Elizabeth R. Zeno RN, PHN, LSN, MA, NCSN has been selected as The 2011 Minnesota School Nurse of the Year. Liz was nominated and selected because of the evidence of her outstanding school nursing practice. She has been committed to the students in the Minneapolis Public School (MSP) district since August of 1993 when she began as the Nursing Services Manager.

In her work throughout the years, Liz has been an advocate for student health. She served as the School Nurse on the Healthy Learners Board which started with the "No Shots, No School" immunization program and moved on to asthma, vision and hearing and mental health, as On-Call Nurse for MSP After School Programs, as the School Nurse credited with the successful implementation by Minneapolis Public Schools of the Discovery Student Administrative System's new Health Module, Resource Nurse and as the Licensed School Nurse at the Pillsbury School for the past seven years where she cares for a diverse population including a program for medically fragile students. She consistently demonstrates excellence in the application of the standards of professional school nursing.

Liz has been an active member on the SNOM Board of Directors. She co-chaired and more recently chairs the SNOM Legislative Committee. Liz's patient persistent monitoring has kept the committee engaged and the SNOM members informed. Among the issues she has worked on over the years include Early Childhood Screening funding, school funding, mental health, ADHD bill, Medicaid reimbursement, health care reform, school safely, anti bullying, nutrition, obesity, chronic health issues, diabetes, healthy eating, emergency preparedness, and adequate school nursing services for students.

Liz received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from Emory University and her Masters of Arts in K-12 Curriculum and Instruction degree from the University of St. Thomas. She received her National School Nurse Certification in 2006.

Congratulations to Liz Zeno for her exemplary practice and service to her community.

Donna Eichten McKenny RN, PHN, LSN, M.Ed, has been Supervisor of the Centennial School District Health Services for the past 22 years. Donna has been described by her school district administrators, as exhibiting strong leadership traits. She supervises health service employees at nine sites as well as supports and maintains all health services policies and procedures for the entire district of 7200 students and families. She earns the respect of the health services staff, teachers, and paraprofessionals in providing support to students.

Donna has been a member of the Centennial School District Mental Health Committee, District Action Response Team, Safety and Security Committee, Student Assistance Team and the High School Leadership Team. In addition to her job responsibilities, it is not unusual to also see Donna collecting tickets at a football game, timing at a track meet or facilitating a group of high school students who have diabetes.

Following her passion to advocate for students with special needs, Donna became active in the Epilepsy Foundation of Minnesota and an instructor for Seizure Training for School Nurses and School Personnel. She is a member of the Minnesota Professional Advisory Board and in 2008 was elected to serve a four-year term on the National Epilepsy Foundation Professional Advisory Board. Donna is an active member of SNOM and currently serves as Membership Chair.

Donna received her Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from the College of St. Teresa and her Master of Education degree from St. Mary's University in Winona, MN.

Congratulations to Donna, who is one of those rare people who lights up a room with her excitement for life and her passion for working with children.

Cathy Griffin, the Minnesota Department of Education's (MDE) Third Party Reimbursement Policy Specialist, has been selected to receive a SNOM Special Recognition Award for her guidance and support of school nursing practice. For the past several years, Cathy has partnered with SNOM to reach out to school nurses across Minnesota in order to increase their knowledge in the area of special education, and reimbursement through the State Aid for Special Education funding available for school nursing services through the Minnesota Department of Education Electronic Data Reporting System (EDRS) and Third Party Reimbursement.

Cathy has over 40 years experience in working with public assistance programs and 26 years specifically developing programs and services for people with disabilities. She has been employed in a variety of settings including county and state human service agencies, a non-profit health system, a home health agency, and her own health care consulting and event planning organization.

In 1997, together with School District #622 and a grant from Children, Families, and Learning, she developed a basic model for billing health related services that can be adapted to the unique needs of each school district. That model became know as the SCHOOL Project and is currently providing support and billing management services for over twenty districts in Minnesota.

In 2001, Cathy returned to public service at the MN Department of Education where she is the Third Party Funding Specialist, and also provides support to nursing in Special Education and is the department specialist on HIPAA related issues.

During the past two years, the SNOM Special Education Forum has focused on the school nurse's role in the special education process, the chronic disease management model for hearing, and the school nursing implications for early childhood special education. Cathy assisted the committee with organizing time, space, sending out invitations, designing brochures, assisting with speakers, completing the attendance certificates and evaluations, writing objectives, organizing lunch, handouts and folders, etc.

She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Speech Communication from the College of St. Catherine, is a member of Lambda Pi Eta and is a former President of the National Alliance for Medicaid in Education, Inc. where she remains an active member with a very high national profile.

Cathy has high expectations and consequently moves people very discreetly in a direction that she knows will be a benefit to children in Minnesota schools.

Long-time Minnesota Department of Health employee Cheryl Smoot was honored by the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) with the Outstanding State School Nurse Consultant Achievement Award. Ms. Smoot, who has held the position of School Health Consultant with MDH for the last 19 years, was recognized at NASN�s annual conference, held earlier this year in Chicago.

Ms. Smoot plays a crucial role within her state agency, providing valuable support and resources to school districts and school nurses throughout Minnesota. Her guidance was especially noteworthy last year, as schools nationwide wrestled with the H1N1 outbreak.

In her work, Ms. Smoot has been instrumental in developing various guidelines, such as the Minnesota Guidelines for Medication Administration in Schools and its accompanying checklist. She maintains a listserv of Minnesota school nurses that regularly provides updates, while also producing a newsletter, Healthy Children Healthy Schools, in addition to keeping the state legislature informed on key topics.

Always on the lookout for new opportunities, Ms. Smoot is currently collaborating with the Minnesota Department of Education on a joint project looking at school nurses and their role in special education. An active School Nurse Organization of Minnesota (SNOM) Board member, SNOM and nurses statewide continue to rely on Ms. Smoot for expertise and support. Our congratulations to her on this national recognition.