Gray Stone students attend health fair

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Gray Stone Chief Administrative Officer Helen Nance and freshman Abigail Isenhour demonstrate how vision is impaired by alcohol. Marina Richardson
Gray Stone Day School (Misenheimer, N.C.) freshman Amanda Stevenson attempts to “walk the line” in a demonstration of how alcohol induces impairment. Marina Richardson

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January 11, 2012

By Marina Richardson, Staff Writer The Stanly News & Press The Stanly News & Press Wed Jan 11, 2012, 11:14 AM EST

Wednesday, January 11, 2012 — Gray Stone Day School students learned about healthy living and disease prevention during the school’s health fair recently.

The school hosted HealthSmart Carolina, a new biometric screening and health education company, for the fair.

The company’s founder, Susan Brooks, said Gray Stone is the first high school HealthSmart Caro-lina has visited.

“We were absolutely thrilled with the reception we received at Gray Stone. It is so important to make an impact at an early age,” Brooks said.

HealthSmart Carolina set up a number of interactive exhibits in the gym, and students cycled through the exhibits in groups. Using 3-D models and interactive displays, the exhibits showed students information about such topics as healthy eating, the effects of alcohol and tobacco and the prevention of serious diseases.

Gray Stone’s Chief Administrative Officer Helen Nance said she believed the fair was a wonderful opportunity for students.

“I think this program has a profound effect on students at a point in their lives when they are starting to make lifetime decisions and habits,” Nance said.

“If we wait until they are adults, they already have habits that will be hard to change.”

The interactivity of the displays captured the students’ attention, Nance said.

“There were many things they could actually see and touch,” she said.

“One example was a smoker’s lung and another was what tar and nicotine from years of tobacco use looks like. They were also exposed to the amounts of sugars or fats in food in a way that truly shows how unhealthy many foods can be.”

Nance said she felt her students were well educated by the health fair.

“The nurses who presented at each booth were very engaging and knowledgeable. The students had great questions and really wished they had had more time to look at all the information,” she said.

Brooks said approximately 350 Gray Stone students were able to see the exhibits.

Her company hopes to serve more high schools in the future, as well as companies, churches and community groups, she said.

“The overall goal of HealthSmart Carolina is to promote increased awareness of health and early detection of disease in a way that will induce positive lifestyle changes and prevention of disease,” Brooks said.

“We offer biometric screenings including total cholesterol, HDL, LDL, triglycerides, blood glucose, blood pressure, height and weight, body mass index and waist circumference.”

Brooks’ sister was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2006, and one month later, Brooks herself was diagnosed with breast cancer. The things she and her sister learned during their ordeal helped inspire her to plan HealthSmart Carolina’s goals, she said.

“We learned that the key to life is learning to live,” Brooks said.

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Gray Stone students attend health fair

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