Terry Julian, who serves as technology facilitator and wellness coordinator for Hastings Public Schools, and Peggy Meyer, a mental health therapist and former longtime SHHD Board of Health member, received the Public Health Leadership Award.

The awards were presented during a Board of Health meeting at the Hastings Public Library.

According to a citation from the Board of Health, Batterman is a strong advocate for uninsured and underinsured patients and is instrumental in maintaining a strong partnership between her clinic and the health department. The clinic and South Heartland have worked together on education and prevention efforts related to cancers and chronic diseases; on reducing transmission of communicable diseases; and on assuring access to health care services, especially for underserved populations.

One collaborative effort is to improve and assure access to colorectal cancer, cervical cancer and breast cancer screenings. Batterman educates patients on the importance of colorectal cancer screening and disseminates free screening kits to those who are within the age for screening but for whom colonoscopies are a financial burden. She also works with women who don’t qualify for the Every Woman Matters program to educate on the importance of cervical and breast cancer screenings.

South Heartland’s Collaborative Impact Project supports access to pap smears and mammograms through a collaboration involving Hastings Family Care, Mary Lanning Laboratory, Hastings Imaging Center and Hastings Radiology Associates.

In her role as wellness coordinator for HPS, Julian leads school wellness initiatives and has welcomed collaboration between HPS’ Wellness Committee and South Heartland, focusing on assuring wellness opportunities for staff and students and adopting policies to support ongoing wellness initiatives. Julian was instrumental in implementing the health department’s grant projects at the HPS school building level and districtwide.

Julian participated in priority setting and creation of South Heartland’s current Community Health Improvement Program, or CHIP. She serves on the Obesity Steering Committee for CHIP and on South Heartland’s Mental Health/Substance Misuse Training Taskforce. She also participated on a previous South Heartland-led maternal child health wellness committee focused on nutrition and physical activity.

Julian also is a member of the Hastings Diabetes on Track Community Coalition, which formed nearly two years ago when Hastings became one of two Nebraska communities selected to pilot diabetes prevention initiatives. The pilot effort is supported by the Diabetes Care Foundation of Nebraska. Julian has been instrumental in Diabetes Screening Promotion activities, creating and distributing “Diabetes, the Silent Killer” posters throughout town. She also has taken the lead with the coalition’s Facebook page.

Julian created a worksite wellness initiative at HPS to promote the Diabetes Risk Assessment to all HPS staff and incentivize diabetes prevention activities.

In addition to her other work, Julian teaches fitness classes at the Hastings Family YMCA and is a longtime volunteer instructor for physical activity stations at the annual Kids Fitness and Nutrition Day for fourth-graders from across the health district.

Meyer, who lives in Nuckolls County, is a mental health therapist, a member and current president of the Superior Board of Education, an entrepreneur, a transformational life coach, a mother of six, and a former member of the SHHD Board of Health. She served as a Nuckolls County representative to the board from 2003-22 and served four years as president and four years as vice president. She also served on the board’s Personnel and Policy Committee.

As a therapist and owner of Positive Solutions Inc., Meyer brought a mental health practitioner’s perspective to the work of the board and helped consider strategies to improve mental health in schools and communities across the district. She helped to plan and implement the health department’s community health assessments and community health improvement strategic planning process. She also supported the health department’s worked to become accredited.

Through her practice, Meyer works with clients on creating healthy habits through food choices, sleep, exercise and stress management. She teaches the importance of self-awareness, self-care and self-responsibility centered around mindset, choices and personal strengths. She launched a podcast, “Positive Solutions 4 Life,” in June 2023 and to date has completed 62 episodes.

In other ventures, Meyer is co-founder of Field Pocket, a software solution for family farm management at harvest.

The Board of Health also recognized school nurses from across the district for their work educating and protecting students and school staff and assuring health services are available to them. Their duties may include everything from coordinating flu shots and Educators Health Alliance programs for staff, to teaching certified nursing assistant classes to high school students.

Honored school nurses include:

Adams Central Public Schools: Nancy Hollister

Alcott Elementary (HPS): Alissa Timmerman

Blue Hill Community Schools: Carisa Cox

Hastings High School (HPS): Madjil Clark

Hastings Middle School (HPS): Annie Consbruck

Hawthorne Elementary (HPS): Ange Shipman

Kenesaw Public Schools: Jackie Cornelius

Lawrence-Nelson, South Central USD No. 5: Jaycee Schroer

Lincoln Elementary (HPS): Julie Didier

Longfellow Elementary (HPS): Rebecca Gerdes

Red Cloud Public Schools: Della McDole

Sandy Creek, South Central USD No. 5: Brenda Searle

Silver Lake Public Schools: Lorie Berns

Hastings Catholic Schools: Paige Schwartz

Superior Public Schools: Megan McMeen

Sutton Public Schools: Trisha Sadd

Watson Elementary (HPS): Sara Orestad

Zion Classical Academy: Joanna Fink and Kerrie Peterson

The recognition for Batterman, Julian and Meyer includes a plaque and cash award. The school nurses will receive a certificate and gift to be hand-delivered at their schools over the coming month.