Aragon’s physical education and health teachers hosted the Health and Wellness Fair on March 1 during first through fifth period in the gym. Organizations around the San Mateo High School Union District (SMUHSD), informed students about important, relevant topics, such as drug awareness and the proper Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) technique.
SMUHSD Health Coordinator Barbara Beaumont organizes the Health and Wellness Fair every other year to raise awareness for the many forms of health and how students can use outside resources to maintain a better lifestyle.
“The main reason is to bring all the different aspects of Health that we teach in the health class and that are in the outside world, like all the guest speakers that we have,” Beaumont said. “[Guest Speakers] are able to come in and present more information to all the students. It’s available for all freshmen and all sophomores because we have them in our health and our PE classes.”
Students can benefit from guest speakers who offer resources and knowledge that can apply to their lives.
“It’s important for students to learn about different programs that can help them in the future. It’s better to be safe than sorry,” said freshman Anthony Surkov.
Many previous traditions returned to this year’s fair, such as making glitter tubes, a tool intended to help calm students.
“[Glitter Tubes] are just one of the more engaging and fun things that can be an activity that students can do and really engage in,” said Wellness Counselor Max Bernstein. “[It] has a positive wellness benefit and connection of having something that has both the visual sensation and the moving sensation that can help calm the body.”
Gilbert Gammad, Youth Program Coordinator of San Mateo County Pride Center, informed students about LGBTQ+ resources for those who feel that they need any assistance or support.
“[We are the] only place that provides intergenerational services for LGBTQ people, so I’m here [to] let people know about the programs that we have especially for youth,” Gammad said. “We have a lot of resources around mental health [and] lots of resources for folks to build friend networks outside of the schools and their own support systems.”
Volunteer Erica Lyons, who represented the Via Heart Project, brought CPR training gear and instructed students how to properly perform CPR on someone.
“It’s really an important skill that everybody needs to know and use. The younger you start that skill and knowing the skill, the more likely you are … able to help save someone,” Lyons said.
The Lions Club brought a blood testing station, where students would be able to test the amount of iron being produced in their blood. Dr. Eleanor Britter who represented the Lions Club at the fair hoped their table would encourage students to think about their long-term health.
“Our purpose is to raise the awareness about good health in blood pressure, especially glucose and cholesterol blood oxygen to know how much oxygen is in your body,” Britter said. “What we want to do is let them know that at this age, they can take control and live a long life.”
According to Bernstein, making healthy decisions at a young age is important for preventing health issues in the future.
“You don’t worry so much about how healthy you’re eating at a young age because your body can just handle it and deals with it,” Bernstein said. “This highlights that maybe they’ll learn something about their bodies [that will] help them later on, but hopefully we’ll be teaching them for later when their bodies aren’t as adept at dealing with these things that maybe they’ll know how to prevent it.”
