Monthly Newsletter In This Issue: August 2007  •   Partnership with MetroHealth System of Cleveland, OH •   Kids Health Hint of the Month •   ROL Joins Web-Based Community •   Volunteer Spotlight: Interns Choulene Li and Georgeanne Diab Partnership with MetroHealth System of Cleveland, OH The new partnership between Road of Life: Cancer Prevention for Kids and MetroHealth System of Cleveland, OH is rapidly progressing. A full time staff person, Anuprit Kaur, from ROL has been relocated to Cleveland to start a regional office at MetroHealth. Anuprit met with MetroHealth staff to introduce ROLs Health Careers Program in an effort to provide supplemental health career modules to targeted Cleveland Public Schools. New modules are currently being co-branded by MetroHealth and ROL to implement the program in the Cleveland area, where it will supplement ROLs existing elementary school curriculum. The primary purpose of this partnership is to create and deliver joint health education programming targeting at-risk youth in Northeast Ohio. MetroHealth has provided numerous resources for ROL. They have integrated ROLs programming with MetroHealth’s existing community programming through a new program for elementary school age children grades 3-5. The assistance for developing the modules will introduce elementary school age children to the spectrum of careers within the health care field. MetroHealth currently has a high school program that allows students to shadow health care professionals, take tours of the hospital, and receive free athletic physicals. ROLs role is to motivate kids at a younger age. The new program will serve as a bridge to the existing middle school and high school programs. MetroHealth was very receptive to this program and offered to network with fellow colleagues. Some staff members were even interested in joining ROLs Scientific Advisory Committee. “We are very excited about this partnership and believe it will greatly benefit the children of Northeast Ohio,” said Executive Director Shane Hankins. “We are very appreciative of MetroHealth’s support and collaboration.” This recent partnership has opened many new doors for ROL and has helped build relationships with other organizations. Hopefully this collaboration between two outstanding organizations marks the beginning of an exceptional program. ROL Joins Web-Based Community In this day and age, computers are an essential part of everyday life. The internet has become the most significant source of information for the public. Road of Life: Cancer Prevention for Kids utilizes these effective tools and has joined the various networks of MySpace, Facebook, and Craigslist.com. The MySpace account was created to further networking with other people and organizations that are or would like to be involved in the Road of Life cause. It gives other users an introduction to the organization. Through the MySpace account, there are links to the ROL website. Also included on the blog is information regarding ROLs history, job and volunteer opportunities, donation, curricula, and contact information. MySpace provides an amazing way to connect with others. ROL has made over seven hundred MySpace “friends”, including other non-profit organizations. Click for ROL's MySpace Page Another popular online media network is Facebook. Through Change.org, a social network to support nonprofit organizations, ROL has created a profile to gather supporters, raise donations, and provide links to the ROL website. Also, local teachers can be informed of our FREE programs (Classroom, After-school, and Summer). Facebook provides a useful tool that allows us to track data from the fundraising process. Join Facebook and look us up! In addition to the previous networking websites, we are now listed on Columbus Craigslist.com where ROL advertises the free curricula locally. The post explains ROLs mission and links to download the free curricula. ROL CraigsList ROL would especially like to thank Max Growick for all his hard work and dedication to set up these web pages. With the help of these electronic tools, ROL is positive that our mission will reach thousands of children across the country. We hope that you’ll look us up and become our “friend!” Volunteer Spotlight: Interns Choulene Li and Georgeanne Diab This month’s volunteer spotlight focuses on Road of Life’s interns, Choulene Li and Georgeann Diab. Both Choulene and Georgeann attend The Ohio State University and have very important roles with the organization. Choulene is a Health Science Major at The Ohio State University. For one of her classes, she had to interview someone that was working in the health field. She decided to interview someone from Road of Life: Cancer Prevention for Kids. She believes in ROL because this is the first time in history where parents are expected to outlive their children. This is a clear warning that health education in America needs to be addressed. She has taken classes that teach how to create, write, implement, and evaluate health programs. Choulene also researches other health programs for preschoolers. Currently, Choulene is in the process of writing the health curriculum for the ROL Preschool and Head Start program. Choulene enjoys eating healthy and playing volleyball and soccer. Georgeann learned about ROL by attending the non-profit job fair at OSU. She had hopes of finding an internship that could be correlated with her double major in Nutrition and Dietetics. ROL was looking for volunteers that could further the organization’s development of nutrition programs and research. Georgeann researches the health statistics of various states so that ROL can apply for grants from different regions of the country. The goal is to expand ROLs programs (Classroom, After-School, and Summer) to other states and to serve thousands of more children. Georgeann enjoys working at ROL because she believes that children need to be taught at a young age about healthy lifestyles to stay healthy and active throughout adulthood. Running is Georgeann’s healthy habit and stress relief: she enjoys running 5-7 miles each day. "Choulene and Georgeann are ambitious young women taking advantage of their education NOW and making a difference in the lives of children," stated Sarah Mase, Director of Grants and Information Technology. These individuals play an essential role in ROL’s developmental progress. Without the help of Choulene and Georgeann, ROL would not have the successful impact that we are proud of today. Kids Health Hint of the Month Keeping a positive personal image is very important. Everyone has someone they look up to, but they have to remember that everyone is unique. Children should understand that people look different from each other, are good at different things, and like different things. Emphasize that everyone is different in many ways. Children should never negatively compare themselves to anyone else. Engage in a family activity where you pass out a piece of paper and write “Things to like about me” at the top, along with the person’s name. Tape the piece of paper on the person’s back and have everyone go around and write a POSITIVE comment on the piece of paper. Once everyone has commented, look over what was written and have a family discussion. This health hint is from Lesson 7: Personal Image