Sandy Segal Honored With Renaming Of Health Center

Those of you who attended, or have children who attended Culver schools will recognize the name Sandy Segal. Sandy was the school nurse at the secondary sites in the District from 1974 until her retirement in 2005.

For more than 40 years she cared for the physical and emotional needs of students. The Culver City Youth Health Center located on the grounds of the Middle School and high school would not exist without Sandy. In recognition of her dedication to the well-being of our children, her ground breaking contributions to health education in Culver schools, and the fact that she spearheaded the creation of the Health Center, in December the School Board approved renaming the Culver City Youth Health Center in her honor.

Her family, through the Resnick Family Foundation, has made a sizable donation to the Friends of the Culver City Youth Health Center to help continue the outstanding work of the Center staff to keep students healthy physically and mentally.

Whenever Sandy found a need, she searched for a way to fill that need. Realizing a health education curriculum was needed she developed health and family life education classes. Noticing an increase in drug abuse among students in the upper grades and the difficulty parents had dealing with this issue, she partnered with leaders of PTSA and Parents Aware was created.

The meetings included school counselors, teachers, and psychologists offering ways to help their teenagers. A brochure was written for parents on how to recognize drug use in children. Other teenage concerns were also dealt with during these meetings. Again, finding a need, Sandy worked with teachers who were open to having teacher-led groups at lunch time for LGBT teens and friends. She also realized that having the vision, hearing, dental, and scoliosis screenings at the beginning of the school year instead of later would enable those students needing help to obtain it sooner and have more success in their classes during that school year.

In the '80s when our local county health center closed and many families lost their health care insurance, UCLA became interested in establishing a school-based health clinic and contacted the District because of its diversity.

As school nurse, Sandy recognized the need and how our students could benefit from such a facility. The Health Center opened in 1986, with the Friends of the Culver City Youth Health Center forming as the fund-raising arm of the Center in 1988. Since that time, thousands of Culver students with parent permission have received free healthcare at the Center.

The Health Center is operated by the Venice Family Clinic, with mental health services provided by the L.A. Child Development Center.

Sandy is extremely gratified to have the Health Center named for her and states, "I loved working with the staff and constantly looking for ways to help our students. I feel I am still helping by working with the annual school health screenings, and volunteering with a nationwide suicide prevention hotline. I am humbled by this honor."

The official date for the renaming of the Health Center is planned for the near future.