Comprehensive Health Skills for High School

Catherine A. Sanderson is the Poler Family Professor of Psychology at Amherst College. She received a bachelor's degree in psychology, with a specialization in Health and Development, from Stanford University, and received both master's and doctoral degrees in psychology from Princeton University. Professor Sanderson's research examines how personality and social variables influence health-related behaviors, such as safer sex and disordered eating. Her research also examines the development of persuasive messages and interventions to prevent unhealthy behavior and predictors of relationship satisfaction. This research has received grant funding from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. Professor Sanderson has published more than 25 journal articles and book chapters; four college textbooks; high school and middle school health textbooks; and a trade book, The Positive Shift, which examines how mind-set influences happiness, health, and even how long people live. Her latest book, Why We Act: Turning Bystanders into Moral Rebels, examines why good people often stay silent or do nothing in the face of wrongdoing. In 2012, she was named one of the country's top 300 professors by the Princeton Review.

Mark Zelman is a Professor of Biology at Aurora University, Aurora, Illinois. He received a bachelor's degree in biology from Rockford College. He received a PhD in microbiology and immunology from Loyola University of Chicago and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Chicago. Dr. Zelman's research focuses on prevention and control of infectious diseases, mechanisms of antibiotic resistance, and community factors affecting public health. He teaches science education courses for high school teachers. He has published articles on microbiology, infectious disease, autoimmune disease, and biotechnology, and he has written two college texts on human diseases and infection control. Dr. Zelman works with the West Africa AIDS Foundation in Ghana and other public health projects in the US and abroad. He is an officer of the Illinois State Academy of Sciences and Editor-in-Chief of the Academy's scientific journal, Transactions.

Diane Farthing received her bachelor's degree and teaching credentials from Kent State University in Ohio. She taught health education for 16 years at a continuation school, five years at the middle-school level, and 17 years at Amador Valley High School in Pleasanton, California. In 2010, she became a National Board Certified Teacher, recertifying in 2020. She is a strong believer in the power of collaboration. She spent seven years on the leadership team for the Bay Area Physical Education-Health Subject Matter Project, designing and delivering professional development institutes. In 2014, she took on the role of Health Program Director for the Health and Physical Education Collaborative (H-PEC), a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping teachers develop physical and health literacy in their students. Diane helped write the Health Education Curriculum Framework for California Public Schools. She is the 2019 California Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (CAHPERD) Health Teacher of the Year and the 2020 SHAPE America Western District Teacher of the Year.

Melanie Lynch is an experienced teacher with almost 30 years in the classroom. She spent the first 21 years of her career specializing in teaching only health education. She now teaches health and physical education in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at North Allegheny Intermediate High School. She has served as Vice President of Health Education for SHAPE Pennsylvania for five years and served as their President in 2016. Also in 2016, SHAPE America named Melanie the National Health Education Teacher of the Year. Melanie's love of working with students and her creative, skills-based lesson ideas have taken her all over the country, where she has spoken to thousands of teachers. Melanie is grateful to work, learn, and grow with so many amazing teachers.

Melissa Munsell worked as an instructional specialist in the Physical Education and Health Department at North East Independent School District in San Antonio, Texas. She served as the K-12 Health Education Lead for the district. Melissa received a bachelor's degree in kinesiology from The University of Texas at Austin and is certified to teach Physical Education K-12 and Health Education 6-12, among other endorsements, in the state of Texas. She has 28 years of teaching and administrative experience, including six years teaching health education at the high-school level. Melissa has also served as vice president of the Health Division and General Division of the Texas Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (TAHPERD) and presents workshops and lectures on various health topics locally and statewide.