Chicago School Students Stretch Their Mental Muscles During National Public Health WeekThe world is often clearer through the eyes of a child. Over 100 seventh and eighth grade students from two Chicago schools had an opportunity to focus that clarity on public health when they visited the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health on Thursday, April 2, for the National Public Health Week competitions.
The Urban Health and Diversity Program at the UIC SPH hosted the activities, which were aimed at teaching children the importance of public health. The day’s events allowed them to express some of what they had learned in the classroom in a friendly competition at the college.
“It’s never too early to gain an understanding of the things that affect your health,” said Paul Brandt-Rauf, dean of the UIC SPH. “The thought processes and behavior patterns about public health that are established in our children will generally stay with them their whole lives and can be brought home to influence their parents too.”
The students’ quick thinking skills were put to the test, as they competed for cash prizes. Each student was given 40 minutes to create a poster drawing on the theme ‘what does public health mean to you?’ They created illustrations that focused onplaygrounds, healthy foods, exercise and mental health.
Thalia Hernandezand Alejandra Lemuf, students at Orozco Community Academy, together drew a poster about the types of foods they thought were the healthiest. Hernandez said she felt this topic wascentral to public health and something everyone should learn.
“It’s important, because you don’t want to be in the hospital or sick all the time,” she said.
In the auditorium, a Jeopardy challenge, hosted by UIC SPH grad student, Imani Lewis, rounded out the morning before lunch and awards were presented.
Maria Economou, a teacher atOrozco Community Academy, said the theme of public health complemented the personal health curriculum she created for her seventhgraders.
“I’m teaching them how to read food labels,” she said. “They bring [to class] something they would normally eat, and together we research about their food. The whole big picture objective is that they’ll think the next time they’re at the grocery store.”
Asyá Renáe, an eighth-grader at Robert A. Black Magnet Elementary School, said she enjoys the learning experience outside the classroom.
“Last year, we went to a hospital for a field trip,” she said.“We’ve been interested ever since.”
When UHDP began hosting Chicago’s elementary and middle school students in 1999, as part of the Pipeline to Health Professions Initiative, the goal has been to increase students’ awareness of public health career options. The program targets the West and South sides of Chicago, which represent the highest percentage of health shortage areas in the state of Illinois.
Dorothy Washington-Calvin, assistant director of UHDP, said it’s important to keep these school programs alive for these children.
“Our pipeline programs provide the encouragement and motivation that students need to be successful,” she said. “These students are the foundation for building a morediverse public health workforce, thereby reducing health disparities.”
Brandt-Raufagreed. “Having the SPH host children from the local schools during National Public Health Week is so important. It not only teaches them about public health, but it also does it in a way that shows them learning can be fun. Healthy, well-educated children are our most important hope for our future.”
-- Danielle Desjardins and Tina M. Daniel
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