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On Friday, May 31st 2024, Health in Our Hands coordinated the first ever field trip to the Michigan State University (MSU) campus for high school students studying our curriculum.  The Mystery of the Monkey Flower is a 10 -12 week high school life science curriculum. High School students use a monkey flower plant experiment and a graphic novel developed to learn how traits evolve over time through natural selection. STEM careers and ethical issues are also highlighted. This field trip was requested by our High School Biology Teacher, Shelly Roberts with the Flint Community School District.

A total of 41 10th graders from Flint Southwestern Classical Academy, two Flint high school teachers, four GEAR UP staff (Central Michigan University & MSU), and five MSU staff/faculty were present for this field trip. With generous support from the Flint Center for Educational Excellence, these students traveled) to MSU to meet with Dr. David Lowry and others in the Plant Biology Building. Students had the opportunity to tour the Monkey Flower Lab which is part of the Lowry Lab on the MSU campus courtesy of Dr. David Lowry and Dr. Liz.

Additionally, an activity and presentation was coordinated through the Biological Laboratory Diagnostics Program by Academic Advisor Nicole Lipnichan. Nicole shared a presentation about the programs that her department offers and also engaged the students in testing for Diabetes in a patient in the ER. Some of the 10th graders remembered that they learned about diabetes in a Health in Our Hands unit taught online by their middle school teachers during the COVID pandemic.

Last but not least, lunch. Thank you to the Office of Culture and Academic Transitions (OCAT) on the MSU Campus for treating our students to lunch in Shaw Hall with funding from OCAT “Connecting Diverse Peoples, Programs, and Ideas to Enhance Student Success.”

The Mystery of the Monkey Flower is part of the Health in Our Hands Project. This work is supported financially by Michigan State University and grants from the National Science Foundation (105-1855927) and Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) National Institute of General Medical Sciences, a component of the National Institutes of Health
The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. Learn more about the journey by visiting https://hioh.education/high-school.

It’s that time of year again for the Mystery of the Monkey flower to begin in high school classrooms. To start, teachers get prepared with professional development.This two day experience took place over zoom and on the Michigan State University campus. The Mystery of the Monkey flower is a 10 -12 week highschool life science curriculum. High School students use a monkey flower plant experiment and a graphic novel developed to learn how traits evolve over time through natural selection. 

A total of 6 teachers from 3 school districts and 2 staff members from MSU Kellogg Biological Station were present for professional development. These science teachers from Flint Southwestern Classical Academy, Troy High School and Gull Lake Community Schools prepared by experiencing parts of the curriculum as learners. They participated in a “sample teach” where the teachers experienced initial immersive activity from the students’ perspective where they were introduced to two plants which raised many questions about why they were so different. The teachers were also introduced to an innovative comic book which accompanies the unit.

Teachers and biological station staff also had the opportunity to tour the Monkey flower Lab which is part of the Lowry Lab on the MSU campus courtesy of Dr. David Lowry, the research partner who inspired the Mystery of the Monkey Flower curriculum. 

The Mystery of the Monkey Flower is part of the Health in Our Hands Project. Research reported in this publication was supported by the Science Education Partnership of the National Institute Of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R25GM132964. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. Learn more about the journey by visiting https://hioh.education/high-school.

Eighth graders from Flint Community Schools reported the findings from their Community Action Research Projects to answer the question, “How can we work together to make our community healthier?” Their class had completed the “Health in Our Hands: How Can Looking for Thrills Make Me Miserable?”” curriculum in science class which explores the biology of substance use disorder (SUD) and behavioral addictions and examines the role of genetics and the brain’s reward system in their risk for SUD.   

For their final project, the students from Holmes STEM Middle School Academy  conducted original research to improve their school community to help prevent or reduce behavioral addictions. They created a survey to gather data about their health behaviors to study the effect of sleep, nutrition, exercise and hygiene on their well-being. Over winter break, students logged in each day to complete the survey.  When they got back to class, they analyzed the data in teams and created graphs and posters for presentation at the SUD Health Summit. 
  
During the SUD Health Summit, 30 students presented to about 30 adult volunteers who listened carefully to results and recommendations and celebrated their accomplishments. The Health Summit was hosted by University of Michigan-Flint Office of K-12 Partnerships. The Office organized a tour of the campus led by the Office of Admissions and a STEM Career Fair where students were introduced to programs, clubs and community organizations concerned with health and STEM.  The students left with smiles and a “swag” bag full of information, pens and other free goodies donated by partner organizations from. 

The Health Summit is a collaborative effort organized by the Health in Our Hands-Flint/Genesee Partnership, a coalition of community, health, and education organizations dedicated to achieving success and sustainability of Health In Our Hands in Flint and beyond. 

Many community  organizations and individuals made this event a big success through their generous contributions:  University of Michigan - Flint K-12 Partnerships (Dr. Suzanne Knight & Laura Martin); University of Michigan - Flint Marketing (Logan McGardy); Swag bag donations from Flint Community Schools, Genesee County Prevention Coalition,  MiSTEM Network, UM-Flint K-12 Partnerships; Teri Jones, the talented teacher and her 8th grade classes from Flint Community Schools; Parents and family members who support their scholars; All our wonderful volunteers! 

Find more information about the health summit by clicking on the news coverage from University of Michigan - Flint Press Release, ABC12 News and MidMichiganNow.
 

It's that time of year again to get ready for the 2024 Health in Our Hands (HiOH) Health Summit! 
 
With the success of last year, we’d like to invite you to participate again this year in the Substance Use Disorder Health Summit 2024 (Please see the flyer below and register here).  Would you like to participate this year as a judge (register here)? Would you or your organization like to provide swag (water bottles, bags, pencils, etc) for the students to take home after the event?
 
If you are interested in supporting the HiOH Health Summit in one of these capacities (judge or donating SWAG), please kindly reach out to Maria Salinas and she will follow-up by providing further information.
 
Finally, thank you, in advance, for your help in forwarding this information to other community members that you think might be interested in participating in the 2024 Health Summit.
 
We truly appreciate your commitment to Flint/Genesee County teachers and students.
 

Congratulations goes out to Renee Bayer, Principal Investigator of Health in Our Hands and Ella Greene-Moton, Co-Chair of the HiOH-Flint Genesee Partnership, Administrator of the Community Based Organization Partners – Community Ethics Review Board (CBOP-CERB), and the President of the American Public Health Association. 

On Friday, September 29th during the Healthy Flint Research Coordinating Center (HFRCC) Research Symposium, they received the Community-Academic Partnership Award. This award is conferred on “one community and one academic person working in partnership with each other where they have demonstrated their commitment to moving Flint forward. These individuals have made positive contributions within the Flint community through their active engagement in community-academic partnerships.”​ 

This is what the HFRCC Executive Committee had to say about this amazing duo:

“Renee Bayer is the Principal Investigator for Health in Our Hands (HiOH). This project, funded by the Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA), brings together much of her interest, concern and experience in science education and public health. Renee was involved in the two previously funded SEPA projects which took place in schools in Detroit and Flint and has worked together with community members, health professionals, and educators in Flint and Genesee County for over 25 years. HiOH supports her larger role at CREATE for STEM Institute as Associate Director for Engagement connecting faculty across the university with schools and community members. She is a valuable partner and contributor to public health in Flint.”

“Ella Greene-Moton is the President Elect [at the time of the award] of the American Public Health Association and serves as the Community Based Organization Partners Community Ethics Review Board Administrator. Ms. Greene-Moton has an extensive background in public health advocacy, public health policy, Community-Based Participatory Research and programming, spanning over more than 40 years in the City of Flint and surrounding areas. Her areas of expertise include facilitating community/academic/practice partnership building and sustainability; developing, managing, and evaluating community-based projects; and training programs for graduate students, community members, and middle and high school students partnering with community-based organizations, schools, and public health agencies. Her work has been instrumental to providing awareness and elevating community voices to improve inclusiveness at the local, state, and national levels.”