When noting the evolution of the public school system and its hallmark features, I can see the day when SMART Student Health and Wellness Centers are as normative within public education as libraries—one in every school. It is paramount that students in the classroom be physically and mentally healthy, providing each the best opportunity to participate and learn. SMART identifies and reduces the barriers to student success and creates/improves the conditions that maximize the capacity for educators to teach.

In 25 years of working with schools and communities to improve the lives of at-risk children and youth, I have never seen an approach or intervention with the capacity that the SMART model has to bring about dramatic improvements. By bringing together proven health and behavioral health care methods in a new and unique delivery model, Ginn Group Collaborative and CVS Health has forged the tool we have been looking for to help our children.

[Melanie] partnered with the communications and marketing unit as a trusted and knowledgeable consultant who provides expert advice and assistance with major projects. She has brought a broad range of valuable skill sets, and her core capabilities include administration, communication, customer service, leadership, planning, analytical skills, professionalism, resourcefulness, dependability, and personal qualities that make working with her very fun, enjoyable, and effective.

The Hispanic Heritage Foundation’s mission has been expanded thanks to Melanie’s connectivity, strategy, and vision. From working with us to develop a sustainable and measurable track for Latino talent into healthcare fields with CVS Health to spearheading innovative research and models that deliver economic impacts, like SMART, she facilitates and brokers-bringing partners together for the common cause of moving communities and America forward.

Our work as a thought-leader partner and sponsor of the SMART model is completely in line with our corporate principals—supporting innovation in health care delivery channels that increase access, increase quality and reduce costs.

If school systems and communities are looking for innovative and effective school-based health solutions, they should look no further than Melanie Ginn and the SMART Student Health Model. Melanie has developed and implemented a model that delivers strong and sustained health and educational outcomes that will have a far-reaching impact on individual students, their families, and their schools and communities.

For too many of our students, the barriers to good physical and emotional health are negatively impacting their capacity to learn and subsequent socio-economic life trajectories. The SMART model’s approach to ensuring the wellness of every student in the building, with the purpose of academic achievement, is unique and yields powerful results.

CVS is proud to have played a part in supporting and actively participating in the type of public-private partnership that fueled a high impact, lower cost socio-economic solution like SMART that, at its core, aims to break the cycle of poverty and positively change the trajectory of young lives.