Central High School’s students in the  Health Occupation Students of America (HOSA) Club have dedicated their community service project to engaging a specific group of senior citizens in Bridgeport.   Twenty students, who are planning to be future health professionals, recently completely the full Youth Health Service Corps (YHSC) training program.  They are completing research and development in order to create a fun, lively educational presentation for 25 members of the Aging With Grace program, housed at the St. Charles Urban Center on April 14th.

On March 17th, two student leaders – Jennifer Le and Uyen Hyuhn – attended the Aging With Grace weekly meeting, with with three Sacred Heart University Nursing students.  Jennifer and Uyen assisted with taking blood pressures and pulses as the Seniors arrived for breakfast.  As the day progressed, the five students developed a plan for an amazing day on April 14th.

On March 24th, all Aging With Grace members will bring in some of their favorite recipes.  Students will take these recipes, and guided by their research create a healthier version of the appetizer, entree, side dish or dessert!  After creating these new recipes, students will cook them and bring them to the program on April 14th.  On this day, students will present their research and describe the ways they changed the foods to create the healthier meals.  After this, all will engage in a rousing game of Healthy Bingo, as they enjoy the delicious meal prepared by the students!

Twenty Bassick students, who are part of AHEC’s Youth Health Service Corps, are campaigning for cancer patients.  Students have partnered with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to develop a marketing scheme to promote a coin drive to raise money for patients of all ages. 

Leading up to the drive, students will create posters, flyers, PSAs and other forms of promotion to demonstrate what they have learned about the diseases through research.  Throughout the 4 weeks of the drive, students will display their findings and call other students and community members to action by asking them to donate spare change.

All monies will be donated directly to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, to help patients get the care, love and attention they need to fight this battle.  (http://www.leukemia-lymphoma.org/all_chap)

Bunnell Students “Flood” Middle Schoolers with Health and Wellness Information

Thirty-two students from Bunnell High School took a wealth of knowledge and enthusiasm to Flood Middle School to share their insight on health and wellness for the body and mind. The Bunnell students are part of Melissa Signor’s Medical Careers class, as well as the Youth Health Service Corps (YHSC), run in conjunction with Southwestern Area Health Education Center. YHSC is a health careers recruitment program that engages high school students as leaders in meaningful service that addresses community health issues. After a rigorous volunteer training throughout the fall semester, the students researched various health topics and developed a learn and serve project to present at the middle school. Twelve different subject areas – including Oral Health, First Aid and Healthy Diet – were researched and became the focus of 5-minute mini presentations for Flood students.

On December 17^th, Bunnell students displayed their work at Flood. Over 300 middle schoolers came through the health fair stations in small groups, as Bunnell students delivered an abundance of information in the form of interactive games, skits and activities. The students showed great maturity and were professionally dressed, well-spoken and extremely engaging. Flood students asked many questions, actively participated at each station, and were genuinely intrigued by all of the information presented.

This opportunity not only gave the students a chance to investigate topics of interest and creatively develop a way to convey the information and its importance to younger students, it also gave them some new insight and appreciation for teachers. Maureen DiDomenico, Coordinator of Fine Arts, Health and Physical Education for the district, stated “This experience highlighted the preparation, patience, and dedication required to impact the learning of children. This revelation, combined with the skills they garnered by researching a topic, creating visuals to depict their findings and by presenting these findings, will serve them well in the future.” The success of the event, and its mutually beneficial results, inspired the scheduling of a second display during the spring semester to give the remainder of Flood students the exciting and fruitful experience.

Jessica Barragan receives Presidental Award from Bobbi Kulas, Health Careers Coordinator.

Being a member of the Youth Health Service Corps is not for everyone… it IS, however, for anyone with a little bit of heart, a little bit of empathy and a little bit of passion for helping others.  Once in a while, we find that student with more than just a little bit of those things, that makes us wonder who IS that girl… and where can we find more of her?

A member of YHSC, and HOSA (Health Occupation Students of America), Jessica Barragan – a junior at Stratford High School – has shown an unfathomable amount of passion and dedication to helping and inspiring others.   She is that girl and not only devotes much of her “free” time to volunteering in her community, but also takes the initiative to motivate other students and community members to do the same.  She is a true leader and role model by anyone’s standards.

On November 23, 2009, Jessica made her debut as the state Historian for Connecticut HOSA.  At a conference of 40-plus students and advisors, she gave some insight into her ongoing journey as a member of YHSC and what it means to her.

“Hello Everyone.  My name is Jessica Barragan, a junior at Stratford High School and proud member of the Southwestern Area Health Education Center’s Youth Health Service Corps.   It has been a pleasure this past year to work with YHSC in a number of volunteer opportunities presented at my school and in my community.  My journey has been long and hard, but it ultimately gave me the most precious gift: the opportunity to help people in order to make a significant difference in my community and in the lives of people less fortunate than myself.

It all began when I was a freshman in 2007.  One day after school, I noticed that my little brother, Andy, was struggling with homework.  After working with him one-on-one and helping him learn to read, he got much better and felt more confident walking in and out of school.  Then I thought to myself, ‘How can I help more kids like my brother?’  It occurred to me that I should start a tutoring program at his elementary school so I could tutor more kids who were struggling, and ultimately help them from falling behind in class. After contacting the town’s volunteer coordinator and recruiting interested high school students in Stratford, the program was started just weeks later at Andy’s school. I called it Smart Buddies. Corny, I know… but it worked.

Every week for one hour the kids who signed up would come after school, and with our help, read stories at their grade level and answer questions about what they read.  Each tutor had one or two kids to make for a more personal and effective tutoring session, because each kid needed special attention.  The next year, Smart Buddies was established at two more elementary schools in Stratford, because of its success, and the difference made in the students’ lives.

The following year, I joined the HOSA Chapter at my school, after learning they did many community service projects and worked closely with the organization, the Youth Health Service Corps.  These activities included volunteering at a nursing home, being a key part of a community Martin Luther King Day event, and many other exciting opportunities to help those in my community.  I enthusiastically continued tutoring with Smart Buddies every week, and at hospitals on the weekends.  This past summer, I also volunteered over 150 hours at a summer camp.

Ultimately, my 447 hours earned me the honor of the President’s Volunteer Service Award in the Gold Honor, and the title as Southwestern AHEC’s top volunteer.  Our YHSC was also honored as the number one branch in the country, with over 5,000 recorded volunteer hours.

All in all, I encourage YOU to go out there and volunteer whenever you can.  At the end of the day, you’ll feel proud that you contributed to your community and lent a hand to the people who need it most.  It is our responsibility, or better yet, our duty as citizens of the United States, to give up some time to make a difference.  It’s not only rewarding, but fun… and trust me, you won’t regret it.”