San Diego State’s Alliance for Healthy Children is a club with the goal to teach elementary and middle school children about preventive health measures. The members serve schools and after-school programs in the San Diego area, giving presentations to classrooms or school assemblies that often incorporate interactive activities.
Alexandra French, biology senior and club co-president, said club volunteers recently gave a presentation on mental health to students at Hillsdale Middle School in El Cajon.
“We incorporated nutrition and exercise and we taught them stress-relieving techniques,” French said. “We gave them stress balls, we meditated and we had a discussion on what they should do in a stressful situation. More, we taught the importance of and what it means to have good mental health.”
French started the club two years ago with biology graduate and club co-President Hazel Salunga. She said they were both looking for something different than the other health-oriented organizations on campus, most of which were focused on getting pre-medical students into graduate school.
“We wanted to be part of some community service commitment that let us do a little bit more, rather than one where people volunteer here and there,” French said. “We just wanted to be more actively involved in the community.”
Salunga said they also wanted to collaborate with students who were interested in pursuing a career in health and share what they learned in the classroom with kids.
“We wanted to delve into the side where we could actually work with students and work with other pre-health-profession-oriented students,” Salunga said.
So they set to work. They initially planned their organization as a non-profit, but eventually decided to make it into a club. Later, they contacted local schools and recruited members. The club now has about 30 active members and many more who volunteer with the organization, and they present at six local school and after-school programs.
“For members in particular, I hope that they learn to work in an environment cohesively with other pre-health professionals,” Salunga said. “I also hope they get to interact with the children and that they learn to teach tomorrow’s physicians.”
French and Salunga hope the club will help both the children and those who volunteer with the club.
“I hope the kids will learn from us and retain something,” French said. “We do teach a lot, but if they remember just one thing, I think that’s huge.”
French said the Alliance for Healthy Children is important because kids don’t know as much about their health as one might expect them to. Due to budget cuts, kids might not be spending enough time engaging in outdoor activities or being taught enough about health.
Salunga added that the education system is straying away from health as they form a stricter curriculum.
“I think as society strays away from health and nutrition in the classroom, organizations like ours will preserve and maintain health education,” she said.
