Taking the red, white and black quilt in her hands, Jackson senior Sophia Shaheen studied its hem. Red stitching along the black edge of the love knot design created phrases like low carb, eat healthy and exercise.

The quilt, which was designed and sewn by Jackson High School students, was donated to the American Heart Association as part of a service. outreach project the students developed and implemented with the help of the Community Health Foundation. .

Each year, for the past five years, the Community Health Foundation (CHF) gives area schools each a $2,000 check to design and implement a community service project in their communities. The money is used by the students to get a service project off the ground.

"Our mission," said Katherine Catazaro-Perry, chairperson of the CHF board, "is to help the community with health and welfare. We want to make a difference in the community."

'Students from across Western Stark County had differing ideas on exactly how to shape the health and welfare of the community.

At Jackson, the students worked in con­junction with the American Heart Association and held a special after school carnival and dance on Valentine's Day to promote heart healthy living.

"It was a fluke," student advisor Jane Bridenstein said. "The gym just happened to be available on Valentine's Day."

The games and activities were put together by the school's athletes and encouraged the student body to take an active role in shaping their heart-healthy lifestyles.

The program was done in addition to the quilting project. .

"Everything just fell together," Shaheen added. "(The dance) was the place to be that day."

Washington High School students used their $2,000 to promote healthy lifestyles among senior citizens. The student$ served a special, healthy meal to 1,00 Senior citizens and treated them to a showing of the school musical "Les Miserables."

"Just to help out and contribute to the community was fun," senior Kara DiLoreto, 17, said of the WHS project.

At Perry High School, students implemented a healthy-living after-school program at Pfeiffer Middle School. According to seniors Amanda Lewis and Alyssa White, the program met twice a week and gave the kids a chance to learn healthy snack recipes, games and

"Our main goal," Lewis said, "was .to have the kids achieve a (healthy lifestyle) goal they had set at the beginning."

National Crowns for Perry Grads
By Lori Williams
The Independent
July 4, 2006

A trio of newly-graduated I Perry High students ended their prep school career with a national championship.

Sage Fox, Amanda Lewis, and Alyssa White culminated their year-long project, "The Bod Squad," with a presentation for judges at the recent Skills USA National Leader­ship and Skills Conference in Kansas City .

"We were a little nervous to start with," Fox said, "but we practiced it over and over so we were pretty confident by the time we gave the presentation. The judges actually had to skip over us twice because we had a crowd of people around us interested in what we were talking about."

The Perry trio agreed, however, when they finally competed, it was their best effort. The judges must have agreed, describing Perry's presentation as "seamless."

The Bod Squad was a health, exercise, and nutrition program during the recent school year for about 40 Pfeiffer Middle School students. The Independent profiled the team's efforts in its May 20 edition. The group met twice weekly after school, using games, activity and competition to encourage their younger peers to make better eating and exercise choices.

"We realized we're the first generation to have a shorter life expectancy than our parents," Fox said, and the Bod Squad seniors set out to something about it.

Fox, Lewis and White, who earned the Community Health Foundation's Giving High School Social Action program award, placed first in the state competition be­fore ranking tops in the nation among all Skills USA competitors in the Tech Prep Showcase. More than 4,700 outstanding career and technical education students participated in the hands-on competition in 84 different trade, technical and leader­ship fields.

Skills USA is the national organization for students in trade, industrial, technical and health occupations education. Tech Prep Showcase recognizes outstanding students who are required to perform a professional team . presentation applying the appropriate technology.

Lewis and White plan to continue their medical training at Stark State College while Fox plans to enter the National Guard, then attend college for nurse's training.

"It was a lot of fun and a good experience," Fox said of the entire Bod Squad effort. "We had to compromise, learn teamwork, leadership skills and communication, all important in the medical field."

Dave Brothers, part of the college medical Tech Prep team at Perry, said a national championship is a huge honor for the students and the school.

"They're probably not even as proud of themselves as I am of them," he said.

Health of a Community in the Hands of its People
The Independent
August 2006

John McGrath's mission has gotten the best of him.

McGrath, a native of Detroit, Mich., took over as executive director of the Community Health Foundation (CHF) in March.

Recent work with neighborhood block organizations, he said, has led to CHF involvement in beautification efforts. Something as simple as providing a neighborhood dumpster for spring cleaning can make waves for change, McGrath said.

"If we can help a neighbor hood become a better neighbor hood - more cohesive and more committed - then the quality of life improves," McGrath said. "They become a better community which, in turn, becomes a healthier community."

The CHF's biggest role is to provide financial backing for local organizations dedicated to community health. Contributions from the CHF keep community organizations moving forward in fulfilling their missions, McGrath said.

The CHF also provides area schools with stipends that allow high school students to implement health-related services to their community.

"The whole concept," McGrath said, "was to see if we could involve high school students in the community to give them a sense of what it is like to give of themselves, to their community, prior to graduation."

That program has exceeded expectations.

"We feel it has been very successful, not only getting students involved, but by parents getting involved, too," McGrath said. "It really has worked to the advantage of our community, having students learn how to become involved.