Mary Pratt is the head of a boarding school whose students range in age from 14 to 20. Because the senior students are expected to set a good example for all students, regardless of their age, they must adhere to the school’s strict rules of conduct. Administrators believe that when young people are both learning and living on campus, all members of the school community have a responsibility to keep the campus safe and healthy.

No one understood this more than Mrs. Pratt, who took her role as head of school beyond the confines of her office in order to act as a mentor, role model, and, occasionally, as a surrogate parent to the school’s students. Of course, she expected no less of faculty and staff members. Since adopting a CDHP, the school has routinely made its focus on health and wellness clear.

One day, while rounding a corner to enter the school’s dining hall, Mrs. Pratt saw several of the kitchen staff smoking outside the door. A ban on smoking had been built into the rules of conduct, but never had the school considered applying this rule to anyone other than the students. Mrs. Pratt realized the school had made some tactical errors in its wellness strategy, and that the first step to getting back on track was to create a tobacco-free campus.

A tobacco-free campus meant that no one—including students, faculty members, staff, landscapers, cleaners, contractors, vendors, visitors, and service people—could smoke anywhere on school grounds. A wellness committee was formed to develop and oversee the school’s approach to a tobacco-free campus, and the committee established some success strategies:

• Tobacco awareness education was available for all faculty, staff, and students.
• The school sponsored smoking-cessation programs and workshops.
• The school offered guidance and counseling for faculty and staff in need of a nicotine-replacement product on a temporary basis.

One year later, the school is completely tobacco-free, and the entire community has benefited from its positive example.