Dietetic interns from WVU Hospitals supported Steps to a HealthierPA-Fayette County’s message of healthy eating through their work in the Albert Gallatin School District this past year. The interns completed rotations to gain experience in community nutrition through educating students and creating school wellness resource guides.

Throughout the rotation, each intern created lesson plans, developed nutrition education materials and provided instruction to middle school family and consumer science students in the Albert Gallatin School District. Through this program, the interns educated approximately 350 students on the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans and My Pyramid.

The interns also assisted in the development of two school wellness resource guides. The parent resource guide provides important resources that describe the importance of health in the school environment. It explains how parents can become more involved and things they can do to support healthy school environments. Some of the key features of the guide are suggestions for healthy classroom party ideas and healthy fundraising ideas.

The second guide expands these topics for school staff and includes additional topics such as lesson plans and school health grant opportunities. These guides will be distributed to schools throughout the county for the start of the 2006-2007 school year. By working on these projects, the interns gained valuable skills in materials development, public relations and public speaking.

The rotation with Steps to a HealthierPA-Fayette County was part of the West Virginia University Hospitals Dietetic Internship Program, administered by the Department of Nutrition Services of WVU Hospitals. This internship provides dietetic interns with over 1,400 hours of supervised practice experience and training in clinical, administrative and community dietetics.

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