This week marked the bittersweet ending of my PHS experience, as I delivered the last lesson of the PHS curriculum to my advisory class. This lesson served mostly as a review of our past nine weeks together.

Captain Jet and I decided to dress up according to our names this week, at the request of one of our students: Tyler. My PHS name is Coach Shark, so I dressed in all black and wore a black shark fin on my head for the entirety of the lesson. Bridget, dubbed "Captain Jet," made paper planes and taped them to herself. All of the students loved our outfits, and we had a blast making and wearing them!

For our brain break this week we played "Simon Says." We combined part of our lesson with our brain break, and had a segment where we said "Simon Says write down a health goal that you will try to reach in the future!" The students wrote down their goals on a large sheet of poster paper in the back of the classroom.

The bulk of the lesson involved "Healthy Schools Jeopardy," where the class was split up into teams and they were to come up with answers to PHS-related questions we had, such as "what is the predominant vitamin in spinach?" or "about how many calories on average should a 12-year old be consuming?" (the answers are iron and 1800-2200 respectively). The teams competed against each other for the most correct answers to a questions. We had four teams of about 7 people, and all of them had their own answer sheets. After asking a question, Captain Jet and I would give the teams one minute to come up with their answers. The teams were: Undecided, Barbarians, Lemons, and Chimpanzees (they were self-chosen by the students).

This week was not so much as a lesson as it was a review, so there are no explicit health professionals that would deal with this week's lesson. However, the questions we asked during Jeopardy alluded to different health professionals. For example, a dietitian or nutritionist would observe caloric requirements for their patient in order to form a healthy meal plan. Cardiologists would be concerned with fat intake to ensure that cholesterol is not building up in someone's arteries.

When we told our students we would not be returning next week, they were really sad and some of them even made us goodbye gifts! Captain Jet and I received a ninja star from Tyler and a paper plane from Alana and Elizabeth. Honestly, I am pretty sad that I had to say my goodbyes this week. I'm hoping we can possibly have a PHS revisit sometime at the end of the year!

Overall, my PHS experience has been incredibly rewarding. Interacting with such an expressive set of students and giving them lesson has been one of the most gratifying experiences I've been through in high school. I feel honored to have equipped these students with habits that will help them lead long, healthy lives and to have played a part in their health decisions. Teaching is very hard, but incredibly rewarding. I am hoping to continue serving as a Health Ambassador well into college.

PHS Week 10: Project Healthy Schools Finale!

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This week was me and Bridget's second-to-last week of teaching. During this lesson, we taught our students the importance of fat; it is a negatively-connotated term in our society, but not all fats are bad, and we actually need them to function.

We started off discussing the difference between healthy and unhealthy fats. We brainstormed examples of foods with healthy fats, such as olive oil, nuts and seeds, and avocado. These foods contain unsaturated fats. We advised the class to limit their intake of saturated fats, and to eliminate trans fats from their diet entirely.

We then extended our newfound knowledge of fats to practical situations, such as recognizing the fat in fast foods such as McDonalds. Prior to the lesson, Captain Jet and I had written up two different meals on the board, each meal consisting of three components. During the lesson, we split up the class into six groups, one for each meal component, and had them write down the total fat and total calories for their assigned food using a nutrition chart. In the curriculum, each group of students was supposed to be given a tub of Crisco and a plate. Having looked at the fat content of their meal, they were supposed to spoon the corresponding amount of Crisco into their plate to visualize the fat. However, we were really short on time during this lesson, so I modeled one of the foods in front of the class with the Crisco.

After the Crisco model, we discussed the importance of our arteries and how we could take care of them. Using a model showing the progression of plaque buildup on arterial walls, we explained how consuming excessive amounts of fat is linked with raising cholesterol levels, which in turn causes plaque buildup and decreases blood flow to parts of the body. The artery model consisted of four tubes, the first of which was completely smooth and clean, and the following tubes being progressively more occluded with plaques.

Overall, this lesson was very dense with information and probably our most chaotic lesson yet; we had to cut out many parts from the lesson just to make sure we covered all of the important parts. The lesson was designed to go overtime, which may have made the time period seem that much shorter.

There are many medical professions involved with the connection between fat and arterial health. A complication that can develop from plaque buildup is atherosclerosis, which can lead to stroke, heart attack, or cause many other kinds of cardiovascular disease. A cardiologist is responsible for assessing the health of the heart and its vessels, and if there is excessive plaque buildup in arterial walls, they may need to suggest treatment options such as a stent or coronary bypass surgery. A General Practitioner or family physician may also suggest a limit in fat intake, especially if there is a history of heart disease, high cholesterol, and cardiovascular disease in the family.

PHS Week 9: Facts on Fat

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Advertisements are all around us. We see them on billboards, in magazines, social media, television, and more. Many of them aim to pitch fast food to the public; it is not uncommon to see a giant, juicy Big Mac on a billboard as you're driving down a highway. Advertisements are also heavily immersed in between television shows. Many children watch T.V., so our lesson today was aimed at recognizing the techniques fast food corporations might use to persuade an audience to buy their product.

Before we began our lesson, we had a really fun brain break planned out for our students: the Cha-Cha Slide! We played the track and danced along with the kids. They loved it!

We began the lesson by discussing what an advertisement was and coming up with examples of places we could find them. We talked about what makes advertisements so powerful. Jingles, mascots, and logos are just a few examples; many students hummed the "ba-da-pa-pa-pa, I'm lovin' it," jingle that McDonalds has been using for years.

We had examples of a few advertisements, which we analyzed with our students. For example, in one of the advertisements, Michael Jordan was endorsing Gatorade. We discussed how celebrities and athletes are often used as figures for a particular product because a large portion of the public admires them, and try to follow their steps. If someone sees Michael Jordan, an extremely accomplished athlete, support a sports drink, they will presume that because he is an expert, Gatorade must be a good choice.

The second half of the lesson was comprised of a student activity: they were to design their own advertisements based on one of the five PHS goals! They could make either a song, drawing, or skit which would depict a product that fit one of these goals:

1. Eat more fruits and vegetables
2. Choose less sugary food and beverages
3. Eat less fast and fatty food
4. Be active every day
5. Spend less time in front of a screen

Captain Jet and I circled the room to see what groups were coming up with and helping them with any questions. I was delighted to see the creativity of each student; they were all working together with their partners to come up with excellent ideas. In the last few minutes of the class period, we had three groups present. The first two were skits. They were very well thought out and fun to watch! They wrote out scripts and made drawing to accompany their advertisement. The third was a billboard advertisement for lowfat yogurt in whic both presented in a radio commentary voice. Overall, this lesson was very fun in exploring everyone's creative side!

General practitioners will often suggest to their patients to limit screen time, especially when their health is not at an optimal level and if they are overweight. Limiting screen time curbs cravings, and also encourages physical activity, both of which improve the body's health as a whole.

PHS Week 8: Assessing Advertising

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This week, Captain Jet and I taught our students the importance of breakfast. Everyone's day should begin with a healthy, balanced breakfast that includes all of the MyPlate groups we had discussed in the past. We started off doing our best dance moves for our brain break, and then we began our lesson.

We began talking about the word "breakfast," and what it actually means. We split the word into its components: "break" and "fast," and discussed how we fast overnight. Breakfast is a way of breaking the fast we participated in since the time we stopped eating last night and the time we woke up this morning.

We then started asking our students why breakfast was important. Many of them answered with things like, "It makes me feel more awake," or "I focus better in class." They all brought up excellent points. Unfortunately, many students skip breakfast due to many reasons: running out of time, not thinking it's important, etc. Having talked about why breakfast is an extremely important part of the day, we brainstormed some ways we could overcome these obstacles to eating breakfast. Some students said they would begin to wake up a little earlier, or maybe prepare the components of their breakfast the night before.

After we explained the importance of breakfast, we began to educate our students as to what constitutes a good breakfast. Prior to the lesson, we had made a chart for three different breakfast meal plans, each of which had a checkbox for whole grains, fruits and vegetables, dairy, and no added fats or sugars. Each meal plan had to get at least three check marks to be considered a healthy meal. We gave each student a handout to follow along with a chart, which they filled in as we analyzed each meal on the board. We looked at a healthy American breakfast, an unhealthy American breakfast, and a Japanese breakfast.

Dietitians and nutritionists analyze their patient's daily intake, including breakfast. Choosing a healthy breakfast is instrumental in leading a healthy and active day. Nutritionists make sure a breakfast includes a healthy balance of each type of nutrient.

The students also wrote down their favorite breakfast on their sheet and discussed it with their partner. Many of our students consciously chose healthy breakfast options.

Each week I feel like I learn more about my students. We have a very active and special relationship with them, and have reached a point where they are very comfortable speaking with us and participating in our lessons. Many of them love knowing our input on a lesson too: during this lesson, one of my students asked me, "what is your favorite breakfast food?" I was completely taken aback, but ecstatic that my students valued any opinions I had to share with them. We discussed our favorite breakfast smoothies!

My PHS experience is approaching its end, but the lessons I have learned and will be learning from this opportunity will never be forgotten.

PHS Week 7: Jump Start Your Day

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This week Captain Jet and I carried out a really fun and hand-on lesson with our students. We made rainbow salad!

We started off the lesson by talking about vitamins and minerals; we discussed why we needed these nutrients and from where we could get them. We mentioned Vitamins A and C and iron, and filled in a chart on the board that outlined the benefits of each nutrient and how they could be procured. We also discussed phytochemicals, natural chemicals in plants that help our bodies "phyt" off disease. We made sure to emphasize a need of eating a variety of fruits and vegetable in order to get as many different phytochemicals as possible.

Most of our lesson involved making the actual rainbow salad. In order to prep for this lesson, Bridget and I arrived to Forsythe Middle School very early to make sure all of our materials were in order. Having sanitized all the workspaces, we split up the class into multiple groups, each of which was responsible for a different component of the salad (one group made the dressing, another cut up apples and red peppers, etc.). This part of the lesson had the potential to become quite chaotic, but Bridget and I worked quite well together to prevent any mishaps and make sure everything went smoothly. After all of the groups had finished their salad component, we added all the ingredients into a large bag, where the students could see the colors of the rainbow being mixed together.

After mixing the salad, we served it to each student. To my surprise, many of them actually really liked it; a few even came asking for seconds and thirds! It was nice to have our students enjoy a very healthy meal, with many different colors and many different phytochemicals.

The students had A LOT of fun this week. Performing hands-on activities with them is always more exciting than plain lectures, and they feel the same way! At this point in PHS, Captain Jet and I have become very familiar with all of the students. It really helps to know all of their names, because we are able to build stronger relationships and communicate with everyone more easily.

Food scientists are often responsible for analyzing nutrient content in foods, which Dietitians can use to make healthy food plans for their patients. Many people are unaware of their vitamin and mineral needs, and these needs often become neglected and lead to health complications. Having taught our students a way they can obtain their essential vitamins and minerals, they can carry on these habits for life in order to benefit their body as much as possible.

PHS Week 6: Rainbow Salad

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Captain Jet and I kicked off the fifth week of PHS with our lesson: Get the Beat! We focused on educating our 6th graders about the heart; what it does for the body, and how to take care of it.

We started off by asking our students what they learned from last week, and all of them recalled our 'Sugar Shock' lesson. Many of them told us about how they applied our lesson to their own experiences; one student told us, "my favorite candy has 212 calories per piece!" It was really exciting to learn that they were retaining and applying the habits we had taught them.

In this week's lesson, we talked about how the heart is a muscle, and like all muscles, it needs to be worked out to get stronger. Our main activity involved designing a hypothesis and conducting an experiment, in which we performed different exercises and tested our heart rates after those exercises. First, we tested our resting heart rate, which we did while sitting down. Next, we walked around the classroom for one minute, and tested our pulse. For the final activity, we performed jumping jacks, and tested our heart rate afterwards. Once we had finished our experiment, we plotted the points on a graph and analyzed our data. We found that the data points for resting heart rate were the lowest, and jumping jacks were the highest.

We discussed the concept of anaerobic activity, and how activities that make one's heart rate speed up for more than 10 minutes are good for strengthening one's heart.

After our activity, we demonstrated the difference between fat and muscle using models. We had five pounds of muscle, and five pounds of fat. The fat looked like a congealed blob of yellow matter, while the muscle was lean, red and thin. The students noticed this right away, and were simultaneously awed and disgusted at the difference between the two models. We discussed how muscle is more dense and lean than fat, which is why fat takes up more space than muscle.

This lesson was very activity-oriented, so I didn't really use my flashcards as much as I thought I would; a lot of the lesson went by ear. As usual, we had to improvise: cutting things, shortening bits, rearranging activities here and there. Bridget and I make a good team, so we work well together and our lessons flow more smoothly every week.

Physical therapists need to know how their patient's muscles work, and what they can do to stimulate activity to promote a healthy growth of these muscles. Personal trainers also work on reducing fat while building up muscle. An abundance of fat can lead to many complications: type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and hypertension. General practitioners often refer patients with an excessive BMI to a nutritionist or a trainer to help them adjust the levels of fat and muscle in their body.

PHS Week 5: Get the Beat!

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This week was me and Captain Jet's fourth week serving as health ambassadors. We taught the lesson: 'Better Beverages' to our class of 6th graders. In this lesson, we discussed what added sugars were and why they're something we should stay away from. A big reason for the obesity crisis in America is due to the massive amount of sugar in our diet; most people consume more than their body's natural threshold for carbohydrates.

At the beginning of the lesson, we had the kids yell out their favorite drinks, eight of which I wrote on the board. We then had a volunteer come up and circle the beverages they thought were healthy. After discussing each of the choices on the list, we passed out handouts of specific foods' nutrition labels (Gatorade, Oreos, Butterfinger, Cereal) to the students and discussed how to read nutrition labels. We allowed about five minutes for the students to discuss the label with their group. We had informed the students of different ways to spot added sugar, such as looking for words ending in "-ose" and looking for ingredients like high fructose corn syrup. The students pored over their labels and broke them down into the sugars, servings, and calories.

Captain Jet held up containers full of the amount of sugar in certain beverages to show the students the amount of added sugar one drink can contain. Many of them gazed awestruck at the half-full container of white sugar that represented a bottle of Gatorade.

This lesson was jam-packed with information, and because many of the students were keen on discussing their ideas, we had to cut out some parts of the lesson. Time was a huge issue.

At the end of the lesson, we gave the students a healthier, tasty beverage option by mixing 100% cranberry juice with carbonated water. The students loved it!

It is vital to choose "better beverages" because we can be consuming loads of empty calories without even realizing it, and causing damage to our bodies. Dietitians and nutritionists would stress limiting sugary foods and drinks because of the adverse effects added sugars can have on our body in the form of fat and possibly cholesterol.

PHS Week 4: Better Beverages

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