The AASM Foundation is proud to announce that Start School Later is the recipient of the 2021 Sleep Champion Award. Start School Later is a coalition of health professionals, sleep scientists, educators, parents, students, and other concerned citizens dedicated to increasing public awareness about the relationship between sleep and school hours and to ensuring school start times take into account the health, safety, education, and equity of students.
The organization was co-founded in 2011 by Maribel Cabrera Ibrahim, MSEM, and Terra Ziporyn Snider, PhD, two women who wanted to enact positive change in their community based on the published research on school start times. Today, many of the organization’s national and local volunteers are informed parents who work in the health, mental health, or educational fields.
Start School Later has paved the way for students to have healthy sleep hours by creating various educational resources for students, parents, educators and school administrators, hosting conferences to facilitate efforts to improve adolescent health outcomes and advocating for legislation to ensure evidence-based school start times are implemented.
“The AASM Foundation congratulates Start School Later for championing change in school hours so adolescents can achieve healthy sleep and thrive,” said AASM Foundation President Dr. Anita Shelgikar. “Coalitions like Start School Later play a vital role in raising awareness about the growing body of evidence that later school start times enhance teen safety, performance and overall well-being.”
Start School Later received $5,000 and a complimentary registration for a representative to attend Virtual SLEEP 2021. Visit startschoollater.net and learn more about how to get involved in their local chapters.
