Teens learn how to stay healthy and safe at Mount’s Teen Space fair

By Owen Boss

GARDNER — Mount Wachusett Community College’s Molly Bish Institute for Child Health and Safety presented a free health and safety exposition for local teens and parents Wednesday at the college, aimed at both teens and parents, who attended the expo to learn ways to lead healthier lives and also provided information about important safety issues. The Teen Space program included a resource fair and a variety of breakout sessions led by health, nutrition, and law enforcement professionals. Topics targeted at teens attending the event included “Breaking Boundaries on Violence, Teen Dating Violence and Its Effect on Health,” “Eating Healthy and Living Well,” and “Body Image and Mind.” For parents, the event showcased “Internet Safety,” “Parents Guide to Feeding Well,” and a dialogue on communicating effectively with teenagers. Bill Lefrancois, a professor of anatomy and physiology and human biology at the college, said the event serves as an important learning tool for both teens and parents. “The teens that attend this event are going to be exposed to information that they may not have been aware of,” said Mr. Lefrancois. “They see and hear what we have to say, and the aim of the program is that they are stimulated to go home and ask their parents questions about these topics.” Mr. Lefrancois offered extra credit to the students in his anatomy and physiology class for agreeing to participate in the program and setting up booths on various health and safety issues. He said that there were 16 different booths members of his class arranged, and that he was pleased with all of the projects. Allison Pineo and Amy DiGillo, both freshmen at the college, and members of Mr. Lefrancois’ anatomy and physiology class, set up a booth devoted to educating teens attending about maintaining a health body image. Although they took part in the event to gain extra credit, they were still required to record 20 hours of preparation to acquire booth space. “We had to show that we had spent 15 hours learning about our given topic,” said Ms. DiGillo, “and then to complete the required 20 hours we have to spend five hours here educating local teens.” There were also many local organizations that volunteered at the event including District Attorney Joseph Early’s office, Hannaford Bros. Co., Communities for Care, the Partnership for Latino Success, the Cleghorn Neighborhood Center, the Rape Crisis Center and the Montachusett Opportunity Council. oboss@thegardnernews.com

Appeared on Page 1 on 4/17/2008 (Vol. 206 No. 92)