This month we’re happy to spotlight a wonderful community collaboration between Healthy Lamoille Valley Youth Coalition and Steering Team member Fletcher Lewton and coalition member Stowe Middle and High School Nurse Elise Rozendaal. They created a series of bulletin boards highlighting important health information and sparking conversation and interest from students. We asked Elise for insights into the process.
Summary of your thought process behind your bulletin boards: Why are you doing them? How are you making them interactive and engaging?
Why? a few reasons! Kids sometimes have to spend an extended amount of time in the nurse’s office for a variety of reasons, so while I have their undivided attention, I thought I’d take advantage of their time and communicate important messages about their bodies and their health. Additionally, as my office is just inside the front doors, I hope if even one kid sees a relevant message on their way into school that it sticks with them – we care about them and their health from the minute they join us here at school.Walls are boring and signage that doesn’t change doesn’t get read. It would be a whole lot easier to hang a few permanent reminders to floss, get vaccines, avoid drugs, manage stress and then leave them up until I retire, and some might reach the right kids at the right time and have the intended impact! However, as an adult I notice and pay closer attention when signage changes throughout the building and thought this monthly board would be worthwhile to hopefully capture passing students’ attention.
I see education as such an important part of my job as an RN in the school! I have a really unique opportunity in my role to educate students about their bodies, minds, and health. Whether it is a quick explanation of how ibuprofen works, referencing an anatomy diagram to explain what is happening with their bodies, or handing them my stethoscope to hear what their blood sounds like while moving through their hearts, I feel a responsibility and take great joy in incorporating teaching into student nurse’s office visits whenever possible!
Get to Know a Nurse: It’s something I started based on the “if you can see it you can be it” philosophy, as well as a celebration of our different backgrounds and cultures. Nursing wasn’t a career I considered until after I’d earned my first degree and saw what it was to be a nurse; I’d love to reach younger students who might not have this on their radar in high school, and especially students who might not have a nurse they look up to who shares their culture or background
Interactive and Engaging? Well, I hope they are! As above, changing them up each month so the information and the visuals do not become stagnant. I add QR codes when possible to add resources they can review outside of this office, and to add more than I can share in an infographic. I add comics/cartoons that convey serious topics in a more fun way.
As a middle and high school nurse, I have a broad audience, so I try to combine information for students who read at a 4th grade-college reading level. It is a struggle to do so in a meaningful way, but, knowing we have students who do not speak English as their primary language, I try to ensure there are graphics that do not require English fluency, and try to add some information in our students’ native languages to draw them in and make them feel included and cared for.
Student Feedback: What were student responses?
This year I’ve been delighted to have a few pointed discussions about these boards – students have questions about the highlighted nurses (September was Hispanic heritage month, October was Disability Awareness, November is Native American heritage month), questions about lungs’ anatomy, physiology, and the effects of environment and lifestyle choices on these, and a few have been completely floored by the information from Fletcher about what is actually in a vape cartridge!
I don’t want to overstate what I am doing here – it is after all, the nurse’s office, and the majority of students don’t step foot in here for more than a minute or two if at all, so I am reaching a small audience, but for those who receive the message, it matters a lot to me.
Student Collaboration
I am so grateful to have Fletcher’s help! What a remarkable young man to contribute to his community in this way! I first heard about him from the middle schoolers whom he taught as part of the health curriculum last year, and first met this year after you put us in touch! I look forward to collaborating with him on any initiatives that interest him in promoting healthy living through my role as the school nurse!
Being Part of a Coalition: Any ways that being part of coalition is helping your process?
What an amazing chance encounter that speaks to the strength of and caring in our community – I never would have reached out out to HLV if we had not spoken at River Arts, and would have continued plugging along here without the benefits or knowledge I’ve gained via our collaboration! I am open to suggestions for future boards based on the monthly health spotlight, and am grateful for fresh signage that keeps the students interested and asking questions!
You’ll find a variety of silly and serious messages in this office and I am always on the quest to keep them age-appropriate and relevant. To have the power/knowledge/resources from HLV available goes a long way towards keeping the students engaged and interested!
