Culmination of Insights and Actions: Balanced and Customized Approaches to K–12 Prevention Education with Employer Engagement

As part of the Milken Institute’s Employer Action Exchange, this Culmination of Insights is part four of a four-part series. This article highlights actionable insights into the impact for schools and employers making K–12 social investments through trust, equity, and agency. Click here to see the introduction, background, and methods for this project.

Taking an equity-centered, public health approach to meeting students where they are is essential in supporting the overall whole-person health mission in schools. A majority of school districts use a multi-tiered system of supports to link their whole-person health goals to real-world impact and action for students and families. This data-driven, evidence-based framework is preventive and can improve outcomes while supporting a child through academic and non-academic components of education and life. The importance of fostering a culture of belongingness and a sense of connectedness to the school community were themes that emerged frequently throughout our multifaceted research.

Similar to Gen Z in the workplace, flexible work arrangements and the availability of mental health resources will be part of the more extensive toolbox used to address the holistic well-being of Generation Alpha. This generation cares about agency and autonomy, and the children are often expressive in classrooms and in their local communities about what they value about health and in society. Some will begin joining the workforce in different capacities with first jobs soon, as having a job is not just for experience but for necessity in some families, even for youth legally eligible for the paid workforce. This rising generation values health holistically, so these upstream tools will be essential for job satisfaction and retention and are also key drivers of engagement, which is linked to higher productivity and employee well-being. Both the employee and the employer benefit from investments in whole-person health. The focus on whole-person health for Generation Alpha will drive workplace engagement and performance and bolster their sense of connection to the workplace as a community. Employees can engage with the next generation through volunteer opportunities that foster deep connections.

Now, more than ever, whole-person health approaches need to be embedded not only into the active curriculum but also into the code of conduct and value system that sets the tone and establishes a school’s culture. Thought leaders agreed that prevention-focused education can be as integral as math, reading, recess, and lunchtime. Several schools are beginning to implement this type of education into daily routines. In the anonymous survey for this project, over two-thirds of respondents are implementing strategies for whole-person health education in school settings. Regarding employers, one-fourth of respondents were working to understand the methods that fit their organizations’ needs.

During the virtual convening, attendees were asked what words best represent success in implementing whole-person health education. The top four descriptions were equity, empowerment, engagement, and sustainability.

Public health survey respondents highlighted preventive educational efforts being offered or funded in K–12 education, including social and emotional learning opportunities, health promotion activities (such as teaching and modeling healthy behaviors), mental health and substance use disorder resources, physical education activities, outdoor learning opportunities, and student growth and development opportunities. These efforts should begin early in a developmentally appropriate way for students.

“Nurturing whole-person health for students requires creating a culture and environment where the students can learn and act collaboratively, where they can take ownership of their own learning and discovery, which can help offset the stress and mental duress they cope with.”

Recommendations for Schools and Employers

Insight: Schools and employers can meet students where they are, at varying stages of individual development, by promoting a culture of listening and observation. This will allow students to be their authentic selves without the need to mask feelings and participate in their individual learning journeys.

Action:

• Engage with educators, families, and, most importantly, students when making school-based decisions and incorporating whole-person health education. Communication will help schools build trust and fortify strong relationships among these groups and others within the community.

Insight: Employers need to be cognizant of the importance that students place on well-being and self-agency (i.e., initiation of self-directed actions to achieve goals), as these values will translate to criteria they would like to see from their future employers.

Action:

• Employers can ensure their workplace environments recognize the importance of self-agency and incorporate these skills in current employee engagement strategies. Employers can also demonstrate this aspect of their organizational culture when interacting with students through career-readiness community events and partnerships that focus on increased access to opportunities extending beyond the curriculum.

Insight: Whole-person health needs to be embedded not only in the active curriculum but also in the collection of beliefs and values that comprise a school’s culture.

Actions:

• Identify a school’s collective social assets (i.e., cultural beliefs and values, intellectual knowledge, economic capital, natural capital, technological assets, and community networks).
• Integrate whole-person health and health equity learning in the daily school curriculum.
• Support students’ self-agency through building trust and strong relationships between students, educators, schools, employers, and the community.
• Provide students with career-connected learning opportunities through internships, mentorships, and access to learning about new career pathways via employee volunteerism in the classroom.

Acknowledgments?

The Milken Institute is grateful to EVERFI for supporting the Institute’s independent work on employer social impact and preventive educational insight and action design via the Employer Action Exchange.