By Joey Kaji, SBHA Youth Advisory Council member The following reflects Nikhil’s lived experiences, thoughts, and opinions. Growing up, there is always an emphasis on maintaining our own health. In elementary school, it starts with our parents making sure we eat our fruits and vegetables. In middle school, it continued forward to sex education. Finally, … Read more
By Nikhil Reddy, SBHA Youth Advisory Council member The following reflects Nikhil’s lived experiences, thoughts, and opinions. In the summer leading up to my senior year, I had the opportunity to work at UT Southwestern Medical Center. In the Harold C. Simmons Cancer Center, I worked under a diverse group of medical professionals and clinical … Read more
By Rikhil Ranjit, SBHA Youth Advisory Council member The following reflects Rikhil’s lived experiences, thoughts, and opinions. As teens, we have probably seen more and more students turning to drugs for wide-ranging reasons. Personally, Georgia’s Forsyth County has seen a dramatic growth of high school students turning to the abuse of alcohol, marijuana, and, more … Read more
Our 2024 ‘Be the Change’ Youth Training Program was our best yet! We had 37 incredible youth attendees from 17 states, eight youth co-led presentations, and 14 total youth presenters. Students engaged with workshops on the importance of social media in marketing school-based health services and innovations in school-based food insecurity programming, talked with adult … Read more
By Mia Hunter, SBHA Youth Advisory Council member The following reflects Mia’s lived experiences, thoughts, and opinions. When surveying teens’ interaction with social media, my peer recorded that a majority of his surveyed group at my high school found the impact of stress imposed by social media to be paramount to the stress of their … Read more
By Ketan Tamirisa, SBHA Youth Advisory Council member The following reflects Ketan’s lived experiences, thoughts, and opinions. Ben Franklin once said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” During my time volunteering at a free-outpatient clinic in Dallas, I met a 15-year-old girl who was four weeks pregnant. She was complaining of … Read more
By Lauren Metcalf , SBHA Youth Advisory Council member The following reflects Lauren’s lived experiences, thoughts, and opinions. Nearly a third of youth struggled with mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This has only increased conversations about the youth mental health crisis. As a teen, hearing … Read more
The 2023 ‘Be the Change’ Youth Training Program in Washington, D.C., engaged youth from across the country with a passion for school-based health care and community leadership. Youth attended plenaries and workshops and participated in activities to better understand various health-related topics. Topics ranged from vaping and sexual education to peer education and quality improvement … Read more
The following is an article featured on NPR’s Health News. “Of all the things she could have done on her summer vacation, Bithaniya Fieseha, a senior at West Springfield High School in Fairfax County, Va., decided to study chronic disease, mental health and contact tracing. Some of her friends didn’t understand the appeal. ‘I feel … Read more
For SBHC Awareness Month, our Youth Advisory Council created one pagers to report on advocacy activities in their states. Council members shared information on current legislation, their state affiliates, and ideas on how to spread awareness about school-based health centers. Check them out below!
