Student Wellness Committees
Aiming to integrate student input into its programming, Kids First has three Student Wellness Committees at Adams City High School, Thornton High School, and Brighton High School.
In addition to advising and promoting Kids First Health Care clinics, our Wellness Committee members are advocates for health, wellness, and safety at their schools. Kids First’s Wellness Committees have increased Kids First’s ability to provide health care services that meet adolescents’ unique health needs and empower younger generations to become health leaders in their own communities.
How do the Wellness Committees work?
Kids First facilitators lead weekly committee meetings at each participating school. Each year, students choose the topics they want to focus on and create a calendar. Then Kids First brings in guest speakers and experts to facilitate learning sessions and conversations around these topics areas and the issues that affect youth the most. The Wellness Committees roll out campaigns to the rest of their peers at the school based on what they have learned.
What are the benefits of joining a Wellness Committee?
Wellness Committee participants gain valuable skills in leadership, health management, and advocacy while helping Kids First tailor its school-based health services to the needs of the students at their school. Our Wellness Committees help address everything from bullying and depression to drug use.
Since the program’s inception in 2009, participating students have effected significant community change, including creating a toolkit that brought healthier food options to their schools and helping pass a comprehensive tobacco policy in the Adams 14 school district.
Learn how you can get involved! Contact Emily Human, Clinic Initiatives Manager, for more information.