BACKGROUND During spring 2020, COVID‐19 forced widespread United States school building closures in an unprecedented disruption for K‐12 students and staff. Partnering with the American School Health Association (ASHA), we sought to identify areas of concern among school staff planning for school reopening with the goal of addressing gaps in resources and education. METHODS This 16‐item web‐based survey was distributed via email to 7467 ASHA members from May to June 2020. Topics focused on 3 Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child components: physical environment, health services, and mental health. Chi‐square tests were used to identify differences in responses by school characteristics and school role on each survey item. RESULTS A total of 375 respondents representing 45 states completed the survey. The majority were female (91.7%), white (83.4%) and non‐Hispanic (92.2%), and school nurses (58.7%). Priority concerns were feasibility of social distancing (93.6%), resurgence of COVID‐19 (92.8%), and the availability of health supplies (88.8%). CONCLUSION Understanding staff concerns in the context of the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child model better positions the school community to address ongoing gaps and changing needs as schools continue to address COVID‐19 complications.

Pennsylvania responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by closing schools and moving to online instruction in March 2020. We surveyed Pennsylvania school nurses ( N = 350) in May 2020 to assess the impact of COVID-19 on nurses’ concerns about returning to school and impact on practice. Data were analyzed using χ2 tests and regression analyses. Urban school nurses were more concerned about returning to the school building without a COVID-19 vaccine than rural nurses ( OR = 1.58, 95% CI [1.05, 2.38]). Nurses in urban locales were more likely to report being asked for guidance on COVID-19 ( OR = 1.69, 95% CI [1.06, 2.68]), modify communication practices ( OR = 2.33, 95% CI [1.42, 3.82]), and be “very/extremely concerned” about their safety ( OR = 2.16, 95% CI [1.35, 3.44]). Locale and student density are important factors to consider when resuming in-person instruction; however, schools should recognize school nurses for their vital role in health communication to assist in pandemic preparedness and response.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of three types of social cognitive theory (SCT)-based elementary school classroom physical activity (PA) training on teachers’ implementation rates, attitudes, knowledge and behaviour. Design: Key stakeholder focus groups informed development of phase II which took the form of a randomised controlled trial of three different intensities of teacher training to conduct classroom-based PA sessions. Setting: The study was conducted over one school year (2016–2017), across four elementary schools in the USA. Methods: Researchers delivered professional development to teachers, focusing on effective methods for PA use in the classroom through three formats: webinar, in-person training and in-person with personalised assistance. Training content was built on SCT constructs. This study examined the impact of the PA training on SCT construct outcomes among elementary school classroom teachers ( n = 41). Study outcome measures included reciprocal determinism, behavioural capability, outcome expectations and self-efficacy. Over the 12-week period following the training, teachers completed surveys to measure SCT construct outcomes. Results: Results of the intervention demonstrated an increase in teacher self-efficacy and knowledge ( p < .01 and p < .01). There was a significant increase of teachers who started using PA in the classroom who indicated no use at baseline (from 21% to 6% not using). Conclusion: The use of SCT to provide a teacher training is an effective method to increase classroom PA, while improving teacher self-efficacy and knowledge concerning PA implementation.

Objective: Recent federal legislation in the USA highlights the role schools play in student health by requiring the utilisation of wellness councils for policy development and oversight. One barrier to developing good-quality wellness policies and wellness culture is limited knowledge of resources among school professionals. This article describes an approach to webinar delivery to improve school wellness efforts. Design: Eight webinars, 30–60 minutes in length, were delivered on topics designed to enhance school wellness environments. Setting: Webinars were delivered using an online meeting software platform to school professionals, who participated from their respective school buildings remotely. Method: Webinars featured content experts for the selected topics and were promoted to school professionals and wellness organisations. Attendees were invited to participate in a post-webinar questionnaire regarding satisfaction with the session and intent to act on knowledge gained from participation. Results: Webinars reached 280 school and wellness professionals (teachers, administrators, nurses, etc.). Participants who completed post-webinar surveys (n = 78) rated the webinar’s ability to enhance their knowledge in the respective topic area with an average score of 4.3 out of 5.0 (1 = poor, 5 = excellent). Most respondents (n = 69) intended to share the information gained with a colleague. Conclusion: Webinars provide a viable method of instruction and education for school personnel interested in strategies for improving a school’s wellness environment. Further investigation is necessary to determine the best strategies for promoting webinar engagement. Future research should also explore the link between webinar participation and positive changes in school wellness environments.

Carcinogen exposures inscribe mutation patterns on cancer genomes and sometimes bias the acquisition of driver mutations toward preferred oncogenes, potentially dictating sensitivity to targeted agents. Whether and how carcinogen-specific mutation patterns direct activation of preferred oncogenes remains poorly understood. Here, mouse models of breast cancer were exploited to uncover a mechanistic link between strand-biased mutagenesis and oncogene preference. When chemical carcinogens were employed during Wnt1-initiated mammary tumorigenesis, exposure to either 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA) or N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU) dramatically accelerated tumor onset. Mammary tumors that followed DMBA exposure nearly always activated the Ras pathway via somatic Hras(CAA61CTA) mutations. Surprisingly, mammary tumors that followed ENU exposure typically lacked Hras mutations, and instead activated the Ras pathway downstream via Braf(GTG636GAG) mutations. Hras(CAA61CTA) mutations involve an A-to-T change on the sense strand, whereas Braf(GTG636GAG) mutations involve an inverse T-to-A change, suggesting that strand-biased mutagenesis may determine oncogene preference. To examine this possibility further, we turned to an alternative Wnt-driven tumor model in which carcinogen exposures augment a latent mammary tumor predisposition in Apc(min) mice. DMBA and ENU each accelerated mammary tumor onset in Apc(min) mice by introducing somatic, "second-hit" Apc mutations. Consistent with our strand bias model, DMBA and ENU generated strikingly distinct Apc mutation patterns, including stringently strand-inverse mutation signatures at A:T sites. Crucially, these contrasting signatures precisely match those proposed to confer bias toward Hras(CAA61CTA) versus Braf(GTG636GAG) mutations in the original tumor sets. Our findings highlight a novel mechanism whereby exposure history acts through strand-biased mutagenesis to specify activation of preferred oncogenes.