Fox students host wellness fair
By Kate Hermsen
photo by Kate Hermsen
Katie Merbach and Sarah Seegers compete for a Gold's Gym
membership at the April 23 wellness fair.
Students lined the hallways at UW-Fox for the activities of the second annual student-led wellness fair.
Students from biochemistry, physiology and various health and physical education courses set up 30 booths containing activities and information on various healthy living topics.
Some presentation topics included tattoo safety, breast cancer awareness and information on organic foods.
The presenters encouraged other students and UW-Fox visitors to participate in the activities they created.
At an artificial sweeteners stand students tasted cookies made with sugar substitutes. Participants tried to walk a straight line with beer goggles that put them over the legal limit at the binge drinking awareness booth.
The women’s health display allowed students to check their body mass index.
Students even competed in a push-up contest to win a free membership to Gold’s Gym.
Small groups from each class presented the information from different view points based on the goal of the class. Students were required to do research on the topic, present their findings at the fair and critique other classmates on their projects.
“I find it to be a worthwhile project with students providing positive feedback about their participation” physical education lecturer Michelle Pietrzak said.
In the past 10 years UW-Fox has held seven wellness fairs, but this is only the second time that it has been student led. So far students have been responding positively to the event.
“We found [the wellness fair] fun because it had something to do with us personally and we could show our peers…” sophomore Jessica Walsh said.
The Alcohol and Other Drug Education (AODE) program, which began at Fox in 1990, created the wellness fairs of the past.
Previously the program brought in community businesses to set up the booths and give presentations, but the AODE fairs consistently lacked student involvement.
“Instead of a business promoting their business, the students are here promoting education,” Wendy Seegers, a prevention specialist for the AODE program, said.
“You always learn more when you’re teaching someone else.” UW-Fox is the only campus that holds wellness fairs that are completely run by students.
“My guess is that this…wellness fair will be copied at other UW colleges around the state,” Seegers said.
The goal of the student based fair is to spread education in the most powerful way- by letting students learn through teaching and sharing with their peers.
The students and faculty alike see the positive impact of the student-led wellness fair and hope to see it return in the years to come.
“Hopefully this will be a tradition that continues,” Seegers said.