Target Your Community’s Needs, Health Through Education

Kimberley Klint has a message for the business leaders in her community concerned about the waves of retirement from current baby boom-generation workers: “Your future workforce is sitting in our classrooms right now.”

That message has been part of a drive in rural Mason County, Wash., where Klint’s organization – Mason Matters – is engaging schools to enhance public health and respond to community needs. Using funds from sources such as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Roadmaps to Health Community Grants , Mason Matters is implementing a “cradle-to-career” strategy for the county, focusing on education. 

The efforts help 4-8th graders dream bigger about their future opportunities, help business partners add meaningful and relevant content to classroom learning, and more.

Research shows that educational attainment is one of the strongest predictors of individual and community health. With that in mind, Mason Matters focused on finding the “sweet spot” between schools and the business community. Branching out to experts in the business community while still focusing on Common Core standards allows schools to boost career and college readiness, Klint said.

“It’s not just about adults in our current workforce,” Klint said in a recent webinar with County Health Roadmaps community coaches. “We realized we need to be invested as far back as early learning.”

To watch a recording of the webinar and to learn more about Mason Matters, the County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, and how you can improve your community’s health, click here.

Learn more

• Recorded webinar: Partnering with Education 

• What Works For Health: Targeted programs to increase college enrollment 

• Mason Matters: My Dream, My Plan. WE can do it!