Public Health Leadership Starts in the Classroom

April 20, 2026 | Ashley Nanthavongsa-Mosley

Governmental public health agencies across the country are showing interest in integrating public health concepts into K-12 education. This interest has been driven by a growing realization that students should understand the importance of public health work early and see it as a viable and meaningful career option.

In early 2025, ASTHO members asked how public health agencies were integrating public health into K-12 schools. This interest prompted ASTHO to convene a workshop series, through which it became clear that states are not only interested in the topic — they are already doing innovative and impactful work within their jurisdictions. Below are key examples and lessons learned from states that participated in these discussions and takeaways that may help other organizations exploring similar efforts.

Classroom Partnerships in Action

Montana: Classroom-Ready Public Health Curriculum

Montana is leveraging funding from the Public Health Infrastructure Grant (PHIG) to collaborate with the Montana Public Health Training Center to bring public health concepts directly into classrooms through a comprehensive curriculum for teachers. The curriculum is ready to use with worksheets and answer keys. The materials fit into teachers’ busy schedules and make it easier to introduce public health topics in the classroom. The curriculum has already been accessed by more than 130 people across 37 states, one U.S. territory, and eight countries. Also, with support from the Montana Healthcare Foundation, the training center is developing a toolkit to help local health departments collaborate with schools and host community health fairs that connect students directly with public health professionals.

Kentucky: Career Exposure Through the Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA)

With support from PHIG, Kentucky is leveraging existing student career organizations, such as HOSA, to introduce students to public health concepts and careers. At past HOSA conferences, students participated in a simulated outbreak activity that exposed them to epidemiology, public health nursing, environmental health, the public health laboratory, and public health career pathways in an engaging, hands-on way.

New Jersey: Youth-Led Immunization Campaigns

New Jersey hosts the Protect Me With 3+ annual poster and video contest, a joint initiative between the Partnership for Maternal and Child Health of Northern New Jersey and the New Jersey Department of Health. The statewide initiative aims to raise awareness on the importance of adolescent immunizations among preteens, teens, and parents, increase vaccination rates for several important vaccines, and, most importantly, empower students to use their creativity and voice to spread the important message of getting vaccinated. The contest invites New Jersey students in grades 5-12 to display their creativity by designing a poster or a 30-second video highlighting the importance of vaccines for themselves, their families, and their communities. Over the years, the contest has proven to be a successful and impactful model for peer-to-peer education around immunization.

Connecticut: Multiple Entry Points into Public Health

Through PHIG funding, Connecticut builds sustainable, credit-bearing pathways that introduce students to public health and connects them to college and career opportunities. Through the CT Science Olympiad, the Connecticut Department of Public Health sponsors the “Disease Detectives” event, giving middle and high school students hands-on experience with outbreak investigation and direct exposure to public health professionals. Over the past three years, 188 students from 35 schools have participated.

Connecticut also expands access to college-level coursework. In partnership with the University of Connecticut, high school teachers are trained to deliver Public Health 101 through Early College Experience, allowing students to earn transferable college credit while still in high school. Beginning in Fall 2026, students from participating schools can further their studies through Dual Enrollment with Connecticut State Community College, where they will have access to undergraduate public health courses.

Washington: Teacher Licensure and Data-Driven Curriculum

Washington state focuses on supporting educators while grounding public health education in real-world data. K-8 teachers are required to complete STEM hours for licensure renewal, and teams are exploring ways to integrate youth engagement into this process. With support from the Educational Service District, Washington created an asynchronous professional development model teacher training program on using Washington Tracking Network data in classrooms. This program provides licensure clock hours while helping educators incorporate local public health concepts and data into instruction.

Cross-Cutting Lessons from States

Across jurisdictions, several common strategies consistently supported successful efforts to introduce students to public health and build early career awareness.

Build on Existing School Programs and Structures

Many successful initiatives did not require creating entirely new programs. Public health agencies integrated public health concepts into existing school activities, competitions, and career organizations that already have student participation and administrative support. Agencies interested in this work can start with established programs to make it easier to introduce public health concepts while minimizing additional demands on teachers and school administrators.

Co-Create Curriculum with Educators

Programs are more likely to succeed when teachers are involved in the early design process. Educators understand their classroom needs, curriculum standards, time constraints, and their input ensures that materials are practical and usable. Several agencies emphasized the value of developing curriculum collaboratively with teachers and testing materials in classrooms before broader rollout. This pilot, revise, scale approach helps refine lessons, ensures alignment with educations standards, and increases the likeliness that teachers will adopt the materials.

Elevate Youth Voice and Peer Engagement

Agencies can get students more engaged in public health work when they can create and share their own public health messages. Youth-led campaigns, contests, and peer education initiatives allow students to translate what they learned into messages for their peers and community members. Agencies noted peer-to-peer approaches such as student-created posters, videos, or presentations can be effective for topics like prevention, immunization, and community health awareness. These activities not only reinforce public health knowledge but also help students develop communication and leadership skills.

Support Teachers Through Professional Development and Data Tools

Teachers are more likely to incorporate public health topics into their classrooms when they receive training, resources, and incentives that align with their professional requirements. Some states support educators by offering professional development that provides continuing education or licensure renewal hours while also teaching educators how to use public health data, case studies, or state/local health examples in the classroom. Providing ready-to-use activities, datasets, and lesson plans reduces the burden on teachers while strengthening the integration of public health into classroom education.

Build Sustainable Communication Channels with Schools

Successful programs often relied on consistent communication channels between health agencies and education partners rather than relying on one-time outreach. Agencies built systems that allowed educators to regularly receive information about public health learning opportunities. Examples include educator newsletters, resource portals, partnerships with school districts or health districts, and coordination with state and local education networks. These systems help ensure that teachers and schools can easily learn about new curriculum resources, competitions, professional development opportunities, and student engagement activities related to public health.

Keep Evaluation Simple and Actionable

Agencies also emphasized the importance of evaluating K-12 public health programs in ways that are practical for schools and partners rather than complex evaluation requirements. Many use simple feedback mechanisms such as teacher surveys, student reflections, participation counts, or brief post activity questionnaires. These short feedback loops help agencies understand what worked, what needs improvement, and how programs can be refined before expanding to additional schools.

Barriers and Challenges

While agencies shared many promising approaches, they also identified several common challenges when working within K-12 education systems.

1. Limited classroom time and competing priorities. Teachers often face strict curriculum requirements and limited instructional time, which can make it difficult to introduce new topics. Programs that align with existing standards or integrate into science health or career exploration courses are more likely to be adopted.
2. Navigating school approval processes. Introducing new curriculum or programs may require approval from school district administrators or curriculum committees. Building relationships with education partners and piloting programs with a small number of schools can help build trust and demonstrate value.
3. Resource and staffing limitations. State and local health agencies may have limited staff capacity to support ongoing school engagement. Developing reusable curriculum materials partnering with universities or nonprofits and working through established education networks can help extend reach.

State health agencies do not need to build entirely new systems to engage K-12 students in public health. The most effective efforts build on existing school structures, support and incentivize educators, elevate youth leadership, emphasize clear workforce pathways, and prioritize sustainable systems over one-time initiatives. As interest in public health careers and literacy continues to grow, aligning public health goals with education systems offers a promising path forward. ASTHO is committed to providing opportunities for state and territorial health agencies to continue sharing lessons learned, exploring scalable strategies, and strengthening cross-sector collaboration with K-12 partners.