What Not to Eat

About: Melinda Crockom is the current Education and Public Outreach Director for the State of Texas Poison Control Center. She oversees the educational programs and resources for the entire state and helps with the training of the Poison Hotline operators. She also works for the Commission on State Emergency Communications as their Public Education Director and has headed several 911 awareness campaigns.

Why Chosen: Initially I planned to ask the regional education director who monitored Harris County to be my mentor. However, after spending several class days researching, I was unable to find someone with that title at the regional poison center in UTMB Galveston so I contacted Mrs. Crockom. Although she doesn’t have as specific information and experience in the region, her position as a poison center education director and her extensive experience with public education in general have been incredibly helpful in my project.

How She Has Helped: As mentioned above, Mrs. Crockom has aided my project by providing information on poison safety programs within Texas as well as with public education programs in general. Besides providing insight into a field I was new to she also introduced me to other regional education directors who could provide advice and reviewed my product to make sure it was correct and appropriate for my audience. More recently she agreed to help make my product available through the Texas Poison Center website so that it can be used in the future and continue to have a positive effect on Texas children.