CHI St. Alexius Health Williston has teamed up with Williston Basin School District 7 for Partners in Health, providing beneficial resources to their staff, students, and families.
Dubi Cummings, Director of Marketing/Foundation for CHI St. Alexius, said that conversations with the district began in May of 2021 after the CHI St. Alexius Health Williston Foundation received a grant, with a focus on partnering with the school to provide educational resources that could be used in a school setting. The Foundations used the $5,000 grant to purchase resources such as noise canceling headphones, fidget devices, anxiety workbooks and more for District 7.
“They were just resources that the school district doesn’t maybe otherwise have the funds to be able to purchase,” Cummings said. “These resources were really identified by the school’s counselors and teachers as something that would aid in learning for their kids.”
Cummings added that another function of the grant is CHI’s commitment as a health care provider in the community to bring providers to the district’s teachers to be able to give them education on various topics. One such meeting has already taken place at one of Williston’s schools.
“We were actually able to bring one of our physicians to Lewis and Clark Elementary, and we hosted a coffee and conversations session,” Cummings explained. “Our physician talked about the importance of well child exams and how assessments during these exams could aid in early intervention with concerns for behavioral health.”
Cummings added that identifying behavioral concerns early was a major topic of concern among the district’s teachers. The District was also provided with “classroom kits” for grades K, 7 and 12 on topics like getting enough sleep and stress management. Additionally, she said, CHI’s providers would be creating education content, health articles and blog posts on relevant health topics, opportunities for staff wellness events, and informational forums for parents.
“I think that this is going to be a great benefit to our staff, our students and our parents that we’ve started this partnership.” said Amanda Denevan, Communications Specialist for Williston Basin School District 7. “Health and Wellness is something for everybody. We want to really be able to provide parents, teachers and our students with resources so that they can be aware of different health and wellness topics and stay proactive in their health and wellness journey.”
“We’re excited about this partnership opportunity, and to expand this to better support our schools, our teachers, our parents and our kids.” Cummings said.
Resources can be found on the District’s website, along with a survey for students, staff and parents to give feedback on the type of content and resources they would like to see.