Community Connections
Learning to take blood pressure
Agent Name: Cynthia Wilkinson
Email: cyn.wilkinson@msstate.edu
County: Franklin County
Name of School or Club: Franklin County High School Allied Health
Date of the Event: January 2018
Students, Maddie Hughey and Akeria Green are practicing the techniques of blood pressure checks. Liza Jordan is observing. We learned the appropriate way to take blood pressure and errors to check for false readings. These students will be offering blood pressure checks to teachers at safety day in March.
Winston County Self Help-Saving Rural America Conference
Agent Name: Tracy Gregory
Email: tracy.gregory@msstate.edu
County: Winston County
Name of School or Club: Jr. Master Wellness Volunteers
Date of the Event: January 2018
Jr. Master Wellness Volunteers from Winston County had the opportunity to present educational information about obesity and sugary drinks and the importance of hand washing to their peers at the Winston County Self Help Saving Rural America Conference. The theme for the conference was Cultivating Diversity, Producing Changes for the Future Generation. One hundred ninety seniors and juniors from Louisville High School attended the conference.
CHA Red Ribbon Day/Annual Fall Festival
Agent Name: Sharon Patrick
Email: ssp40@msstate.edu
County: Lowndes County
Name of School or Club: Columbus Housing Authority and Columbus Boys and Girls Club
Date of the Event: October 2017
Advocates for a healthier Mississippi, the Jr. Master Wellness Volunteers were eager to serve their new community by educating youth and parents about the harmful effects of drugs during the Columbus Housing Authority Red Ribbon Day and providing blood pressure checks for parents at the Columbus Boys and Girls Club Annual Fall Festival.
Breast Cancer Awareness
Agent Name: Sharon Patrick
Email: ssp40@msstate.edu
County: Lowndes County
Name of School or Club: The Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science
Date of Event: October 2017
“Lowndes County is grateful to have Jr Master Wellness Volunteers from other counties promoting healthy living in our community,” stated Mississippi State University Extension Agent Sharon Patrick. Aurelia Caine (Bolivar County), Daniel Leetran (Lawrence County) and Carey William (Holmes County) are students at the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science in Columbus, MS. The volunteers promoted breast cancer awareness for their peers, teachers, and community.
JMWV wins 3rd at 4-H Club Congress
Agent Name: Laura B. Robertson
Email: lmb803@msstate.edu
County: Tate County
Name of School or Club: Senatobia-Tate County Career Technical Center
Date of Event: June 2017
Natalie Gill, a Jr. Master Wellness Volunteer student at the Senatobia-Tate County Career Technical Center, placed 3rd at the 2017 4-H Club Congress in the Health Visual Presentation Contest. Her talk, entitled, "Germs are not for sharing" was delivered in a train-the-trainer format, teaching childcare providers how to teach preschoolers the proper way to wash their hands and ways to reduce the spread of germs. Natalie was inspired by a Hand-washing Presentation that she gave during the school year in her health science class for the visual contest.
Health Presentations
Agent Name: Laura B. Robertson
Email: lmb803@msstate.edu
County: Tate County
Name of School or Club: Senatobia-Tate County Career Technical Center
Date of Event: October 2017
To prepare for their roles as Jr. Master Wellness volunteers, Senatobia-Tate County Career Technical Center health science students presented health information to their classmates. Each student was assigned a health topic and presented information to other students so that they can be equipped to serve as a JMWV. Topics ranged from Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, Stress Management, and Healthy Eating. Youth were encouraged to do some one on one educating to their family and friends on these topics as part of their service projects.
5 Star City Fest Health Stations
Agent Name: Laura B. Robertson
Email: lmb803@msstate.edu
County: Tate County
Name of School or Club: Senatobia-Tate County Career Technical Center
Date of Event: May 2017
The Jr. Master Wellness Volunteers at the Senatobia-Tate County Career Technical Center presented nine healthy body kid stations at the Senatobia Five Star City Festival in May 2017. The students were inspired by the Body Walk that they experienced as elementary students and wanted to recreate that experience for kids at the festival. Working in teams, students designed booths about nine different body organs, including the lungs, brain, heart, and intestines. They educated the children participants about the organ and ways to keep their bodies healthy. Over 100 youth and adults experienced the health stations.
Tate County Health Fair
Agent Name: Laura B. Robertson
Email: lmb803@msstate.edu
County: Tate County
Name of School or Club: Senatobia-Tate County Career Technical Center
Date of Event: October 2017
Healthy messages don’t have to be boring! The Jr. Master Wellness Volunteers from the Senatobia-Tate County Career Technical Center stepped up big at the annual Tate County health fair to spread health messages that were both fun and engaging. Students showed health fair participants ways to get moving by demonstrating fitness activities on the Wii gaming system. Also, JMWVs spread awareness of sugar shockers found in beverages by encouraging guests to try a fruit flavored LOL water sample (Lemon, Orange, and Lime slices added to water). The volunteers also did some heavy lifting during clean up too!
Trick or Treating using Healthy Decision-Making Skills
Email: rocheryl.ware@msstate.edu
County: Hinds County
Name of School or Club: Sumner Hill Junior High in Clinton, MS
Date of Event: October 2017
Halloween kicked off more than the possibility of dental visits and diabetic flare-ups. One new Hinds County 4H Junior Master Wellness Volunteer used the day to raise awareness with her family, friends and other community youth about the importance of healthy eating, good oral health, and diabetes. With just one treat per child allowed, Rosalyn got some smiles from gracious parents, but some not-so-happy trick-or-treaters. Dressed as self-named Catarina, and covered in 4H clovers, this health advocate humorously thinks that if a cat can have nine lives, why can’t humans expand their lifespan by living and eating healthier?
Mammogram and Hypertension Clinic
Agent Name: Rocheryl Ware
Email: rocheryl.ware@msstate.edu
County: Hinds
Name of School or Club: Clinton High School Career Complex
Date of Event: March 2017
Natalie Hampton, JMWV in Hinds County participated in the Mammogram and Hypertension Clinic held for staff at the Women’s FCC in Yazoo City in the spring. Natalie provided blood pressure checks for over 100 staff members and distributed information on hypertension with oversight from clinical staff. She devoted three days of service to this project during her spring break earning 27 community service hours. Natalie was featured with directors of the event in the U.S. Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Prisons HIGHLIGHTS Newsletter, May 8, 2017.
Sharing Health Messages with Younger Peers
Agent Name: Romona Edge
Email: Romona.o.edge@msstate.edu
County: Itawamba
Name of School or Club: Itawamba Career and Technical Center
Date of Event: May 2016
Junior Master Wellness Volunteers from Itawamba Career and Technical Center health science class in Itawamba County created posters as visual aids to share with children in younger grades about various health topics. Posters created included topics on diabetes, what is stress, oral health practices, tobacco use, autism awareness, eating healthy, and handwashing. Paring junior and senior level peers is an example of peer-to-peer education and is shown to be most effective when raising awareness and encouraging desired behaviors.
Certificate Celebration
Agent Name: Ann Twiner
Email: Ann.twiner@msstate.edu
County: Sunflower
Name of School or Club: Gentry Career and Technical Center
Date of Event: May 2016
Jameisha Suggs, shared her most memorable experience as a Junior Master Wellness Volunteer with state health specialist, Dr. David Buys as she reflected on the health messages she presented to a family member related to hypertension and diabetes. She decided to put her words into action! She started getting up earlier in the morning to prepare healthy snacks and a lunch so the family member would not stop and purchase unhealthy food when traveling each day. This simple, and effective action plan helped to significantly reduce blood pressure and blood glucose numbers, and even resulted in lowering medicines.
Publications
News
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- October is Children’s Health Month, but Mississippi’s Junior Master Wellness Volunteers are dedicated year-round to “promoting healthy living through community connections” in the state.
The Junior Master Wellness Volunteer program, or JrMWV, is a community health education and volunteer leader training program offered through the Mississippi State University Extension Service 4-H program in partnership with the University of Mississippi Medical Center and the UMMC/Myrlie Evers-Williams Institute.
Ann Sansing, MSU Extension community health coordinator, said this is the latest program developed in a five-year partnership with the medical center around delivery of the Community Health Advocate curriculum, which began there under the leadership of Dr. Rick deShazo.
RAYMOND, Miss. -- Rocheryl Ware sees members of her 4-H Junior Master Wellness Volunteer group as catalysts that can help change Mississippi's health landscape.
Success Stories
If you’d like to volunteer more in the New Year, Extension has some wonderful opportunities. We have volunteer organizations designed for all ages and interests, including gardening, healthcare, natural resources and youth development.
Here’s a brief description of four of our...
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