About CHE

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Mission

To empower teenagers with the skills, self-respect, and knowledge needed to make healthy decision about their bodies and their futures. To train and support college students to educate teenagers in their communities about health issues.

Who We Are and What We Do

Community Health Educators (CHE) writes and presents health education workshops in New Haven public schools. Members of CHE are undergraduate students at Yale, along with a few students from the Yale School of Medicine or School of Public Health. CHE builds on the unique relationship between college students and students in high school and middle school. We present accurate, practical, and reliable information in a non-threatening, informal environment using language and context that is relevant to students. We impart knowledge rather than dictate behavior so that students can make healthy decisions for themselves.

CHE has a high school program and a middle school program. Each program is led by two co-coordinators and a Steering Committee. The Steering Committee consists of leaders for each workshop group who specialize in one topic in the curriculum, as well as a curriculum and training advisors. Each CHE member participates in one of these workshop groups. Together with their group, members write and revise workshops that form a comprehensive health curriculum to be presented in schools. For more information, please see our curriculum.The New Haven School Board's Department of Social Development works closely with CHE to ensure the accuracy and effectiveness of the curriculum.

History

Community Health Educators was founded in 1999 in direct response to community need. At the time, the New Haven public school district lacked an institutionalized program of health education for its students. A counselor from Wilbur Cross High School, the largest high school in New Haven, approached a Dwight Hall Public School Intern to express his concern. Six students at Yale responded by founding Community Health Educators.

Over the past ten years, the membership of CHE has expanded and now includes over 150 volunteers. CHE currently presents workshops in twenty-four high schools and middle schools throughout New Haven and reaches over two thousand students each year. CHE works consistently with the New Haven School Board's Department of Social Development, public school administrators, teachers, and students to create the most effective strategies in response to the new and challenging needs of the community.

Funding

Community Health Educators receives funding from Dwight Hall, the Center for Public Service and Social Justice at Yale, and the Yale Undergraduate Organizations Funding Committee. CHE also holds fundraisers every year to raise money for supplies and materials.

How and When to Join!

Yale students can join CHE at the beginning of the academic year. Members of CHE will be at the bazaar of undergraduate activities during Bulldog Days and in early September, as well as the Dwight Hall bazaars.

Contact Information

Email the Co-Coordinators if you have any questions

Middle School: Brittany Blackstone (brittany.blackstone@yale.edu) and Michael Solotke (michael.solotke@yale.edu)

High School: Greg Mittl (gregory.mittl@yale.edu) and Elizabeth Freeburg (elizabeth.freeburg@yale.edu)