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This past fall, with the support of Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation, NYAM’s Office of School Health Programs (OSHP) developed and launched a new component of The Junior Fellows Program, The Junior Fellows Philanthropy Project. This pilot is designed to teach students how to utilize health research as a tool in learning about philanthropy and community service.
Over the course of the school year, the program engaged teams of students from four selected schools that are participants in the Junior Fellows Program: the Christa McAuliffe School, IS 187 in Brooklyn; Harlem Village Academy High School in East Harlem; Robert H. Goddard High School, HS 308 in Queens; and Global Technology Preparatory in East Harlem. Each team partnered with a community-based organization to assess the public health needs of the community it serves and prepare a grant request for funding to address the need.
On May 10, the participating teams presented their final projects for a chance to win support for their partnering community health organizations from the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation.
Joanne De Simone Eichel, OSHP Director, credited John Damonti, President of the Bristol Myers-Squibb Foundation and Vice President of Corporate Philanthropy at Bristol-Myers Squibb, for the inspiration for this initiative. “John asked, ‘What would happen if Junior Fellows took their research a step further and used it to learn about philanthropy and community service?’” Ms. Eichel said.
The program gave the Junior Fellows an opportunity to design and implement service projects and plans based upon their assessments of community needs, and allowed them to acquire leadership skills, learn to work as individuals and team members, and reflect upon what it means to become a positive presence in one’s community.
NYAM President Dr. Jo Ivey Boufford welcomed the panel charged with choosing the winning school: John Damonti; Joyce Bove, Senior Vice President of Grants and Special Projects at the New York Community Trust; Cheryl Wills, NY1 anchor and reporter; and Dr. Michael McGarvey, Chairman of the OSHP Advisory Committee and former NYAM Trustee. The panel evaluated each teams’ proposals on the quality of its poster, presentation, creativity, and evidence of teamwork.
The winning team of Junior Fellows from the Christa McAuliffe School, IS 187 earned a $5,000 contribution from the Bristol Myers-Squibb Foundation to the Third Root Community Health Center in Brooklyn to focus on teaching middle and high school students about stress management techniques to reduce anxiety and depression. They also presented an evaluation plan to explain how they would measure the success of their project.
The Christa McAuliffe team began their compelling presentation by performing yoga poses while soothing music played. Each student then shared how doing “a quick session of yoga” helps them deal with the stress and anxiety of school and life. They successfully communicated the impact of their education at Third Root on their daily lives, and the potential for education about alternative and complementary medicine to reduce anxiety and depression among adolescents.
The runners up, awarded $1,000 each, were Harlem Village Academy High School and the Union Settlement Association, for HIV/AIDS outreach in East Harlem; Robert H. Goddard High School, HS 308 and The Charles B. Wang Community Health Center, for diabetes education in the Asian-American community in Queens and Manhattan; and Global Technology Preparatory and Boriken Neighborhood Health Center, for obesity and asthma outreach and education for children of East Harlem.
Melissa Mendelson, Project Director of The Junior Fellows Program and The Junior Fellows Philanthropy Project, congratulated all of the students participating in the pilot project on their accomplishments.
“Congratulations on a job well done! You have worked diligently to design these service projects that will now be implemented in your communities; your work is important and you should be very proud of what you have achieved!” Ms. Mendelson said.
Dr. Boufford also praised each of the participating school teams and their teachers and thanked the Bristol Myers-Squibb Foundation. “Each team not only gained a deep understanding of the health issue they wanted to address, but learned how they can be a force for change in their communities—this is a lesson we hope they’ll take forward in years to come,” Dr. Boufford said.
The Junior Fellows are excited to return to NYAM for future Scholars activities and look forward to providing updates on how they are utilizing what they have learned to educate others in their communities.
Posted on May 17, 2012
Contact:
Andrew J. Martin
Director of Communications
The New York Academy of Medicine
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New York, New York 10029
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amartin@nyam.org
Reporters: to arrange interviews with NYAM medical and urban health experts, contact
Andrew J. Martin, Director of Communications
212-822-7285 / amartin@nyam.org
The 2012-2013 Duncan Clark Lecture - The Affordable Care Act: An Insider’s View
Featured Speaker: Sherry Glied, PhD, former Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
November 19, 2012 - The NYAM Section on Health Care Delivery welcomes Sherry Glied, PhD, former Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, who will deliver the 2012-2013 Duncan Clark Lecture on "The Affordable Care Act: An Insider's View."
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The New York Academy of Medicine with support from the New York State Heath Foundation released a new report, Federal Health Care Reform in New York State: A Population Health Perspective.
This report identifies opportunities that build on both the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act (ACA) and New York’s ongoing efforts toward improving the health of its 19 million residents.
Read press release
Read report
