Dr. Stephen Sroka failed the third-grade. He was raised in the “projects" by a single mother on welfare. In ES, he was mocked for having a crossed eye and a speech impediment. He was injured in a HS fight, and in a wheelchair for a year. Doctors said, “ Listen to your teachers.” The more he listened, the smarter the teachers became. His HS counselor told him that he didn’t have the IQ to go to college, but he didn’t know that Steve had the I WILL. He learned to live with the gifts of ADHD and dyslexia. His struggles to become a teacher made him a better school nurse educator.

He went from the “projects” to being inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame, and was awarded The Walt Disney American Outstanding Teacher of Health. He received the Outstanding School Health Educator Award and Fellow status from the American School Health Association. He just received the William A. Howe award from ASHA. It is ASHA’s highest honor. It reads, "He was a pathfinder in health education with AIDS (1984), school violence prevention (1997), the Whole Child concept (2005), H1N1 (2009), Opiates and Opioids (2014), and COVID (Feb, 2020).” Also, he was named the Person of the Year for The International Association for Truancy and Dropout Prevention and received the first-ever School Health Leader Award from the American Public Health Association.

He has been a guest on Oprah and covered in USA TODAY, and recently in Education Week, The New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Austin American-Stateman, Campus Safety Magazine and K-12 DIVE. But his favorite “award” was when his then 6 year old daughter told him he was smarter than Inspector Gadget.

Steve has taught the school nurse program at the college level and has keynoted school nursing conferences across the country and internationally. He has worked in school health education (and on Native American Reservations) for over 50 years, including teaching and providing crisis prevention and intervention for 30 years in the Cleveland Public Schools. He has keynoted many major school health education conferences including NASN (twice), NSBA, AASA, NASRO, DARE, SSWAA, STN EXPO, DEA, PTA, NASP, NEA, ASCD, UNITY, US Dept of Ed, and others. He has traveled the world striving to reach, elevate and inspire with The Power of One message, how one person can make a difference. Steve died while presenting a school in-service. A principal, two SROs and others saved his life and changed his message. He now talks about how you need The Power of Many, how it takes a team, to make a lasting difference.

Kate King (DNP, MS, RN, LSN) has practiced School Nursing for 22 years. She received a Doctor of Nursing Practice from Otterbein University in 2019 and is currently working as a school nurse at World Language Middle School for Columbus City Schools. Dr. King is a strong advocate for supporting School Health Services through practice and legislation, creating Voice in School Nurses, and promoting and providing health care to children.

Dr. King has clinical experience in Adolescent and Community Mental Health. Her professional interests focus on increasing self-efficacy in School Nurses and Mental Health for school-aged children.

She currently serves as the President elect of the National Association of School Nurses, is the immediate Past President of the Ohio School Health Services Association, a founder of the Big 8+ Health and Safety Coalition and is a past Director for NASN and OASN.

Practicing Pediatrician for 17 years. Served on the American Academy of Pediatrics Executive Committee for the Council on injury, Violence and Poison Prevention and as the Injury Prevention Co-Chair for the Ohio AAP for 15 years. Helped develop and continue to lead the Ohio AAP Store it Safe Program.

I am the school nurse for two elementaries in Central Ohio serving approximately 1100 students in grades K-5. I received my Masters in Nursing with a nurse educator focus from Chamberlain University in 2021 and a BSN from Capital University in 1997. I have worked as a Licensed School Nurse since 2017. I have previously served as the Rep-At- Large and the Vice President and Conference Chair of OASN. Currently serves as the President of the Central Ohio Association of School Nurses and first year as the State Data Coordinator for OASN. As such my role is to promote the collection, analysis, utilization, and presentation of data to support NASN's National School Health Data Set: Every Student Counts! data initiative.

Clinical Professor of Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine at the University of Toledo. Dr. Izask has over 40 years of clinical experience as a practicing pediatrician.

Senior Program Director at MCADAMHS (Montgomery County), Director of Implementation for Soter Technologies, Chair of the Tobacco Free Ohio Alliance, Recipient of Ohio's "Outstanding Health Education Award" and the Healthcare Professional of the Year Award.Currently teaches at Antioch Midwest University. Mr Barcelo has presented at many national, state and local conferences and meetings on tobacco and health-related topics.

Kimberly Stansilo received a BS from the University of Mount Union, Post-bachelor's nursing certificate and MSN in Pediatric Primary Care Nurse Practitioner from Case Western Reserve University, School Nurse Certificate from Wright State University, and DNP as a Clinical Expert and Nursing Education Certificate from the Ohio State University. Prior to transitioning into school nursing, Kimberly worked in pediatrics as an RN and PNP. Kimberly has practiced in school nursing since 2004 in various capacities from building nurse, school nurse administrator, and school nurse educator. Kimberly has served as the Data Coordinator, Education Chair, and Professional Practice Chair for the Ohio Association of School Nurses from 2015-2022. Kimberly's professional practice, teaching, and research interests include genetics, advocacy, evidence-based practice, school nursing, social determinants of health and health disparities, childhood lead exposure, moral injury n nurses, and health informatics. Kimberly has been a strong advocate for implementing the WSCC model, addressing the social determinants of health, promoting professional school nursing practice, and supporting the health and academic outcomes of all students. Kimberly currently serves as the Research, Education & Practice Director for NASN.

Jayne has dedicated most of her career as a dental hygienist to community health and professional education. A 1982 graduate of The Ohio State University, her work has taken her to rural and urban schools in Ohio as a researcher, fluoride mouthrinse consultant, sealant program planner, grant writer, and as a guest teacher from PS to HS on a variety of oral health topics. Representing the Ohio Dental Hygienists' Association, Jayne serves on the Board of Oral Health Ohio, a coalition of statewide partners who educate and advocate to improve our state's oral and overall health

Tiffany Ways has a Master's Degree in Social Work from the University of Michigan. She is a Licensed Independent Social Worker with a Supervision Designation. Tiffany is the Chief School Health Officer for Health Partners of Western Ohio. She has been a social worker for nineteen years and worked for health Partners for five years.

Cindy was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) at the age of two and has been an active member of Diabetes Youth Services (DYS) She attended both day and overnight camps, and shortly after became a camp counselor to mentor other youth with T1D. At the University of Toledo she founded and was president of a Diabetes Link (formally College Diabetes Network) chapter, connecting dozens of students living with diabetes in the college setting. After graduating with her BA in Environmental Studies, Cindy briefly worked in Oregon, USA where she got the opportunity to work with other diabetes camps, and not long after became the Director of Program Development at DYS in Toledo, OH.

In the past three years she has worked hard to develop and maintain important programs to support the diabetes community. With the help of many. In 2022 DYS began offering School Nurse Support Groups, quarterly sessions aiming to help connect nurses and learn more about T1D at school. Working in tandem with free DYS School Training and the annual School Nurse Conference, Cindy is proud of the work DYS is doing to support caregivers at school and students they work with in and outside the classroom.

Mr. McQueary has 7 years of advocacy work in the LBGTQ+ space including volunteer and professional experience. He has worked with LBGTQ+ affiliate organizations across the United States including GLADD,student organizations, and various legal aid organizations also serving LBGTQ+ individuals. Mr. Mcqueary is the current Executive Director of Equality Toledo, a Northwest Ohio based non profit dedicated to eliminating discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in our region. Mr. Mcqueary received his BFA in Writing for Film Television & Emerging Media from Ithaca College and his JD from the University of Toledo College of Law

Dr. Bochenek provided mentorship of this healthy habit initiative in the schools and utilized her experience as a licensed school nurse to ensure that school policies and the school nurse standards were met during implementation.

Dr. Edwards implemented the healthy habit program within the schools to 2nd grade students as her DNP initiative. She is an APRN focused on promoting health across the lifespan.