Two groups of fifth and sixth graders from the Harvard Kent School enjoyed field trips to the MGH Institute the past two Fridays to learn important and helpful information from ABSN students on topics such as the dangers of vaping, healthy sleep habits, and stress management. The School of Nursing has partnered with the local elementary school since 2018 on the annual health fair, only pausing during COVID.

“The Harvard Kent students take a field trip to the IHP and engage in health education at a variety of interactive stations developed by our nursing students,” said Director of the Ruth Sleeper Nursing Center for Clinical Education and Wellness Kathy Sabo. “While at each station HK students learn simple strategies to promote their health and prevent disease. They also experience firsthand the role of the nurse. Our nursing students learn how to deliver important health education in a short period of time. Nursing students need to prioritize what information to share, tailor the education to fifth and sixth graders, and make it fun. It is always a well-received event by all.”

The students were assigned different topics and could apply for grants to purchase items that helped convey the information. Jillian Howard and Christina Leonard teamed up to tell the kids about heat waves and gave the children water bottles.

“We worked together on different ways to show the kids how to stay safe during a heat wave, and what you can do,” said Leonard. “We had a Zoom meeting last week to get together and pitch our idea. We've been working on it the past week and then today, we had our day.”

The nursing student team of Rebecca Magee, Fjori Dylia, Kyndol Thompson, and Bruna Sgardioligimore worked on water safety, breaking the topic into safety at the beach, pool, on a boat, and anywhere people might encounter water. Despite how close to the ocean most of the children live, they were surprised at how few of the kids knew about rip currents.

“The majority don't really know about rip currents unless they themselves have gotten caught in one or they know somebody that has,” said Dylia.

They may not have known about rip tides before the health fair, but they definitely understood it by the end. When the group wrapped up by asking what they learned, most of the children answered: rip tides.