Thanks to a grant provided by the Center of Public Service Communication(CPSC) and National Library of Medicine (NLM) ChesMRC was able to provide a 5-week Summer Teen Health Research Program for Easton high school students.

The summer program had 6-8 English Language Learning (ELL) high school students participate and met Monday through Wednesday for 5-weeks. Health Outreach Coordinator, Michelle Hammond included several activities (all directly health related) that helped keep the kids engaged and excited. The 1st week focused on the central nervous system and included activities involving taking blood pressure, pulse and temperature readings. Week 2 focused on eyes/vision incorporating ESL training (I vs. Eye). Week 3 was the start of the computer lab where the kids learned how to navigate the National Institute of Health(NIH) website for health literacy; they also learned about the processes of farm to table foods. Week 4, Hammond introduced the kids to “Tox Town” which was a huge hit. Tox Town is a portal within NIH that has several games to teach all about environmental health. Week 5 included a review and final exam and all students passed with an 80% or above!

The purpose of the program is to teach students how to properly navigate and obtain correct health information through the NIH/NLM website which can be accessed through ChesMRC’s website here  At the same time, the program focused on English as a Second Language (ESL) training to help the student enhance their English speaking and writing skills.