Pilot Light is thrilled to announce that our flagship program, the Institute for Food Education, received the 2018 Clarence E. Pearson Program Excellence Award from the Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) on April 5, 2018, in Columbus, Ohio.
The Award, which recognizes outstanding contributions by a program to the practice of health education, is named in honor of Clarence Pearson, who was a pioneer in developing national health education programs. His interests were focused on the importance of an evidence-based approach to the design, development, and implementation to health education programming. A former president of the National Center for Health Education, Pearson also served as a member of President Nixon’s 1971 Committee on Health Education, which was the first national effort to prioritize access to health education for all American citizens.
Pilot Light was nominated for this prestigious award by public health faculty at Columbia University and the University of Chicago for our innovative work to build teacher capacity to integrate food and nutrition education into the core curriculum. This approach presents a school-based model that allows all children access to the food education they need and deserve.