How to Get Involved with Teachers for Healthy Kids

Encourage Your School Board to Pass a Resolution

Work with your local association to encourage your school board to adopt a resolution supporting affordable health coverage outreach in your district. A sample resolution is available. Encourage support from your principal, school nurse, PTA president, and other interested school staff to approach your school board as a team.

Inform Your Principal About Teachers for Healthy Kids

Let your principal know that teachers at your school are interested in providing information to parents about health coverage and working as a team with other school personnel. Inform the school secretary and other support staff about your efforts and have parent information available in the office if possible.

Display The Teachers for Healthy Kids Poster Prominently in Your Classroom.

Let parents know that student access to affordable health insurance is a priority for teachers at your school. If parents are interested, draw their attention to the toll-free number for application assistance listed on the poster. Give parents flyers from your classroom resource kit if they request more information.

Let Your PTA or Other Parent Organizations Know About Teacher Outreach

Share information with your school’s parent organization representatives so they can help inform parents about teacher outreach efforts. They can let parents know that there is information available about affordable health coverage through their child’s teacher. Parents can also work with health plan representatives at school-wide health promotion events.

Distribute Information to Parents

Inform parents about Healthy Families, Medi-Cal and other affordable health coverage programs. Distribute flyers and brochures to parents. A good time to do this in a more individual way is at parent conferences. Have information available for pick-up by parents, or engage parents in more specific conversations if you feel a parent would be interested.

Encourage Your School to Distribute Health Information at School-Wide Events

School registration, Back to School Nights, Open Houses, and Kindergarten registration are a few places where health insurance information could be available for parents. Extra copies of health coverage flyers are available.

Share Your Efforts with Other School Health Professionals

School nurses know how to talk to parents about health issues and have expressed support for Teachers for Healthy Kids. If your school or district has a Healthy Start site, find out if they enroll parents in health coverage programs and ask if you can help distribute information about enrollment events at your school.

Distribute Flyers to Parents with Application Assistance Information

If there are no school or district personnel that can enroll students in health coverage programs, tell parents they can call 1-888-747-1222 toll free to receive an application for enrollment in free or low-cost health insurance programs. They will also receive referrals to community-based Application Assisters who can help families fill out forms free-of-charge. Help is available in many languages.

Work with The Health Plans in Your Area

There are many health plans that provide Healthy Families and Medi-Cal for Families, and in some counties, there are additional programs for children who do not qualify for these programs. Activities could include a “Health Coverage Information” table at health fairs, book fairs, enrollment events, immunization drives, and hearing and vision testing days.

Share Your Success Stories with Other Associations

Your efforts could be showcased in the statewide “Educator” magazine and could help inspire other teacher associations to become involved. Project and CTA staff can also provide support for your efforts and arrange for presentations to groups wanting to learn more about how they can get involved.