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Partners
EPA has continued collaborative working relationships with several partners to plan and support the annual IAQ Tools for Schools National Symposium. These partner organizations help plan the sessions and events, identify speakers, recruit participants and encourage their members and contacts to apply for EPA Awards. The following organizations are partners of the IAQ Tools for Schools National Symposium. Follow the links to learn more about each organization.
Allergy and Asthma Network Mothers of Asthmatics (AANMA) Asthma and Allergy Network-Mothers of Asthmatics (AANMA) is a national nonprofit patient education organization devoted to eliminating suffering and death due to asthma, allergies and anaphylaxis. Founded in 1985, AANMA’s formula for success is based on understanding and affecting patient belief systems, behaviors and outcomes. An information clearinghouse, AANMA maintains extensive databases and resource information serving a readership of more than 100,000 people; Nurse Christy answers 100 emails and phone calls each month categorizing the subject matter of each contact; responds to more than 700 requests for information via AANMA’s toll-free hotline and Web site; and Ana Aponte provides one-on-one telephone and email and print services in both Spanish and English. Through their partnership with the EPA, AANMA presents Home, School & Play (HSP), a comprehensive approach to asthma management, which emphasizes reducing environmental asthma triggers throughout a student’s day – at home, school and during play. HSP will reach 300 households over the next three years to raise awareness of the importance of good IAQ at home, school, and play and the connection with asthma, while directly educating children, parents, and educators about environmental asthma triggers. Volunteers also facilitate problem-solving actions surrounding the identification and implementation of low- and no-cost mitigation solutions in home, school and play settings. Web: www.aanma.org American Association of School Administrators (AASA) The American Association of School Administrators (AASA) is the oldest and largest organization of school system leaders in the country with access to every superintendent in the nation, and affiliates in every state. For the past 30 years, AASA’s health related efforts have centered on identifying the needs of children and working with school leaders, their boards and their communities to address them. AASA has been intimately involved in indoor air quality issues since 1992 and has been a long time partner with EPA to promote healthy school environments. AASA provides outreach and education directly to schools and school districts through presentations, webcasts, and trainings, facilitates the AASA Urban Resource Coalition, a growing network of urban school districts, and recently published, Schoolhouse in the Red: An Administrator’s Guide to Improving America’s School Facilities and Environment, an updated publication that re-examines the state of school facilities and its legal, financial and health-based impact on children and public schools. AASA continues to encourage the adoption of Tools for Schools in the quest to prepare children for school and prepare schools for children, and is committed to removing the barriers that prevent children from succeeding. Web: www.aasa.org American Federation of Teachers (AFT) The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Educational Foundation is one of the original sponsors of the IAQ TfS Kit. They conduct and sponsor studies, training, and research in education and related fields, with the objective of improving the lives of their members and improving the institutions in which they work. AFT focuses their efforts on advocating for policies that promote healthy environments and training members to effectively implement these policies. AFT develops model IAQ programs consistent with IAQ TfS in urban and rural school districts. In addition, AFT hosts annual trainings for bus drivers and other school employees to promote implementation of anti-idling school bus policies. Web: www.aft.org American Lung Association (ALA) The American Lung Association’s (ALA) mission is “to prevent lung disease and promote lung health.” A non-profit organization comprised of both volunteers and paid staff, ALA utilizes the work of community activists, nurses, and physicians. Through its partnership with EPA, ALA has established a highly effective network of more than 70 affiliates who carry out community-based indoor environmental protection programs at the state and local levels. Through its nationwide network, ALA educates and reaches children and their families in diverse, underserved communities. The bulk of ALA’s work helps school-aged children control their asthma through education and action at school. Using the Childhood Asthma and Indoor Air Quality Programs, ALA affiliates jointly implement IAQ Tools for Schools and Open Airways for Schools, an asthma education curriculum, in schools across the country. Web: www.lungusa.org Association of School Business Officials International (ASBO) Founded in 1910, the Association of School Business Officials International (ASBO) is a professional organization with more than 6,000 members. ASBO provides programs and services to promote the highest standards of school business management practices, professional growth, and the effective use of educational resources. ASBO was an original sponsor of the IAQ Tools for Schools Kit in 1995, and has continued to work closely with the EPA through the years to facilitate adoption of sound IAQ management practices in schools across the country. Building on these activities, ASBO launched their innovative “Resident Practitioner” program in 2004. The Practitioner serves as a peer educator to provide practical information, resources, and technical assistance that allows school business officials to implement the IAQ Tools for Schools Program effectively in their districts. Web: www.asbointl.org National Association of Counties (NACo) The National Association of Counties (NACo) is the only national organization that represents county governments in the United States. NACo is a non-profit, full-service organization that provides an extensive line of services including legislative, research, technical, and public affairs assistance, and resources to its members who represent more than 2,000 counties. NACo is involved in a number of special projects that address such issues as the environment, sustainable communities, volunteerism, and intergenerational studies. NACo created the Indoor Air Network through which it provides expense-paid training, educational opportunities, and technical assistance to county staff who volunteer to serve as their county’s IAQ coordinator. Currently, more than 400 counties in 44 states participate in the network. NACo keeps network members informed of the latest resources, grant opportunities, and upcoming educational events around the country through its regular “Indoor Air Network Newsletter.” The association is able to provide some of the technical and financial assistance that counties need to kick start new programs and maintain existing indoor air quality programs. Since 2001, NACo has sponsored members to attend the Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools Symposium. Web: www.naco.org National Association of School Nurses (NASN) The National Association of School Nurses (NASN) is a specialty nursing organization that represents school nurses. Organized to unite school nurses, NASN’s core purpose is to advance the delivery of professional school health services to promote optimal learning in students. With offices in Castle Rock, Colorado and Scarborough, Maine, it has over 11,000 members from 50 states, the District of Columbia and several foreign countries. In partnership with EPA, NASN provides state and local workshops to train school nurses to deliver Managing Asthma Triggers: Keeping Students Healthy, a modular program focusing on environmental asthma triggers. This program, developed by NASN with an EPA grant, educates school personnel, students, and parents about indoor environmental asthma triggers, and provides action items from IAQ Tools for Schools to reduce indoor asthma exposures in the school setting. NASN continues to follow-up and effectively track the number of schools implementing IAQ Tools for Schools and the effectiveness of the Managing Asthma Triggers: Keeping Students Healthy program. Web: www.nasn.org National Education Association Health Information Network (NEA HIN) The National Education Association (NEA) is the nation’s largest independent labor association, representing 2.7 million education employees in public schools and institutions of higher education throughout the United States. The NEA Health Information Network (NEA HIN) was created in 1987 to serve as the not-for-profit health affiliate of NEA. The mission of the NEA HIN is to improve the health and safety of school personnel and students by providing the school community with vital and timely health information that will increase teacher and education support professional quality and student achievement. NEA HIN provides information and tools for practicing healthy behaviors, making healthy decisions, and advocating for adequate health protections for its members and the students they serve. NEA HIN achieves this through the development and implementation of trainings and other skills building events; tailored publications, electronic resources, and tools; and linking school employees, students, and their communities with information and resources on critical public health issues. One of NEA HIN’s top issues is indoor environmental health & safety issues around indoor air quality. NEA HIN aims to create a safe and healthy environment conducive to learning and teaching by reducing exposure to IAQ problems in America 's public schools. To fulfill their mission, NEA HIN provides its members with resources and training on ways to improve IAQ in schools through organizing, local and statewide collaboration, and the use of IAQ management plans such as the EPA’s IAQ Tools for Schools program. Web: www.neahealthinfo.org National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) The National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) was first founded in 1937 and currently has over 5,000 members. NEHA sponsors a variety of programs that are all in keeping with the association's mission to “advance the environmental health and protection professional for the purpose of providing a healthful environment for all.” NEHA offers seven national credential programs related to environmental health and safety, conducts an Annual Educational Conference and Exhibition, sponsors technical workshops, publishes the widely respected and peer reviewed Journal of Environmental Health, supports professional continuing education, and functions as a one-stop-shop for publications that provides NEHA members with education in virtually every area of the environmental field. NEHA offers additional services ranging from networking to committee participation opportunities to the development of positions on timely and serious environmental concerns. NEHA is a long-time supporter of EPA’s Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools Program and other agency programs that address environmental health and safety issues. Web: www.neha.org The Council of Educational Facility Planners International (CEFPI) The Council of Educational Facility Planners International (CEFPI) is a professional organization whose mission is improving places where children learn. Founded in 1921, CEFPI provides educational facility expertise and information to over 3,000 members, including architects, planners, engineers, K-12 administrators, construction management firms, facility maintenance and operations officials and state agency representatives. Since 2001, CEFPI and the EPA have shared the common goal of improving IAQ in our nation’s schools to ensure the health, safety, and performance of students and staff. Through close collaboration with EPA, CEFPI has demonstrated a strong commitment to strengthening public awareness and facilitating the adoption of good IAQ management practices in our public and private K-12 schools by sponsoring national conferences, presentations, and School Building Week activities. Building on this proven track record, CEFPI members write articles for trade and technical journals highlighting the benefits of a proactive IAQ management plan. Web: www.cefpi.org The Healthy Schools Network (HSN) is a national environmental health not for profit organization, centered on children, and dedicated to assuring every child and school employee an environmentally safe and healthy school through work on research, information sharing, advocacy and coalition-building. Healthy Schools Network promotes the development of national and state policies and regulations which will improve the conditions of school facilities and promote children's environmental-occupational health in their "workplaces" -- the classroom. HSN collaborates with a wide range of national health, environment, education partners and parent groups to prevent and to intervene early to address environmental exposures that lead to chronic illnesses in children and adults. HSN offers annual meetings, national conference calls, technical assistance and collaborative projects such as National Healthy Schools Day. HSN coalition-builidng has created a network of a dozen state-based organizations concerned with environmental health in schools.
Web: www.healthyschools.org |