On May 2nd, the Start Strong Wichita team will be flying off to Atlanta, Georgia to join with the other Start Strong communities across the United States.
Start Strong is in its third year of a four year initiative focusing on the prevention of teen dating violence and the promotion of healthy relationships in 11-14 year-old youth. The Start Strong community leaders from the 11 sites across the country will discuss their experiences and lessons learned on topics related to the initiative: the education of youth; the engagement of influencers, particularly parents & caregivers and older teens; school policy efforts; and social marketing.
Not only will the Start Strong team join in the conference, they will also have an opportunity to present to the staff at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The collective experience from the Start Strong communities is the type of information the CDC would like to hear about. The CDC, among other things, funds projects like Start Strong that focuses on violence prevention. We have a lot we can share that will help to shape future funding.
Rob, Emily, Nick and Nancy hope to return to Wichita with lots of fresh and new ideas that we can try here in our own community. Stay tuned, Start Strong Wichita is only going to keep getting better!
Nancy Carroll
Program Director, Start Strong Wichita
Hey team! Have a safe trip!