MEXICO – Buses bringing students from Rumford Elementary, Meroby Elementary, Virginia Elementary, and St. Athanasius and St. John’s Schools converged on Mountain Valley Middle School Friday.

Students in grades K through 5 were moved through four sessions, each lasting 15 minutes. Kathy Sutton, chairperson of the Wellness Team and school health coordinator, organized the different sessions, which included Mountain Valley’s own Kids On the Block Puppeteer Troupe, Heart Power presented by Deb Gorham, a registered nurse at Rumford Hospital, a smoke trailer sponsored by the Mexico Fire Department, and 11 exhibitors presenting information and interactive activities on a variety of health and wellness issues.

Kids On the Block puppets were presented by Middle Valley students from sixth-grade through 12th grade, who performed scripts for the students on a variety of health and social education topics including fire prevention safety, school safety, school bullies, multi-culturalism, vehicle safety, tobacco prevention and alcohol and other drugs.

Children learned the importance of keeping bedroom doors closed at night and staying low to the floor in a fire and exiting the building in a calm manner as they crawled through a smoke-filled room housed in a 20-foot trailer.

In the Heart Power session, students were offered an interactive approach to nutrition, physical activity and tobacco prevention.

As students participated in the exhibitors session, activities included exercises, learning proper care of pets, importance of saving money and availability of summer programs.



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