Biology of Public Health is a New Course at
Galena HS Where Student Lead Projects Expand Outside of the Classroom
Hunter Lentz and Dyllon Fortney used web design skills they learned in an English class to create website for Stone County Treatment Courts. “We wanted to help change the image of drug court,” they said.
December 27, 2018
Isaac Estes-Jones
This year, Galena High School has a special class that goes against the way most ‘standard’ classes are taught in area schools. Ryan Lacson’s public health class emphasizes more than just the science credit the students earn for their transcript.
Walking into the class, students great visitors and their teacher with eye contact and a hand shake. Most of the students said that emphasis on soft skills definitely took some getting used to.
Soft skills are interpersonal skills that can be contrasted with so-called hard skills such as calculus or chemistry.
“Soft skills are embedded throughout the course,” Lacson said. “The way I see it, a lot of the things emphasized in schools aren’t what will help students get a job in the future. No matter what job you go into, you’re going to need to know how to shake hands and look an interviewer in the eye. We don’t teach things like that in school, but I think it is important that students be exposed to it now before they go out into the world.”
This emphasis on skills has not detracted from the important education going on in the class. Units in the course so far have covered the opioid epidemic and infectious disease. Because this is a public health class, Lacson focused these units, and upcoming units in the course, on how those topics impact the Galena area and Stone County at large.
The class participated in the Galena-Abesville Elementary Health Fair as part of the infectious disease unit. But the impact of these 16 students has extended well beyond the walls of the schools.
Two groups of students have already featured on local radio stations, discussing both infectious diseases and the opioid epidemic.
“For me, it was amazing” to go on the radio, said junior Davon Stewart. Stewart and Colby Dinger appeared on 106.3 with Marietta Hagan, who leads the Stone and Taney County Substance Use Initiative to discuss the sexually transmitted infection (STI) posters the class made. “We had a list of the most common STIs in Stone County. I saw Trichomoniasis and looked at him [Dinger] and said, “I’ve never heard of this one before, so I’m sure other people haven’t either.”
Earlier this year, the class was awarded $2,880 in grant money from the Table Rock Lake Community Foundation to use toward whatever the class needs to further its goals. Some of that money has been used to print posters that were displayed at the high school and elementary school. Other money will help students like Sadie Dickens and Paige Dinger print the brochure they are designing for WIC.
Dickens and Dinger designed a brochure highlighting issues new mothers and pregnant women can face if they become addicted to opioids. “We want to let them know what can happen to their baby if they are addicted to opioids when they get pregnant,” said Dinger.
All of these major projects undertaken by groups in the class have been student led, says Lacson. “We go over the material together, but when it comes to these projects, I’m more of an advisor than anything else,” he said. On the day the Chronicle visited with the class, the students were putting the final touches on their projects. “The best part is, it’s not me. What have I been doing today, you know? They’ve been working, it’s completely student driven,” he said.
According to one student in the course, this freedom has led to misconceptions by others about the rigor of the class. “I’ve talked to people about the class,” said Davon Stewart, “and sometimes they’re like, ‘that must be an easy A’ and stuff like that. And that sort of makes me mad because they don’t know all of the work that we have done to get to this point.”
“When I first pitched this class, someone told me not to expect much,” Lacson said. “But my attitude was that they can do it, because I’ve seen it, and here we are.”
All of the students in the class are juniors and seniors. “If they were to go out and commit a crime, they’d be charged as adults. So, why are we still putting diapers on them,” said Lacson. “They’ve had compliance beaten into them for 12 or 13 years, so once you let them have some freedom and trust, it just seems to work.”
The students pointed to that trust and the emphasis on soft skills leading to the success of the class.
“When we first came into this class, we sort of knew everyone already, but it turns out we didn’t,” said one student. “On the first day of class, he [Lacson] told us to sit down and look one of the other people in the eye for 15 seconds and make conversation. It was weird and awkward. But it’s not any more,” said another.
“In this class, we have more freedom to do what we want to do. None of our projects are the same. Just having that freedom to be able to do what we want to do and innovate and be trusted,” one student said.
The class has come together to learn and spread awareness in the two units so far. “It was the class’s idea to work together and take over the elementary school health fair. But then, on these projects, everyone is doing their own thing,” Lacson said.
Other final projects include students attempting to bring educational groups into area schools to teach kids about the dangers of opioids and how to keep from falling into addiction; making changes to the DARE program to bring it more in line with scientifically backed methods of prevention; and educate others on how easy it can be to become addicted after being prescribed opioids by a doctor.
One student seemed to anticipate the next unit in the course, which will cover mental health issues in Stone County and in teenagers. “I’m making posters that show the connection between drug use and mental health issues,” said Clarrah Leigh-Deux, a junior in the class.
For his part, Mr. Lacson is excited about the future of the class and what all these students can do. “I’m glad it is these students that are getting celebrated. They are the ones who got the grant from the Table Rock Community Foundation. They decided as a class to take over the health fair.”
Isaac Estes-Jones
This year, Galena High School has a special class that goes against the way most ‘standard’ classes are taught in area schools. Ryan Lacson’s public health class emphasizes more than just the science credit the students earn for their transcript.
Walking into the class, students great visitors and their teacher with eye contact and a hand shake. Most of the students said that emphasis on soft skills definitely took some getting used to.
Soft skills are interpersonal skills that can be contrasted with so-called hard skills such as calculus or chemistry.
“Soft skills are embedded throughout the course,” Lacson said. “The way I see it, a lot of the things emphasized in schools aren’t what will help students get a job in the future. No matter what job you go into, you’re going to need to know how to shake hands and look an interviewer in the eye. We don’t teach things like that in school, but I think it is important that students be exposed to it now before they go out into the world.”
This emphasis on skills has not detracted from the important education going on in the class. Units in the course so far have covered the opioid epidemic and infectious disease. Because this is a public health class, Lacson focused these units, and upcoming units in the course, on how those topics impact the Galena area and Stone County at large.
The class participated in the Galena-Abesville Elementary Health Fair as part of the infectious disease unit. But the impact of these 16 students has extended well beyond the walls of the schools.
Two groups of students have already featured on local radio stations, discussing both infectious diseases and the opioid epidemic.
“For me, it was amazing” to go on the radio, said junior Davon Stewart. Stewart and Colby Dinger appeared on 106.3 with Marietta Hagan, who leads the Stone and Taney County Substance Use Initiative to discuss the sexually transmitted infection (STI) posters the class made. “We had a list of the most common STIs in Stone County. I saw Trichomoniasis and looked at him [Dinger] and said, “I’ve never heard of this one before, so I’m sure other people haven’t either.”
Earlier this year, the class was awarded $2,880 in grant money from the Table Rock Lake Community Foundation to use toward whatever the class needs to further its goals. Some of that money has been used to print posters that were displayed at the high school and elementary school. Other money will help students like Sadie Dickens and Paige Dinger print the brochure they are designing for WIC.
Dickens and Dinger designed a brochure highlighting issues new mothers and pregnant women can face if they become addicted to opioids. “We want to let them know what can happen to their baby if they are addicted to opioids when they get pregnant,” said Dinger.
All of these major projects undertaken by groups in the class have been student led, says Lacson. “We go over the material together, but when it comes to these projects, I’m more of an advisor than anything else,” he said. On the day the Chronicle visited with the class, the students were putting the final touches on their projects. “The best part is, it’s not me. What have I been doing today, you know? They’ve been working, it’s completely student driven,” he said.
According to one student in the course, this freedom has led to misconceptions by others about the rigor of the class. “I’ve talked to people about the class,” said Davon Stewart, “and sometimes they’re like, ‘that must be an easy A’ and stuff like that. And that sort of makes me mad because they don’t know all of the work that we have done to get to this point.”
“When I first pitched this class, someone told me not to expect much,” Lacson said. “But my attitude was that they can do it, because I’ve seen it, and here we are.”
All of the students in the class are juniors and seniors. “If they were to go out and commit a crime, they’d be charged as adults. So, why are we still putting diapers on them,” said Lacson. “They’ve had compliance beaten into them for 12 or 13 years, so once you let them have some freedom and trust, it just seems to work.”
The students pointed to that trust and the emphasis on soft skills leading to the success of the class.
“When we first came into this class, we sort of knew everyone already, but it turns out we didn’t,” said one student. “On the first day of class, he [Lacson] told us to sit down and look one of the other people in the eye for 15 seconds and make conversation. It was weird and awkward. But it’s not any more,” said another.
“In this class, we have more freedom to do what we want to do. None of our projects are the same. Just having that freedom to be able to do what we want to do and innovate and be trusted,” one student said.
The class has come together to learn and spread awareness in the two units so far. “It was the class’s idea to work together and take over the elementary school health fair. But then, on these projects, everyone is doing their own thing,” Lacson said.
Other final projects include students attempting to bring educational groups into area schools to teach kids about the dangers of opioids and how to keep from falling into addiction; making changes to the DARE program to bring it more in line with scientifically backed methods of prevention; and educate others on how easy it can be to become addicted after being prescribed opioids by a doctor.
One student seemed to anticipate the next unit in the course, which will cover mental health issues in Stone County and in teenagers. “I’m making posters that show the connection between drug use and mental health issues,” said Clarrah Leigh-Deux, a junior in the class.
For his part, Mr. Lacson is excited about the future of the class and what all these students can do. “I’m glad it is these students that are getting celebrated. They are the ones who got the grant from the Table Rock Community Foundation. They decided as a class to take over the health fair.”
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