- Rocks.

Did you hear that guys?

He thinks you're all the Harry Rock started.

- Governor Mike DeWine stopped by the Fayetteville Perry Local school district in Brown County, Ohio to see teachers sit in on lessons with students and to witness the development of the Rocket Community Wellness Center, director of Curriculum and Instruction, Jennifer Space Mulli and superintendent Tim Collier.

Talk about how the community's needs aligned with the governor's vision.

- Two of his big focus pieces in his administration have been literacy and rural healthcare, like the, the absence of rural healthcare, especially in the Appalachian area.

We're a small rural area.

We don't have any type of health services, medical services in the township, you know, so where are they going?

- And thanks to the Appalachian Community Innovation Centers grant program, Fayetteville Perry is one of 11 school districts to receive resources to provide a new school-based health center.

According to the school board members, Rachel Ray and Mary Kay Atkins, this center will remove a major barrier to healthcare in the community.

I - Know in the past 26 years that I've been here, it's been very little opportunities for people to, to receive care here locally, especially specialized care, occupational therapy, physical therapy, any kind of counseling, and that you are driving an hour no matter what.

And that limits our families in our community as, as to what they can do and and to get the care that they need.

So - We've been without a physician now for at least 15 years or more.

So this has been a long time coming for our community.

- The Rocket Community Wellness Center won't be complete until the summer of 2026, but Brick by Brick wanted to know how effective these centers are.

So we looked at the school-based health centers in Cincinnati, retired medical director of school and Adolescent health.

Dr.

Marilyn Crumpton explained the unique history of the city providing primary care.

- In the beginning it was done through city funding, but in 2009, the city was able to get their healthcare approved as a federally qualified health center, which meant they were eligible for federal funding.

The research that had been in process about school-based health centers and improving education and health outcomes for children really fit well into that opportunity - Through a community-based effort and multiple health providers.

About 25 Cincinnati public schools have a school-based health center, are in the process of getting one or have transportation to get to the nearest location.

- When you've been to one school-based health center, you've been to one school-based health center model.

Because, - Because they're all different, - They fit the people they serve.

- One of the shining examples of this program can be seen with a K through 12 or public school in lower price.

Hill nurse practitioner, UBA Rockman served the school during the early stages of the center in 2006.

- So I came here, there was no setting, but the principal at that time, Craig Hockenberry, he put me in a little closet space in a room and gave my RN a little space to triage the patient before they come in.

And that's how I started here - Today with more funding, along with the collaboration of community groups and medical institutions, Oler now has a full functioning health wing with patient rooms for primary care.

They also have dental vision and more as a result of these services in the school, attendance has improved.

- We try to keep the kids in school so they don't miss school days and I get take care of anything, everything for them.

The biggest problem in this community, parents have a transportation issue and they, they cannot leave their job.

They don't have a transportation to come and pick up the kid and take the kid to somewhere else.

We have like a one stop shop here.

- Students and faculty alike depend on oiler health center, like Senior Magia Seymour, whose only primary care physician is Ms.

Del Aruba - With physicals and stuff.

I feel like they get it down like that.

You know, I like to say that our health clinic is very, very important to oiler.

You know, a lot of athletes basically use, come here to get their physicals and stuff like that.

- Or Anya Booker, a sophomore who has had multiple visits in Ms.

Del Aruba's office for general needs over the years.

- Having a health clinic in your school, it helped with a lot.

You don't gotta tra keep going to doctors and to hospitals.

You can just come here, come here for your checkups, come here for your physicals.

Everything you need is here.

- Even principal Kayla Brunswick has benefited from the clinic.

- I know I had strep throat one time and she also got me in very quickly to let me know that I did have strep throat.

So that was really nice too.

The, the community definitely trusts what we have here in the health clinics - And that trust is the foundation of these health centers.

Governor DeWine says Trust is the reason why schools serve as the right location to provide more medical access to students and the greater community.

- We're doing this in a number of schools around the state and it really just boils down to people need to have a trusted place to go and there's no more trusted place than their local school.

So putting it here in the school means school kids will have access to it, but also the whole community will have access.