We were thrilled to welcome senior nursing students from Nazareth University to our elementary school last week to lead a handful of lessons for our students on everything from the benefits of handwashing to the function of different organs. 

The lessons were organized by Whitney Jackson, a Clinical Assistant Professor in Nursing at Nazareth, and led by 19 of her community health in a multicultural society students. 

“I partnered with Principal Christie DeWald and the team at Avon to pick the health topics and facilitate the schedule with each classroom,” said Jackson, an Avon alum and parent of three current Avon students. “We were able to visit every classroom in the elementary school over the course of last week, teaching about dental health in pre-k, handwashing in kindergarten, body awareness in 1st and 2nd grade and healthy eating in 3rd and 4th grade.” 

The visits were made possible by a community-engaged grant awarded by Nazareth’s Community Engagement Office. 

“The program brings together Nazareth faculty, students and community partners as part of a course at the university,” Jackson explained. “The underlying goal in this case was to give my nursing students a chance to create health education materials and go out into the community to share it as a way of promoting healthy lifestyles from a young age.” 

Jackson said she’s thrilled with how things went down at Avon Elementary and is hoping to continue with the program in the future, perhaps as soon as next fall.

Many thanks to Professor Jackson and her nursing students for stopping by last week!