Improving Health and Raising Spirits

FPB Students Bring Fun, Education, and Encouragement to Cleveland's Urban Youth

Posted 9/12/09

Top, from left: Ellen Robbins, Lauren Wilson, Minjin Kim, Cindy Meng, and Jessica Vida. Bottom, from left: Leslie Jones, Edna Araya, and Maureen Sweeney

For five weeks during the summer of 2009, 11 undergraduate students at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing (FPB) participated in the National Youth Sports Program (NYSP), which has been a part of Case Western Reserve University since 1970. Edna Araya, Erica Coppola, Emily Gardner, Leslie Jones, Minjin Kim, Cindy Meng, Ellen Robbins, Maureen Sweeney, Jessica Vida, Lauren Wilson, and Mike Zebrowski worked with program director Dennis L. Harris and nursing clinical instructor Ebony Hardee to energize 500 local children in sports such as swimming and football as well as to teach them about diabetes, asthma, healthy eating, and sexually transmitted diseases.

The FPB students chose to participate in NYSP as part of their required senior capstone experience, a semester-long service experience unique among nursing programs.

“Because FPB is committed to educating the nurses of tomorrow, the BSN senior capstone experience helps to support and nurture the students of today via experiential learning that provides them with hands-on experience,” Dr. Marilyn Lotas, director for FPB’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program, explains.

Mike Zebrowski coached football for the first half of camp.  

“I chose football because it’s a game that teaches positive virtues such as cooperation, teamwork, sacrifice, determination, and spirit,” he says.  

For the camp’s second half, Mike taught kids aged 10-16 about the obesity epidemic and what they could do to prevent it.

“NYSP gave me the chance to get to know some of the kids on a personal level, which I really enjoyed,” he says.  “If I had no other positive experiences throughout camp, I would look back and still consider my involvement worthwhile because I was able to reach several campers to show them that people care about them.”

Emily Gardner agrees. 

“It was the kids that kept us coming back every day,” she says. "The work was physically, mentally, and emotionally challenging, but certain kids made the day easier and made you smile. I loved my whole group because they each brought something unique."

When asked how her involvement in NYSP has helped her become a better nurse, Emily ticks down the qualities she wishes to embody:  coordination, organization, skills, knowledge, understanding, love, listening, teamwork, and perception.

 “NYSP taught me to incorporate these aspects into my time with the kids,” she says. “It also taught me that not every patient will have the best outcome, but nurses have to use every resource they have to make a difference.  At the camp, we know we made a difference in the knowledge and skills of the children.”

Lauren Wilson adds, “I felt like I became a role model for a lot of kids, and I gave them positive encouragement that they didn’t seem to be getting at home.” 

She recalls telling one girl who wanted to become a doctor that she was proud of her and that she could do it.

 “I’m not sure anyone else had ever said these things to her before,” Lauren says. “There is something invaluable about a young person with dreams and a passion. It is so important for them to be fostered, and it was my honor to help do that for her.”

Over the years, Case and FPB’s involvement in NYSP has been wildly successful, serving as a model program across the country—particularly in 2004 and 2005, when it was nominated as the number one NYSP program in the nation.

No wonder, then, that Mike feels that NYSP has helped him to better understand the community where he plans to practice as a full-time nurse.

“I now have an in-depth knowledge base about the demographics, attitudes, beliefs, and lifestyles of Cleveland,” he says. “This will help me cater my care better.”

“It’s an excellent program for Cleveland’s youth,” Emily says. “Although it helps to get kids active and involved in different sports, NYSP actually goes so much deeper than sports and health. We serve as positive role models for the kids, and the camp is the safest place for them to be.  They take away life lessons that they will carry with them for many years.”

Source: Case Western Reserve University

RELATED

• Read more about service learning at FPB

• Visit the BSN website