THINC students take to the schools to teach CPR and safety

Published 7:55 pm Thursday, February 1, 2018

Contributed

When an emergency happens at home, who do you call? Thanks to students in Ms. Sharell Lewis’ Introduction to Health Science course at THINC College & Career Academy (THINC), the young learners at Berta Weathersbee Elementary now know exactly what to do in the event of an emergency.

Earlier this month, THINC students closed out their most recent Project Based Learning assignment after a visit to Berta Weathersbee with the main goal of teaching students about safety, emergency preparedness and CPR. The idea was born with Lewis who wanted to challenge her students to create a project that would resonate outside of the classroom walls.

“THINC encourages students to become involved in projects that can impact the community. Introducing a project such as teaching safety measures to young students is the truest form of Project Based Learning. It is distinguished from a traditional classroom project because of the community involvement. My students felt there is no bigger community than our future,” Lewis said.

The high school learners from THINC connected with the elementary students by presenting a number of health-related scenarios that could happen at home. They said this helped gauge what the students already knew about safety. None of the THINC students were surprised to learn the majority of the group knew to call 911.

Several students volunteered to check the pulse of and conduct CPR on the high school instructors. One of the volunteers, first-grader Neimiah Clements was excited to participate. He said, “I learned a lot about staying calm when there is an emergency. It’s important so the doctor or person helping you can hear what you say.”

Torielizabeth Camp, a junior at THINC and Troup High, said, “It is important to teach young kids techniques and information that can be helpful in situations where an adult might not be present or responsive. We know the group we had today are young, but it is never too early to teach safety.”