Washington, IA – Helping students make healthy choices is the goal of the Partnership for Student Success Program at Washington Middle School. Principal Curt Mayer explains the pilot program started with Iowa State University. In phase one, sixth-grade students took an at-risk survey to see what concerns and behaviors students were exhibiting. In phase two, research-based LifeSkills curriculum was added to the school’s health program. Mayer says they’re now in year three of implementing those lessons of social, behavioral, and emotional skills, “It deals with lessons related to drugs, alcohol, at-risk behaviors, social issues and concerns, those types of things. And then we also partnered with Iowa State Extension Office, and Amy Green comes in and does our fidelity checks to make sure that we’re teaching those with fidelity and if there’s any questions or concerns that we might have, and then how Iowa State Extension Office and then support us and our community.”

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