Jodi Parker is the Health Education Specialist and Title IVA Coordinator for the Utah State Board of Education (USBE). She is a strategy leader for USBE’s Safe and Healthy Schools goal of the strategic plan. Jodi also sits on the Utah High School Activities Association executive committee, is a member of the Huntsman Cancer Institute Community Advisory Council, the Utah PTA Health Commission, and leading Utah’s involvement in Leadership Exchange for Adolescent Health Promotion (LEAHP). Prior to working at USBE she taught and coached in the Weber School District in Northern Utah.
She is an advocate for all education, but especially health education for the whole child. Jodi believes that there is nothing more important than teaching a student the skills and behaviors for them to lead a healthy lifestyle: physically, mentally, and socially. Equitable access to a proper health and physical education have been Jodi’s central focus while working at USBE. Jodi worked with community and school stakeholders to create a recess guideline for all Utah schools. This guideline stresses the importance of daily recess and strongly discourages taking away recess for punishment or remediation. She also facilitated the design and approval of supplemental standards for high school physical education graduation credit. These include: dance, strength and conditioning, outdoor recreation, and yoga.
Jodi grew up playing a variety of sports and recreation activities. She has recently tried to pick up golf, so far golf is winning. Jodi loves spending her free time, when she has it, finding new adventures with her family. No matter what the activity she is happier outdoors than anything indoors and makes a habit of eating lunch in the sunshine as much as she can manage followed by a nice walk, just not during Utah’s winter months.