Our Staff

Tammi A. Tannura

Extension Educator, Community Health

University of Illinois Extension
Enterprise Center
2205 Enterprise Drive, Suite 501
Westchester, IL 60154
Phone: 708-449-4320
FAX: 708-492-1805
ttannura@illinois.edu

Tammi A. Tannura is a community health educator in Cook County. She has experience as a prevention specialist, health education teacher, and HIV/STD educator and counselor. Ms. Tannura has taught health education and community health courses at Elmhurst College, Northern Illinois University and Benedictine University. Her community health interests include breast cancer awareness and early detection, putting theory to practice, human sexuality, and creative teaching methods.

Tammi earned her bachelor of science degree in school health education from Western Illinois University and her MSEd in community health from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. She holds professional memberships with the Illinois Society for Public Health Education, the Illinois School Health Association, the Illinois Public Health Association, and Eta Sigma Gamma, the National Health Sciences Honorary.

Ms. Tannura has had two teaching ideas published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Health Education, and two community health programs published in Extension In Action. She champions the words of Ernest Boyer who once said, "No knowledge is more crucial than knowledge about health. Without it, no other life goal can be successfully achieved."

Program Offerings

Off to A Good Start (OTAGS)

Off to A Good Start addresses the physical, emotional and sexual development of youth in 5th through 8th grades. Topics include puberty, anatomy and physiology, and HIV education. Other content areas such as hygiene can be addressed as needed. The following programs are available through the Off to a Good Start series.

It's Just Puberty (Two 50-minute sessions)

  • Students identify body changes during puberty, and clarify misunderstandings about what kids experience during puberty.

Our Ins and Outs (Two 50-minute sessions)

  • Students learn about the male and female reproductive systems including the menstrual cycle.

HIV: In the Know (Two 50-minute sessions)

  • HIV myths and facts are addressed as well as how HIV affects the immune system.

Real Issues of a Sexual Kind (RISK)

RISK is a simulation activity and guided discussion that provides teens with a visual understanding of the costs associated with sexual behavior. The purpose of RISK is to impact the beliefs and attitudes teens have about sexual risk-taking.

U and I Aware of Breast Cancer (UIABC)

The U and I Aware of Breast Cancer program is a two-hour workshop that focuses on breast cancer awareness and early detection methods. The overall goal of the program is for participants to leave the program knowing how to properly conduct a breast self-exam using the MammaCare® method. This method teaches women to detect, not diagnose, changes in their own breast tissue during their breast self-exam. The MammaCare® method was developed with the support of the National Cancer Institute and is the recognized standard for performing and teaching breast examination.