September 15, 2024 by Taylor Walsh This year’s “Harkin on Wellness” symposium, focused on ensuring that schools employ all proven and effective measures to counter the mental health crisis. US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy MD We co-produced this annual 2024 Harkin Institute convening, which was led off by an inspiration keynote by U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy MD, who reaffirmed his focus on child and adolescent health. Later in the day, Kathleen Ethier PhD, director of CDC’s Division of Adolescent School Health presented on her work supporting mental health options for schools. The day’s discussion brought together an interdisciplinary group of panelists whose diverse perspectives considered the question of what schools can do to support kids’ wellbeing and to offset metal duress, anxiety and stress. Blending insights from the garden to mental health policy and research, a unique day. From left: Laura Bakosh, Inner Explorer; Nancy Easton, Wellness in the Schools; Priya Cook, Children & Nature Network; Gerta Bardoshi, Scanlan Center for School Mental Health at Iowa; Kaitlyn Scheuerman, Waukee Iowa schools garden coordinator; and Bengu Erguner-Tekinalp, Drake University. And as with each symposium, the Harkin team invited 12 innovative schools and districts from around the country to receive special recognition for their work. Read the full summary report here.