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Senior Exercise Science majors, Sadie Nelson and Ashley Ward are teaching a Student Initiated Lifetime Activity Course (SILAC) focusing on intense plyometric exercise and health lessons. The students are also conducting research on the impact the course has on various fitness measures including body composition, cardiovascular endurance, and power. Six days a week, 30 students gather to engage in structured plyometric exercises while also exploring various health-related topics.  SILACs are a new initiative within the Department of Health and Exercise Science with the purpose  of providing students experience in developing and implementing academic courses while providing the campus community a broader range of highly engaging activity experiences.

Four HLTH 440 students (Kristen Siegler, Taylor Hockman, Jenna Osseck, and Anna Grinter) are working with the NEMO Heart Health sub-committee to create and publicize a campaign to promote automated external defibrillators (AEDs) throughout the community.  This two-pronged campaign exists: 1) for the general Kirksville community to understand the purpose of AEDs; and 2) for Kirksville employers to understand AEDs and to authorize sites where AEDs could be placed in businesses.  NEMO Heart Health wants to place 50 AEDs in Kirksville in 5 years.  The group is going to publicize this in February, heart health month, with a public relations event to continue to promote the implementation of AEDs.

There are numerous other projects taking place in the community with the help of Truman State Health Science students.  Examples of this come from the health science capstone class in which the following projects have been created.

The HLTH 195 Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) & Environmental Wellness project will work with Dr. Young and selected HLTH 195 instructors to create  PowerPoint lectures to be presented in the HLTH 195 classes.  The outline of the STI lecture will include definitions, types of infections, risk factors, transmission, signs and symptoms of each STI, how to protect oneself and partner(s), treatment, and possible complications.  The environmental wellness lesson will include the 4R’s + related information/stats, and how college students’ actions impact the environment.

The Drive Safe, Drive Smart (DSDS) campus intervention will include displays, educational activities, presentations,  and information tables about the Missouri DSDS campaign. This project will include planning, budgeting, preparation, review and implementation in cooperation with appropriate personnel in order to promote safe driving throughout Missouri.

The NEMO Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Public Health Careers Club Project will work with the NEMO AHEC executive director  to develop and pilot activities for Health Careers Clubs to educate high school students about and recruit them into public health careers.  Educational presentations and online sessions will be created and local public health speakers and career visits scheduled.

These are just a few examples of work from health science students.   These projects give students the opportunity to apply their knowledge to practical, real-world settings.

Four Truman State Health Science students will present at the
American Association for Health Physical Education Recreation and Dance National Convention and Exhibition in San Diego, California on March 29, 2011.  Katharyn Emery,  Sarah Folks, Grace McGaughey and Brenda Goodwin will present their project “Grabbing Red Bull by the Horns.” Congratulations and good luck to these students!

The Marathon Training Class recently had students competing in two marathons. On Saturday, November 21^st , nine students traveled to Overland Park, KS to compete in the Gobbler Grind Marathon. Two students completed the full 26.2 mile race while 7 students completed the 13.1 miles. On Saturday, December 4^th,  16 students traveled to Memphis, TN to participate in the Memphis St Jude Marathon. Ten students ran the full marathon and 6 ran the half. Anastasia Crites, a sophomore communications major from St. Louis, MO, placed first in the 15-19 age group.  Click here to see more pictures from both marathons.

Evan Rioux was chosen to join the Apple Wellness team as the one Wellness Intern in Cupertino, California for the Fall of 2010. While she gained over 500 hours of experience in the preventative care setting, she focused her attention on daily physicals, health assessments, fitness consultations, and graded exercise tests that were offered to the thousands of Apple employees. Congratulations to Evan on the completion of this outstanding experience.

Dr. Jennifer Hurst competed in the 2010 Larry Hanneman Memorial Olympic Weight Lifting  Tournament on October 16^th in St. Joseph, MO.  She achieved personal records in both the Snatch (67 kilograms) and Clean & Jerk (89 kilograms), successfully totaling 156 kilograms and qualifying for the 2010 American Open.  The American Open will be held in Cincinnati, OH on December 10-12, 2010.

Katie Martin (left), Exercise Science major, and Kristen Siegler (right), Health Science major, were recently chosen by the Health and Exercise Sciences as Truman’s student of the year for the Missouri Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (MOAHPERD).  Katie Martin was chosen as the Future Professional Major of the Year for Exercise Science.  Kristen Siegler was chosen as the Future Professional Major of the Year for Health Science.  As the recipients of this honor, Katie and Kristen will be acknowledged at the MOAHPERD awards banquet on Saturday, November 13 at the Lodge of the Four Seasons in Lake Ozark, MO.  Congratulations to Katie and Kristen on this outstanding award!

On October 14, 2010, 32 Health Science students who are members of the Student Public Health Association (SPHA) attended the national conference of the American School Health Association (ASHA).  They are pictured in the Crown Center Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City, MO.  To attend, they raised money for bus transportation by selling purple HES t-shirts, and served as student monitors for the ASHA council luncheon workshops.  While at the conference, they heard the keynote speaker, Kevin Jennings, Assistant Deputy Secretary of Education discuss bullying and harassment  in his “Creating ‘Truly Safe’ Schools” presentation.

Lori Griffin recently accepted a position as a Health Fitness Specialist for the National Institute for Fitness and Sport in Indianapolis, Indiana.  Her duties will  include meeting with clients about their fitness goals, performing fitness assessments and prescribing exercise programs.  Her caseload will consist of approximately 100-120 clients.  She will also aid in the development and implementation of  fitness and wellness incentive programs as well as group classes.  Lori graduated from Truman State University in May 2010.    Congratulations to Lori on this new position!

Megan Kahn (’00) was recently named Associate Commissioner for Administration and Operations for the Atlantic 10 Conference by Commissioner Bernadette V. McGlade.

Kahn will oversee the Atlantic 10 office of advance media and technology, and work directly with the Conference public relations, branding and communications efforts. She will continue her work in championship operations with the A-10 Men’s Basketball Championship as the Director of that event, working with the Atlantic City Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, Boardwalk Hall and all 14 member institutions.

Kahn joined the league in 2008 from the Atlantic Coast Conference where she served administratively with McGlade from 2006-08. Her duties included assisting with administration for the conference’s senior woman administrators; overseeing the administration of ACC standing committees and NCAA national committee nominations and appointments, developing Policy and Procedures manuals for regular season play and conference tournaments, directed the conference annual women’s basketball Legends weekend and directed the regionally recognized Boys & Girls Club educational programs at the ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament. Kahn also served as assistant director of the 2007 and 2008 NCAA Women’s Basketball Greensboro Regional, assisted in the marketing and sales efforts of advertising and local sponsorship; in addition, she served as women’s basketball officials’ observer for the ACC, Big South, Colonial and Southern conferences.

Prior to joining the ACC, Kahn was an administrative intern in 2005-06 for the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators (NACWAA) and the 2005 and 2006 ACC Tournament. She also served as assistant women’s basketball coach at Texas State (2002-04) and Texas-Pan American (2000-02).  Kahn graduated summa cum laude from Truman State in 2000 with a degree in exercise science and earned her Masters of Science in Kinesiology and Sports Administration from Texas-Pan American in 2002.