A Patterson International Elementary student practices meditation during yoga class as part of a morning-long health fair.
By Jack Maher, Multimedia Specialist, and Devan Crean, Marketing & Communications Specialist, Jeffco Public Schools
Patterson International Elementary suspended the normal learning routine for one morning to focus on some lifelong lessons about mind and body.
“This is our 13th annual health fair. This is my third year here, and I just wanted to continue this tradition,” explained P.E. teacher Emily Ann Gerlach.
Presenters and volunteers from Metro State University and Red Rocks Community College came for the day to teach the Patterson students about health in different sessions.
“Kids actually have an opportunity to learn about health and understand more what health is. My favorite was the skin care…we got to make products for your skin,” said fifth-grader Paris Espinioza.
Along with skin care, students had the chance to learn about yoga, exercise, sun safety, the importance of sleep, how to make a balanced meal, and even got to make a healthy granola snack with Jeffco Public Schools Executive Chef Yuri Sanow.
“This fair is like a celebration of all the great things we do here as a healthy schools team. In P.E. and in the classrooms, we can’t touch on health as much as we would like. So, this is kind of a day to learn all about health and to celebrate what we do here at Patterson,” said Gerlach.
Gerlach also believes that teaching students how to be and stay healthy through fairs like this is important to their educational success.
“If you have a healthy kid, you have a happy kid. When you have a happy kid, you have a kid who can learn,” she said.
Watch the JPS-TV version of this story here.