The Wellmark Foundation Funds Health Education Curriculum for South Dakota Schools

April 16, 2007

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Contact:
Angela Feig
515.245.4551
feigab@wellmark.com

(Des Moines, Iowa) – A $67,250 grant from The Wellmark Foundation will allow Sanford Health Foundation in Sioux Falls, S.D., to create a coordinated health education curriculum for use in South Dakota schools.

Health Explorations will be created and piloted in cooperation with the Brandon Valley School District at Valley Spring Elementary School during the 2007-2008 school year, says Jason Raether, R.N., clinical nurse educator at Sanford Health Foundation. “The goal of this project is to improve health literacy by establishing fundamental building blocks for children to understand health information and practice health enhancing behaviors,” says Raether.

According to Raether, long-range plans are to make the Health Explorations curriculum available to all schools in South Dakota. The curriculum will be based on the recently updated National Health Education Standards. For more information on Health Explorations, contact Raether at raetherj@sanfordhealth.org or (605) 328-6351.

The Wellmark Foundation has provided nearly $12 million to fund 350 health-related grants in Iowa and South Dakota since 1997, including $574,147 this cycle. “The Wellmark Foundation collaborates with non-profit and governmental organizations in Iowa and South Dakota to build healthier communities,” says Matthew McGarvey, director of The Wellmark Foundation. “Health Explorations is a collaborative effort that will help to increase health literacy among students in South Dakota schools. We are happy to support this comprehensive project,” says McGarvey.

The Wellmark Foundation is a private, non-profit foundation created by Wellmark, Inc., doing business as Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Iowa. Visit The Wellmark Foundation's Web site at www.wellmark.com/foundation for a list of grant recipients and grant application instructions.  Applications for the next round of community responsive grants are due June 19, 2007. Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield and The Wellmark Foundation are independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.