Project Healthy Schools
Wellness Champion Gathering
Wellness Champion Gathering
Save the date for this year's Wellness Champion Gathering!
Registration for this year's Wellness Champion Gathering is now open!
Preview this year's agenda for the gathering:
Learn more about the speakers for this year's gathering:
Corrine Hays, B.S.
Presentation Topic: Trauma Informed Programs and Practices for Schools (joint presentation)
Corrine Hays is a second-year student at the University of Michigan School of Social Work. Following her undergraduate graduation from Notre Dame, Corrine spent a year teaching a conflict resolution curriculum in a Milwaukee middle school. She developed interests in educational policy research, restorative disciplinary practices, and social emotional learning programs. As a research assistant and field student with TIPPS, she is excited to assist with research studies and implement programming in schools that center the values of social work.
Avery Northrop, B.S.
Presentation Topic: Trauma Informed Programs and Practices for Schools (joint presentation)
Avery Northrop is a Master of Social Work student at the University of Michigan, where she is in her second year concentrating in Children, Youth, and Families as part of the Child Welfare Scholars Program. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a minor in Child Development from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, before gaining hands-on experience teaching both preschool and elementary school. Her research interests include child and family well-being, economic justice, and trauma-informed practices within educational and community settings. Avery is eager to further these interests through her work with TIPPS and to contribute to advancing trauma-informed approaches in schools.
Dr. Justin Heinze, Ph.D.
Presentation Topic: A Comprehensive Approach to School Safety
Dr. Heinze‘s research investigates how schools influence disparities in violence and other risk outcomes from an ecological perspective that includes individual, interpersonal, and contextual influences on development. He is particularly interested in structural features of school context and policy that perpetuate inequity in violence and firearm outcomes, but also how these institutions can serve as a setting for intervention.
Dr. Heinze is currently an associate professor in the Department of Health Behavior & Health Equity in the School of Public Health and holds an appointment with the Combined Program in Education and Psychology. He completed his PhD in education psychology from the University of Illinois-Chicago. He is the Director of the National Center for School Safety, the faculty lead for Public Health IDEAS for Preventing Firearm Injury, and principal investigator of the Healthy Minds Study.
Dr. Kendrin Sonneville, ScD, RD
Presentation Topic: Youth and Eating Disorders
Dr. Sonneville is an Associate Professor and Associate Chair of the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Michigan School of Public Health and the Director of their Center of Excellence for Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health. Dr. Sonneville is a registered dietitian, behavioral scientist, and public health researcher whose research focuses on the prevention of eating disorders among children, adolescents, and young adults. She uses a weight-inclusive framework to study how to promote health and well-being without inadvertently increasing body dissatisfaction, disordered eating, and weight stigma.
Dr. Robert Solomon, M.D.
Presentation Topic: Cardiovascular Health
Robert A. Solomon, M.D. is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine and the Associate Director of Community Experience and Outreach for the U-M Health Frankel Cardiovascular Center. A native of Metro Detroit, he attended Hampton University and Howard University for his undergraduate and medical school education, respectively.
Completing his residency training in Internal Medicine at Henry Ford Hospital, he then went on to finish his Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship training at Ascension St. John Hospital before returning to Henry Ford Hospital to complete his Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Fellowship training.
Dr. Solomon joined University of Michigan Health in August 2023 and as a member of Michigan Medicine his clinical interests include general cardiology, heart failure with preserved ejection fraction and cardiac amyloidosis. His additional interests include patient health literacy and community outreach. He joined the PHS program in Fall 2025 through his professional collaboration with PHS Founder, Dr. Kim Eagle, at the University of Michigan.
Dr. Haylie Miller, Ph.D
Presentation Topic: Neurodivergent Visuomotor Integration
Dr. Haylie L. Miller is an assistant professor of Movement Science and director of the Motor and Visual Development Laboratory at the University of Michigan School of Kinesiology.
Dr. Miller’s program of research is focused on understanding the underlying mechanisms and functional impact of neurodivergent visuomotor integration—the use of visual information and attention to plan, execute, and modify movement.
Dr. Miller has authored or co-authored articles in peer-reviewed journals including Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, Autism Research, the Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders, Gait & Posture, and Developmental Reviews. She regularly serves as a grant reviewer for the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, and reviews for journals in the fields of psychology, autism research, and movement science.ScD, RD
About the Wellness Champion Gathering
Our Wellness Champion Gathering (WCG) is an annual event that is now open to the general public! The event used to be an invite-only gathering for all our wellness champions, wellness team members, teachers, principals, and other school staff within the Project Healthy Schools community. The event is always free, SCECHs are offered to those who attend (available ONLY to Michigan residents), and the event includes special guest presenters. This event is a great way for wellness champions and wellness team members at schools to network with each other and share resources. If you have questions about the Project Healthy Schools Wellness Champion Gathering, please reach out to your PHS wellness coordinator or visit our contact page.
Interested in Presenting?
We’re always interested in finding new presenters for our wellness champion gatherings. Every year, we aim to include a panel of all new presenters since every WCG we discuss new and trending topics for schools. If you are interested in presenting at our event or have a topic of discussion you’d like us to include in our event, please reach out to us at projecthealthyschools@umich.edu.
Past Recordings
We try to record our wellness champion gatherings so that anyone who was not able to attend the event live, since it usually takes place during the school day, can watch the presentations at a later date. Check out some of our recordings below. You can always find these recordings on our YouTube page.
