Kinesiology Professor Chosen to Attend CDC Academy

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Jack Kern

Jack Kern, University of Arkansas clinical associate professor of kinesiology, was one of two representatives of Arkansas universities invited to attend the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's School of Health Education-Higher Education Academy in Atlanta last month.

About 40 professors from around the nation attended the conference, which focused on the improvement of health education at the college level, Kern said.

Some sessions focused on health education national standards and ways to incorporate the standards into the curriculum.

"Many programs, like ours at the University of Arkansas, are dual-licensure programs where students are licensed to teach health and physical education upon graduation," Kern said. "Some sessions discussed ways to better integrate the two areas. Other sessions presented hands-on ideas for teaching health at the public school level – ideas which can be passed on to our teacher education students.

"It was a phenomenal conference, one of the best I have ever attended."

The conference at Emory University was co-sponsored by the American Cancer Society. Participants toured the CDC headquarters for a look at work the CDC has done over the years. The other professor from Arkansas who attended represented the University of Arkansas at Monticello.

Kern joined the faculty of the College of Education and Health Professions in 1996. He was named "Higher Educator of the Year" last year by the Arkansas Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, the second time he has won the award. In addition to teaching, he supervises students doing internships at local schools.