment, a call-back Buckenheimer cited as evidence of lessons reaching beyond the classroom.
Buckenheimer said lessons are free to schools because of sponsors. She named Tampa General as the founding sponsor and said Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital is expanding its presence in Pasco. The organization also relies on individual sponsors to expand reach, she said.
On scale, Buckenheimer estimated More Health would deliver "about 6,000 individual presentations" this year to roughly "about 140, 150,000" students; the transcript phrasing was unclear and the exact student total was not clarified during the segment. Buckenheimer urged schools and parents to request lessons, noting openings for spring scheduling.
To learn more or to schedule lessons, Buckenheimer and host Matthew Testoni directed viewers to morehealthinc.org and a resources link provided with the segment. Testoni identified himself as the program's community engagement specialist and said the episode was sponsored by AdventHealth.
The interview concluded with thanks to the More Health team and an invitation to viewers to request lessons; no formal actions or policy decisions were recorded during the segment.
