NHEW 2021: COVID-19 Classroom Chat: RE-Adapting to the Classroom in 2021

Deborah A. Fortune, Ph.D., CHES, is an associate professor in the Department of Health Education at North Carolina Central University and is a Master Certified Health Education Specialist. Prior to her current position, Dr. Fortune was the director of the National HIV & CSHE Project with the American Association for Health Education. She has been a faculty member at the following institutions: East Tennessee State University, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and Marymount University. Dr. Fortune received her B.S. degree in Biology from Mississippi University for Women, M.S. degree in Community Health Education from the University of Southern Mississippi, and her Ph.D. in Public Health Education from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Dr. Fortune has provided instructor training in comprehensive school health education (Growing Healthy curriculum and Teenage Health Teaching Modules), HIV/AIDS for African Americans, youth violence prevention, and cultural diversity in health education. Her research interests include HIV and sexual health among African American college women, youth violence prevention, professional preparation in health education, and faculty and youth mentoring. She has published and made numerous presentations on those topics.

Chelsea Chappell, MS, CHES, is a doctoral student in the Department of Health Education & Behavior at the University of Florida.  For three years, Chelsea has served as the Director of SHIP, the School Health Interdisciplinary Program.  After a one-year hiatus due to COVID-19, Chelsea is preparing college student volunteers and working with school staff to return to the schools and resume health education programming with elementary-aged youth in Alachua County, Florida.  

Over the past 23 years, Dr. Kayce D. Solari Williams has taught at the K-12 and higher education levels. She has been a dance, physical education, and theater teacher in Aldine ISD, Fort Bend ISD, and Houston ISD. She is currently a clinical associate professor at the University of Houston in the Department of Psychological, Health, and Learning Sciences, co-owner of Be Well Health Resources, LLC, Co-investigator on NIH-funded cancer and health disparities research training grant, and president of the American School Health Association. Her education and work experiences focus on the human body. She promotes movement that is natural, challenging, and rewarding. She is dedicated to teaching and training future health professionals using innovative and inspiring in-class and virtual techniques as well as providing students with service learning opportunities locally and abroad.

Dr. William Potts-Datema currently serves as Interim CEO of SOPHE. He has served in education and public health for 42 years, including service from local to international levels. He has held several national leadership positions including Chief of the Program Development and Services Branch of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Division of Adolescent and School Health, Director of Partnerships for Children’s Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts, and Executive Director of the Society of State Leaders of Health and Physical Education in Washington, DC.

Bill serves as President of the Foundation for the Advancement of Health Education, Secretary-Treasurer of the National Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), and board member of Action for Healthy Kids, CATCH Global Foundation, and Missouri State University Alumni Association. He previously served on the international boards of ASCD (formerly, the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) and the International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE); the national boards of the American School Health Association (ASHA), American Association for Health Education (AAHE), National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, and SOPHE; and as chair of the national board and a founding board member of Action for Healthy Kids. He also currently serves as the United States representative for the UNESCO Chair – Global Health and Education.

He holds a Doctor of Public Health degree from the University of Georgia, and Master of Science and Bachelor of Science in Education degrees from Missouri State University. Bill has presented in 48 states and 12 other nations, and he has authored and contributed to several publications. He is a fellow of ASHA and AAHE and a member of Delta Omega national public health honorary society and Eta Sigma Gamma national health education honorary society.

Vito J. Borrello is the first Executive Director for the National Association for Family, School, and Community Engagement (NAFSCE), appointed in September 2014. Since its founding, NAFSCE has addressed systemic issues to advance family, school, and community engagement as a strategy for child development, student achievement, and school improvement. Initiatives include Reframing the Family Engagement Conversation and the establishment of the National Alliance for Family Engagement; the 18-state State Consortium on Family Engagement in partnership with the Council for Chief State School Officers; its Family Engagement Consortium on Pre-service Educator Preparation; and 2022 planning to establish the National Center for Family Math. Prior to his current position, Mr. Borrello served as the 19-year president of Every Person Influences Children, a New York-based organization providing parenting education, and family engagement in education programs. Current National Advisory Board Member roles include Scholastic and the Center for Education Equity. Recent previous national roles include membership on the National Family, School, and Community Engagement Working Group; and two completed terms as both an Appointed and At-Large Board Member for National PTA, where he also served on committees for finance, legislation, resource development, strategic planning, and leadership recruitment. He is co-founder and Chairman of Emeritus for the NY State Family Engagement Coalition.

Prior to his NAFSCE appointment, Mr. Borrello was Chairman of the NY State PTA Urban Initiatives Task Force, Steering Committee member of the NY State Parenting Education Partnership, and a past appointee to NY State Education Department workgroups for Teacher Standards, Striving Readers, and Safe Schools. In his home community of Western New York, Mr. Borrello is a past Board Member for the State University of NY at Buffalo's Alberti Center for Bullying Abuse Prevention; past Chairman for the Care Management Coalition of Western New York, and past Board member for Buffalo's Read to Succeed literacy initiative. He is a graduate of the Health Foundation for Western and Central New York Fellowship program and a 1998 graduate of Leadership Buffalo. Mr. Borrello has a Bachelor's Degree in Music Education from Wittenberg University and resides in East Amherst, New York with his wife, Maria. He has two daughters, Marisa, 28 and Samantha, 26. He commutes to NAFSCE’s Alexandria, Virginia office.