The 2019 recipient of the Youth Partner Outreach Award is Erin Keating. Keating will receive this award at the MFHS 48th Annual Meeting & Community Luncheon for her help in developing the MFHS SafeSpace health resource center within the Scranton School District. Her drive to get the program up and running, as well as her continued support and dedication to the health resource center until her departure from the school district, are what make her the ideal choice for the 2019 Youth Partner Outreach Award.
Dr. Keating received her BSED in English from West Chester University. She then went on to receive her M.S Ed. from Wilkes University along with her doctorate degree. Her doctoral dissertation focused on School-Based Health Centers and indicators in academic achievement, which ultimately helped Keating in her development of the Scranton health resource center. Working in the Scranton School District as the Chief of Leadership Development and School Operations, Keating helped to set the foundation for the now thriving health resource center. This center offers an opportunity for teens to ask questions to trusted adults, an opportunity to learn more about making healthy life choices, and an opportunity to receive referrals for health care as needed. The Safe Space Health Resource Center educators offer confidential counseling resources to those who may need their assistance as well as an engaging delivery method of said information.
Before her time in Scranton, Dr. Keating worked within the Wyoming Valley West School District. While there, she served as a middle school teacher, an elementary school  principal, and a high school principal. She is currently the Superintendent of the Old Forge School District. Keating has been involved in many school-based civic organizations within both Luzerne and Lackawanna Counties. In these organizations, she has often been the voice of public education and the needs of students. She has completed two terms on the Board of Directors for the Pennsylvania Association of Student Assistance Professional as the Vice President. Today, she is a member of the Board of Trustees for Luzerne County Community College and an adjunct instructor in the Education Department at King’s College. She is also a member of Delta Kappa Gamma International Society for Key Women Educators.
Thank you Erin Keating for all that you have done, and continue to do, as a youth educator, and congratulations on the award!