Self-care at center of school health fair

Schools try to prepare students for life beyond the walls of academia and sometimes that requires more than classroom education.

Last Tuesday, high school and middle school staff held a health fair that centered around not only physical and mental health but financial health and planning for the future.

Separate sessions were held for the high school and the middle school and each was brimming with students actively going to various tables, asking questions, playing games and competing with classmates. Bob Davis, the assistant principal for both schools, said the information being shared "was a little bit better for the high schoolers," but was equally beneficial for both groups, giving them something to think about.

"The kids are more interested in the prizes and goodies, but maybe it's planting seeds for later," said Megan Powell, new accounts representative for First Bank, one of six businesses and organizations set up at the fair. She and operations officer Rebecca Smith were showing kids the benefits of saving money and how that can be useful in the future.

"We're showing them how easy it is if they redirect it from purchasing coffee every day how they would have (more than $2,000) in savings at the end of the year," Smith said. "But you have to put it into savings and not redirect it and spend it on something else."

It's a lesson that wasn't lost on sixth grader Silje Morse, 11, who has her own financial goals.

"One of the things they talked about was saving up to by a car for yourself," Silje said. "That's one of the things I'm actually saving up to do. I'm going to start babysitting soon when I'm old enough in a few months. I'm going to save up my money so once I'm 16 I can get a car."

Addy Esco, the schools' counselor, organized the event and helmed a table to give students resources on how to care for themselves in many aspects of life.

"It's everything from planning for their careers to dealing with stress, setting goals for themselves and practicing hygiene; all the things kids don't do very well," Esco said. "I've had a lot of kids take the resources (handout), so hopefully they'll take them and read them."

Representatives from SEARHC provided kids resources on coping skills, teen alcohol use and online safety, and two Wrangell nonprofits helped too: Hannah's Place handed out additional financial literacy information. BRAVE representatives spoke to students about healthy relationships.

Parks and Recreation Director Kate Thomas stepped away from the table to get the students active by holding various physical challenges, such as seeing how long kids could hold the plank position, an exercise that relies on core abdominal strength. About a dozen middle school students lined up for the challenge. Some of the participants dropped out not long after starting. Some held on for a minute or more.

As time went on, it dwindled down to two students, with Ben Hauser - a middle school wrestler - beating everyone with a time of eight minutes and 13 seconds.

Thomas announced that the push-up challenge would begin shortly after.

Along with the other resources, Sharon Moore, a vocational rehabilitation counsel with the Alaska Department of Labor, was on hand to help students looking for summer jobs, on-the-job training or to see what career paths might appeal to them.

"A lot of times, in a smaller town, there may not be the opportunity for employers to hire, and we can actually pay wages so that students can gain jobs skills or pick something that's in their wheelhouse if they're close to graduating to see if it's something they want to do," Moore said.

Students were able to have a card signed at each table they visited. The cards were then entered into a drawing for 12 prizes sponsored by the student-run BASE (Building A Supportive Environment) organization.