Health Exploration Station

| HES Receives it's 100,000th Visitor! |HES Celebrates 5th Birthday | Health Educator Receives Award | Public Days

Parent Education Programs

Sex Education 101: What Every Parent Needs to Know
Drug Education 101: What Every Parent Needs to Know

Scrubbadubbaveggiethinkercising School Assembly Programs

The St. Joseph Mercy Health Exploration Station now offers school assembly programs.

These high-energy, interactive, game show style assemblies use humor, audience participation and powerful visual aids to help students understand the importance of healthy choices. Students learn:

Grades K - 2

Why we need five different types of food each day
What healthy snacks are
What exercise is and why our body needs it
Proper hand washing techniques
The importance of sleep

Grades 3 - 5

What the six food groups are
Why we need foods from different food groups each day
How to keep exercise fun
Proper hand washing techniques
The body's need for sleep
The harmful effects of smoking on the body

The two programs are typically ran back-to-back (either in the morning or afternoon), so an entire school can experience this energizing activity in one school day.

Availability is Limited. Reserve a date for your school TODAY!. 734-398-7518

Download a copy of our school assembly flier here.

HES Receives it's 100,000 Visitor!

Cheers were deafening as 84 classmates cheered when Edward Ramos was announced The 100,000th visitor at the St. Joseph Mercy Health Exploration Station on Friday May 13th. The students, from Field Elementary School in Canton braved the cool weather and cloudy skies to ride their bicycles 2-1/2 miles to celebrate this community milestone.

After parking their bicycles and removing their helmets, the students filed into the St. Joseph Mercy building one by one and were counted as they entered the community room. Edward was shocked when The 100,000th Visitor turned out to be him. His classmates blew horns, waved balloons, clapped and cheered. Edward came up to the front of the room, where he received a one-of-a-kind Health Exploration Station t-shirt, with THE 100,000th VISITOR printed on the back. “I was so surprised, I didn’t expect it to be me,” said Edward. Edward then had the honor of being the first person to sign the St. Joseph Mercy Health Exploration Station 100,000th Visitor banner. When the event is over the banner will hang inside the Health Exploration Station Exhibit gallery for years to come.

“We are excited to be celebrating this momentous occasion,” said Cheryl Phillips, coordinator of the St. Joseph Mercy Health Exploration Station. “The Health Exploration Station is such a wonderful resource for teachers. Reaching this milestone demonstrates that this resource is utilized and valued by the community.”

After the initial celebration the students were taken into the Health Exploration Station to receive the program “How Your Body Works.” During the program, they used a giant spinning wheel to match up body system names with the organs that match the system. They also reviewed the importance of keeping all systems healthy. One demonstration included real pig lungs that inflated. The first set demonstrated healthy lungs and another set demonstrated the damage that smoking can do the respiratory system. “This is an effective demonstration,” noted Gretchen Nachazel, the health educator teaching the program. “To actually see the damage that cigarette smoke does to lungs, has an impact on the participants.” Students then explored in the Exhibit gallery where they crawled through a giant digestive system, walked into a huge rib cage and tested their muscle endurance.

The celebration didn’t end there. After the program the St. Joseph Mercy Health Exploration Station treated the students to lunch. Joining in the celebration were Senator Bruce Patterson, Superintendent James Ryan, Director of Instruction Barb Church, and representatives from Senator Carl Levin and Representative Thaddeus McCotter’s offices. During lunch Edward received a plaque congratulating him on being the 100,000th visitor, he also a certificate of recognition from Representative McCotter’s office. In addition, Kurt Tyszkiewicz, principal of Field Elementary School and Rick Plecha, the Field Elementary teacher who organized the fieldtrip were presented with a plaque congratulating Field Elementary School on bringing The 100,000th Visitor to the St. Joseph Mercy Health Exploration Station.

“An effective education is based on partnerships,” said teacher Rick Plecha, “Parent and school are critical. But for a school to deliver meaningful instruction, students must see the relevance between classroom learning and their experiences outside the classroom. The educational services, at the Health Exploration Station, allow students the opportunity to make connections from their classroom learning to the outside world. And it allows them to validate their classroom learning in a completely new context. The Canton Educational Community is fortunate to have the St. Joseph Mercy Health Exploration Station as a learning resource in our community”.

And with that, students jumped back on their bicycles and pedaled furiously to get back to school before the rain. And in terms of next year, “we’ll definitely be back” said Rick.

Health Exploration Station Celebrates 5th Birthday

The St. Joseph Mercy Health Exploration Station will be celebrating is 5th birthday on January 27th, 2005. The public is welcomed to come for birthday cake, a tour of the exhibit gallery and a free gift. Hours of the party are 10am -8pm. No reservations are needed.

Health Educator Receives Award

Health Educator Receives National Award Congratulations goes to Cheryl McInerney, Coordinator of the St. Joseph Mercy Health Exploration Station, received the 2004 Outstanding Health Educator Award from the National Association of Health Education Centers (NAHEC) at the NAHEC annual conference September 1, 2004.

The award is given annually to recognize and encourage outstanding accomplishments in health education. Nominees are judged six criteria:

Their genuine love for health education
Their continued professional growth
Their ability to relate well to students
Their ability to use a variety of instructional techniques
Their ability to be well prepared and well-informed
And their consistent encouraging of good decision-making with regard to health education

"This is quite an honor," says Cheryl McInerney. "There were such outstanding nominees. Teaching children about health is such a privilege. I love what I do and am honored by this award."

The nomination came from Cheryl's co-worker, Gretchen Nachazel, "Cheryl deserves this award, she is an awesome educator." Nominations included a narrative, news clippings, photographs, letters from child participants and evaluations from program participants.

About the National Association of Health Education Centers (NAHEC)

NAHEC is the national association and network of nonprofit health education centers (HECs) and of other organizations that support children's health education and provide products and services to HECs. NAHEC member centers reached over 3 million children, teachers, and parents in 2003. HECs use life-size exhibits, advanced audio-visual technology, and specialized, interactive instructional techniques not generally found in conventional classrooms. The curriculum is designed to support school-mandated areas of study. With programs like "Blood & Guts," Hummers outfitted with removable organs, and playgrounds modeled after anatomy parts, you'll see why former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett Koop proclaimed that health education centers "put pizzazz in prevention."

For more information about NAHEC, please visit nahec.org.

Public Days

The St. Joseph Mercy Health Exploration Station Exhibit Gallery is open the 4th Thursday of every month for individuals and families 10am-6pm. Cost is $1/child and $2/adult. You can expect to spend 40-60 minutes for the tour. No reservations are necessary, and an adult must accompany anyone under the age of 18.