UIS and Community Health Roundtable to host a webinar on the impact of COVID-19 on our youth

The University of Illinois Springfield Innovation Hub, UIS Center for State Policy and Leadership and the Community Health Roundtable will host a free public webinar titled “Impact of COVID-19 on our Youth: Learning, Playing & Socializing” at Noon Friday, Feb. 19 via Zoom.

This webinar will explore the impact of COVID-19 on the well-being of our children in Sangamon County. Some of the consequences may be readily apparent, while others will likely be uncovered in years to come. Please join our expert panelists as they reveal the social and emotional strain of COVID-19 on our youth and how schools and teachers have adapted to online and hybrid learning. Panelists will discuss emergent mitigation strategies taking place at home, in school and for extra-curricular activities and athletics, share monitoring procedures and discuss how decisions have been made.  Additionally, a student-athlete panelist will provide a personal account of his experience during COVID-19.

Panelists for the discussion include Dr. Sameer Vohra, chair of the Department of Population Science and Policy at the SIU School of Medicine and associate professor of pediatrics, medical humanities and law; Jennifer Gill, superintendent of Springfield School District 186; Craig Anderson, executive director of the Illinois High School Association (IHSA); and James Dent, a student-athlete at Springfield’s Southeast High School. The discussion will be moderated by Molly Lamb, executive director of the UIS Center of State Policy and Leadership.

In order to attend the event, please register online at go.uis.edu/COVIDwebinar. The Zoom link can be found on the registration page. 

For more information, contact Bruce Sommer at 217-899-3186 or bsomm2@uis.edu. Past UIS webinars can be found online at go.uis.edu/Webinars.