Promote health in 100 teens in Portland, Oregon

MIKE Program's summer is sizzling with support from individuals and Juan Young Trust:

• Meet Tigest Mequanint who is interning with MIKE Program before she heads off to the University of Oregon to begin her studies in medicine
• Juan Young Trust awards MIKE Program a grant to support efforts in steering teens towards healthier foods
• Sofia Murfitt, a MIKE Program mentor last school year, joins us as an intern this summer

MIKE Program is Great Fit for Pre-Med Student Tigest Mequanint

Tigest Mequanint is ready to begin the next step toward her dream of becoming a doctor. She is already gaining an impressive resume of skills and experiences, one of which is interning at MIKE Program through Worksystems’ SummerWorks program. Since she was a young student in Ethiopia, healthcare has been a focus for Tigest.

“I was very happy when Worksystems told me that I would be placed at MIKE Program,” said Tigest, who wanted something connect to the medical field for her first job. “It’s my first paying job and it’s a good one!”

Before she begins her undergraduate studies in biology this fall in Eugene, Tigest is helping MIKE Program with a variety of tasks—from data entry to organizing youth surveys to gain awareness of nonprofit efforts in healthcare and education. She is one of 530 young people who were placed in summer jobs through Worksystems’ SummerWorks program. The program is geared to help young people, 97 percent of whom are low-income and 63 percent of color, prepare for post-secondary education and career-ladder employment. The nonprofit organization, based in Portland, serves youth and adults throughout the city and in Multnomah and Washington Counties.

Her assignment with MIKE Program helps Tigest gain greater insight into the many possibilities in healthcare. She said she’s considering all sectors of the industry. “You can study many fields, here,” she said, who is currently interested in cancer research. “When I hear about cancer, ooh,” she sighs. “I wish there was something I could do to make it better.”

Tigest’s interest in medicine began at a young age, when her mother was a nursing assistant. She says no one in her family had a particular interest in medicine, but for Tigest it was the only career field she thought about. Her goals are to open a medical practice of her own, one day. (Catch our blog on our website link below for more on Tigest.)

Making a Healthy Choice

MIKE Program teens will receive an extra serving of support in making healthier food choices with recent funding from Juan Young Trust. The 2013-2014 grant award will help MIKE Program steer teens toward nutritious snacks and water as they learn about healthier lifestyles.

MIKE Program connects near-age mentors with teens in the classroom to prepare young people to be health leaders. The mentors, many of whom are health professions students, make a point of choosing healthy food options by bringing healthy snacks to the start of class each week. The teens get a chance to adapt to new foods or new combinations of nutritious options. The weekly activity helps the mentors build positive relationships with the teens while reinforcing healthier behaviors.

MIKE Program provides a comprehensive health curriculum with hands-on activities, which includes a practical health planner, shopping guide and field trips. The program culminates in a health leadership project which teams the teens in projects which they create to extend their healthy message to others. In previous years, the teens have taken their healthy messages to elementary schools, nonprofit organizations and created videos to get the word out.

The Juan Young Trust grant goes to support MIKE Program’s curriculum and supplemental materials and strengthen the efforts of the mentors with the teens in the classroom. Juan Young Trust, an Oregon charitable foundation, awards grants to nonprofit organizations in the state which promote health, education and welfare of children under 21 years old. 

Mentor Sofia Murfitt Returns to MIKE Program

Sofia Murfitt leads a busy life. In her final year at Portland State University in the Child and Family Studies program, Sofia sought to add to her academic load with an internship at MIKE Program this summer.

Her connection to MIKE Program began last January when she successfully applied to become a mentor at one of the program sites in North Portland. Now she's looking to build awareness and healthier lives with a new team of mentors as the organization gears up for the new academic year.

Sofia has always been interested in working with youth. She completed a practicum as a teaching assistant and tutored ESL youth during her high school days at Roosevelt High School. Since then, she's focused on how she can benefit youth, especially with their health. She hopes to work in a school-based healthcare environment in the future.

Until then, Sofia will provide support for MIKE Program's Kristin Dreves to train new mentors entering the program. Sofia also plans to return mentoring with MIKE Program in the coming year.

Links:

• MIKE Program website

Teens Teaching Teens with a “Kidney Karnival”

Convincing eighth graders that they can manage the health of their kidneys may be a hard sell for some. Such information is usually shrugged off until much later in life. But as MIKE Program youth have found, it’s important to share the information with teens who are beginning to establish life-long habits. So when 25 teens enrolled in MIKE Program’s afterschool program were planning their Health Leadership Project they knew just how to convey the message—with a “Kidney Karnival.”

Together with their health teacher, Therese Rice, and mentors Shannon Douglas, Christine Meyers and Kim Whitney, the teens developed an afternoon of instructional fun for their younger peers. The teens presented the information through interactive games to gently introduce important information that their younger peers would understand.

The eighth graders rotated between four separate stations which provided short demonstrations and games. The station themes included anatomy of a kidney, make-a-kidney, kidney vocabulary and kidney function. The youth used many of the same curriculum materials from which they learned about kidneys to help reinforce their newly-gained knowledge.

Teens Teaching Teens with a Health Fair

MIKE Program youth at Rosemary Anderson High School used a similar concept for their Health Leadership Project, yet on a much grander scale. They hosted a Health Fair for their entire school. Besides hosting multiple stations which focused on physical fitness, the fair offered an aerobic and blood pressure clinic, a cooking healthy station and a competitive tug-of-war.

Volunteers from OHSU monitored the aerobic and blood pressure clinics, providing students with an immediate response to checking vitals. Besides giving the young medical students an opportunity to work with the teens, the youth were exposed to a variety of health careers.

Rosemary Anderson High School alumnus Jasmyne Romero hosted a healthy food station, where she demonstrated how to make a healthy pasta dish. Now starting her professional career at Veritable Quandary, Romero shared her thoughts about cooking healthy with the teens, then served up a yummy example.

MIKE Program Advisory Board member Kim Filla, director of community programs at the school, along with MIKE Program site facilitators, Leigh Rappaport and Mike Napoli, who host MIKE Program in their Health/Leadership Academy and Science classes, supported the youth in hosting the annual event. Filla started the event off with a school-wide physical activity. “Research shows that youth need to do some type of exercise that raises their heart rate,” said Filla, who has 15 years as a physical fitness trainer. “Just by increasing exercise, you can relieve stress and depression.”

For the youth, like project coordinators Marz and Dashanique, the event helps shape leadership skills and bolsters self-confidence, while allowing the teens to share what they learned with others. The pair worked with their fellow classmates to organize the events, plan a healthy lunch menu, make posters and invite volunteers. The MIKE Program youth were cheered by their school mates before they led the school to lunch.

After rousing games of hoops, double-dutch, relays and push up competitions, the school converged on the gym floor for a series of tug-of-war challenges. Even the staff and teachers joined in the fun. The event culminated in a healthy burrito lunch.

Teens Teaching Teens Thrive with Teachers

David Mickola, health teacher at De La Salle North Catholic High School, was recognized recently for his outstanding work and partnership with MIKE Program. Mickola, who teaches freshman health and physical education at De La Salle North Catholic High School, has been an integral part of the success of the program at the school. He participates with great enthusiasm during the individual lesson plans, as well as offering his support for the teens’ Health Leadership Projects.

Now, finishing his fourth year with MIKE Program, Mickola also serves with the organization’s Education and Mentoring Committee. The committee is busy working on revisions to the curriculum and other support materials. Mickola even wrote an article about MIKE Program for his school’s newsletter earlier this year.

MIKE Program trumpets Mickola’s recognition and his dedication to improving the lives of young people! Partnerships with teachers like Mickola truly encourage healthier futures for teens.

Links:

• Visit MIKE Program's website for more about our work with youth.