Body Walk in Bolivar County March 26, 2010

Another exciting trip for Body Walk. This week, Body Walk was in Bolivar County at I.T. Montgomery Elementary and West Bolivar Elementary.  Kindergarten through fifth grade toured the exhibit. Inside each station was a local high school student, doing his or her best to present the material to the excited groups. They did a lovely job.

Starting the tour at the top-the Brain station.

Laura Giaccaglia, interim county director, and Charlie Bush, Extension agent were on hand every step of the way to help make Body Walk a success in both locations.

Half way through, the Lung Station

The students loved walking into each new station and finding out information about how their organs work, how good food and exercise makes their organs healthy, which in turn makes them healthy. At the end, everyone was proud to wear their Body Walk sticker.

Sticker and Activity Book

Body Walk keeps right on rolling along. Next week, south Mississippi and then central Mississippi. Be Smart from the Inside Out!

Body Walk in George County: Rocky Creek/Lucedale March 22, 2010

The third week of March has been one of warm weather, cold weather, rain and sun. Body Walk travels no matter the weather. There is health news to be shared, and Body Walk is ready to share it.

Rocky Creek Elementary in George County has a great gym, wonderfully suited to the Body Walk. Body Walk is adaptable to all sorts of spaces as long as those spaces are wide, long, and tall enough. This gym had room to spare. An old wooden gym with a soaring ceiling, set up went very well inside such a grand location. Kimberly Smith, 3rd grade teacher and school coordinator for Body Walk did an excellent job securing volunteers. Everyone worked hard and in just over an hour, the exhibit was unloaded, set up, and ready to go.

Friday morning, MS Gulf Coast Community College nursing students arrived early to take their places in each station. They did a fantastic job from greeting each group, to presenting the material in a lively manner. At the end of the day, they helped with the take down. They were a fine group of volunteers.

MGCCC Nursing Students

Melissa Scott, FNP, and Mike Steede, County Director, both helped the two days go smoothly. Months ago, Melissa booked Body Walk for George county, and she then worked with Kimberly to make sure all the needed people were in place. The day of the event, the recipients of all this hard work were of course the students. Kindergarten through fifth grade toured the Body Walk. They loved it. I can always tell a Disney fan because a student thinks the brain station looks like Shrek, instead of just a big head.

Protect your brain!

The kids loved the teeth, the giant toothbrushes, the model of a clogged vs. clear artery and the colorful bones. Listening to all their correct answers in the pathway of life, it was obvious they got a lot out of the exhibit.

A heart needs clear arteries, not clogged.

George County was a lovely county to visit and as always, it was a treat to meet so many wonderful people. Where will Body Walk show up next?

Body Walk in Lauderdale County: Marion March 15, 2010

The second week of March, and there were a few actual days of sunshine. Mostly rain, but the sun shone down occasionally as the truck rolled along Mississippi highways.

Mural at Northeast Elementary in Marion MS

Marion MS is home to NorthEast Elementary and here, kindergarten through fourth grade toured the Body Walk. Teachers and students alike were amazed to see the whole exhibit set up in their gym. The students learned many new things and they came out smiling, ready to enjoy making healthy choices. Teaching children about proper food choices now is one way to limit childhood obesity in the future.

Each room was staffed by one or two Allied Health students from the local high school. They were led by their teacher, Jan Trawick. The students were there Thursday and Friday. They loved interacting with the elementary aged students. Since Allied Health students are interested in the health field, this was a great chance for them to practice sharing healthy information with a receptive audience.

Lean meat choices are part of a healthy diet.

Brushing the Teeth

Juice and milk are good drink choices.

Robin Hull, school nurse and head of the Medicaid Wellness Clinic was the School Coordinator for the Body Walk. She worked with Josephine Tate and Jerry Burton on scheduling the exhibit. She scheduled the teachers to tour, and arranged for the volunteers. She did a great job preparing the school for a successful program.  She had wonderful help from Sheri Shelby and Tammy Yates.

The students had a wonderful time leaning how to be smart from the inside out. When they finished, they got an activity book and a sticker.

Body Walk in Panola County: Pope March 8, 2010

The second half of the first week of March found Body Walk in Panola county, at Pope School. Here, many extension agents worked together to ensure a smooth Body Walk experience for the students. Ginger Rodgers, Brandon Alberson, Shelly Benton, Shanna Taylor, Mari Alice Earnest, Sherry Radcliff, and Judd Gentry all were on hand.

Dixie Pouge is the Health Coordinator for South Panola schools. She did an excellent job, from getting the adult volunteers, to asking Allied Health students to participate, to working on the class schedules for each grade. Just over 300 kindergarten through fifth grade students got to tour at Pope.

The brain station. Good health starts in your mind.

The adult volunteers and Allied Health students did a great job presenting the material in each room. The children learned a variety of information, starting at the head and winding their way through the body. They learned how to make good food, and good exercise choices, as well as why those choices are important.

Wash your hands. Wear sunscreen.

At the end, each student was thrilled to get a Body Walk sticker to wear home.

Sticker and Activity Book

Body Walk in Monroe County: Becker

The weather is warming up, and Body Walk keeps rolling along. The first half of the first week, Body Walk was in Monroe county at the Advanced Learning Center in Becker. Here, just over 500 third and fourth grade students from four different schools toured the exhibit.

Randall Nevins took the lead and everything went smoothly. Allied Health students served as presenters in the stations both days. They did a fantastic job. The younger students who came through learned many interesting body facts that they had not heard before. Other information, such as don’t smoke, was a message they had heard. However, most had never seen a replica of a black lung before, and that made an impression on them.

Smoking is bad, and will make Windy sad.

In the mouth station, the students saw how much sugar is in one soft drink.  In the heart station, they saw how much fat is in a cheeseburger, and in the muscle station, they saw just how big one pound of fat is in the human body. After all that, they realized how good water is for the body, and why food choices are so very important.

Good food choices make a brain healthy and happy.

The students ended the tour with the Pathway to Life where they reviewed everything they had just seen. They took home a sticker, an activity book, and a Body Walk bookmark.

Body Walk Lowndes County: Columbus March 1, 2010

Sale Elementary, an International Studies Magnet School, was the latest host for Body Walk.

Sale Elementary curtain above the stage.

Here we set up in a cafetorium, a multipurpose room that serves meals and entertainment.

It was nicely appropriate because Body Walk is an entertaining way to learn how to be healthy.

Sharon Patrick is the Extension agent who scheduled body walk for Sale Elementary.  Teachers from the school helped set up the exhibit. They followed directions like the professionals they are and the entire exhibit was set up in short order. Master gardeners, Extension agents, 4-H agents, the Boys and Girls Club director, and other adult volunteers served as presenters in each station.

Body Walk would not be possible without the volunteers, and one necessary item needed for happy volunteers is plenty of water while they are teaching. All the talking they do dries the throat, and since one of the main lessons of Body Walk is that soda is a poor beverage choice, water is essential to have on hand for the presenters to drink. Baptist Memorial Hospital donated the water in Lowndes.

Water-The best beverage choice.

As each child came out of the exhibit, they received their sticker. Their teacher received the workbooks, to be used later, to reinforce all the lessons they learned inside the exhibit. When quizzed as to their favorite part, the mouth won as it always does. Nothing beats the coolness of giant teeth.

Body Walk in Clay County: West Point

The latest stop for Body Walk was in Clay County. Here, Body Walk saw students from Southside Elementary, Churchill Elementary, and West Clay Elementary. Seeing over 1000 students meant a full three days were needed. It takes a lot of volunteers to see so many students, and to make Body Walk a success, and this trip was no exception. Allied Health students were presenters the first day, lead by their teacher, Rachel Grissom-Young. Extension personnel, 4-H volunteers, and 4-H High School students served as presenters on the second and third day.

Gay McBrayer, coach at Southside was the school coordinator for Body Walk and she did an excellent job. She worked closely with Fran Brock, the Extension agent who scheduled Body Walk to come to Clay county. Francis Page entertained the children who were waiting to enter Body Walk by leading them in a fun exercise routine.

Part of the fun of Body Walk is the variety of experience. While the scripts in each station are the same, the students who come through are all different. Also, experiences at each location vary. There was no shortage of interesting experiences in Clay county. On the first day, there was a district wide crisis practice. Firetrucks, police cars, EMT’s and ambulances converged on the school to practice what they would do in the event of a real emergency.The children could not shelter in the gym, so all the students, in their sock feet, walked to the main school to shelter in a secure location. The kids thought it was amazing and they loved seeing all the firefighters and policemen. Combined with touring the Body Walk, it was one of the best school days ever.

The second day was just as exciting, but not quite as fun. On day two, Mississippi conducted a state wide tornado drill. The drill occurred just after students from West Clay elementary unloaded from their bus and got their shoes off. So, they all walked from the gym into the main school building so they would be safe until the ‘tornado’ danger passed.

Despite these exciting interruptions, each child got to enjoy the full Body Walk tour due to the wonderful team work of the Extension agents and volunteers.  The third day, the children just toured the exhibit, with no added emergency practices of any sort. The smiles on their faces said Body Walk was plenty of excitement all on its own.