High school is often a confusing time for many teenagers, who are still young but are presented with some very adult decisions — whether it’s taking a drink, dealing with an emotional relationship, or making the right food choices.

To help make sure teens at the Science Leadership Academy make the right decisions, several Temple public health students held their first SLA Health Conference on May 5 at the school, located in the Art Museum area of Philadelphia.

Gabriella Mora, Franchesca Ali, Christian Perez and Chrissy Grosso lead a cohort of more than 30 public health juniors and seniors to design and implement health units focusing on a number of different areas such as fitness and nutrition, addiction, mental health and relationships. 

At the event, the Temple students presented their units to 9th and 10th graders in assemblies and classroom workshops to teach the high-schoolers about healthy lifestyle decisions.

“The health fair was a great example of public health in action, where our students had the opportunity to develop educational units and present them,” said Sarah Bass, PhD, director of the undergraduate program at the College of Health Professions.

The fair was part of an undergrad class on teaching health, and students were directed by Cheryl Turner-Paige, adjunct professor in the College of Health Professions and a retired health teacher in the Philadelphia School District.