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Innovative Teaching Methods Go Global
Alice Aycock Poe Center for Health Education teams up with Community Connections Program
Raleigh, NC (December 9, 2010) – Alice Aycock Poe Center for Health Education will host a group of professionals from Tatarstan, Russia on December 14 as part of the United States Agency for International Development’s Community Connections program. The group is made up of representatives from non-governmental, governmental, and media sectors involved in promoting healthy lifestyles. Their 22-day U.S. visit is aimed at learning about a broad range of successful healthy lifestyle campaigns.
During their visit to the Poe Center, the group will hear about various health education programs the center provides for children and youth promoting positive lifestyle choices. They will observe a 4th grade class program called “Food for Thought,” learning about the food pyramid, how media influences food choices, body types and healthy diets. They will also hear about other educational methods the Poe Center uses, as well as tour the Poe Center facility which is visited by over 42,000 youth annually.
“Since opening in 1991, the Poe Center’s mission has been to educate and empower our youth to improve health behaviors,” stated Ann Rollins, Executive Director of the Alice Aycock Poe Center for Health Education. “We’ve been successfully using innovative teaching theaters, exhibits and off-site programs, and hope that the group from Tatarstan will be able to integrate various aspects of our novel methods within their own creative health education endeavors in Russia.”
Healthy lifestyles have been a struggle for those in Tatarstan. The Republic of Tatarstan named 2009 as the year of Sport and Healthy Lifestyles as a campaign to strengthen public health, healthy lifestyles and physical activity among youth. However, the campaign was not strong enough. Tatarstan still struggles with HIV/AIDS, drug abuse and a negative population growth. The Community Connections program will cover these issues so the professionals will have the inspiration and skills to initiate effective healthy lifestyle campaigns upon their return to Russia.
About Alice Aycock Poe Center for Health Education: The Poe Center is a nonprofit organization dedicated to positively impacting the lives of North Carolina youth through health education. Since opening in Raleigh in 1991, the Poe Center has educated more than 850,000 participants from 74 counties using innovative teaching theaters, exhibits and offsite programs. For additional information or to schedule a visit, go to www.poehealth.org.