RUNNING HEAD: RUTH LILY CENTER RESEARCH AND REFLECTION

Ruth Lily Center Research and Reflection

Maree Lowe
Ivy Tech Community College

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INTASC Standard and Rationale

Standard #1: Learner Development

The teacher understands how learners grow and develop, recognizing that patterns of learning
and development vary individually within and across the cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional,
and physical areas, and designs and implements developmentally appropriate and challenging
learning experiences.

Brief Description:
The Ruth Lily Center offers a wide variety of different types of programs to educate children of
all ages about health. I chose INTASC Standard 1 to show my understanding of the importance
of health education in our youth.

Rationale:
In the following assignment, I will be sharing some of the information I obtained from The Ruth
Lily Center. I will provide 3 specific programs that are offered through the facility that can be
very beneficial to children. I will also explain a teacher can take advantage of these programs for
a positive result in their classroom and in each of their students. By reflecting on these topics, I
hope to broaden the understanding of the importance of health education in our younger people
today.

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Ruth Lily Center Research and Reflection
The Ruth Lilly Health Education Center is currently partnered with Marion University.
This health center provides services for multiple counties in and around the Indianapolis
Metropolitan Area. The center offers a wide array of programs geared toward multiple education
and instructional levels. Programs are provided at your site and cost $150 for the first program
and $100 for each additional program provided. Each program is approximately 50 minutes
long.
Nutrition
One educational program offered through the Ruth Lilly Health Education Center is a
program that discusses childhood nutrition. Just by looking at the summaries of the short 50
minute courses offered in this area of research, it is clear that the center is committed to engaging
children in a fun healthy and informative way. For children in grades 4-6, they have developed a
program called Food For Thought. This program will help children recognize and understand
the importance of a healthy diet, learn to read nutrition labels, and create a well-balanced meal.
This program also offers instruction in portion control which is a great avenue to helping combat
childhood obesity. For children in grades 7-8, the Ruth Lilly Health Center had a program called
Food Power. This program encompasses a variety of healthy diet topics for middle schooling
including the benefits of a healthy diet, portion control and nutrition balance. By helping young
adolescence recognize the short-term and long-term effects of childhood obesity, this program
strives to encourage a healthier attitude towards good food choices and exercise.
General Health
Another one of the many health education programs offered by the Ruth Lilly education
center is their General Health program, which works with kids in multiple age ranges. By

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starting as early as three years old, children learn about bones, muscles, body organs, eating
habits and personal hygiene. With these basic tools a young child can learn why it is important to
eat right and act healthy, rather than just receive constant input from a parent. The program
grows with the child, working with physical activity, safety and anytime foods vs. sometime
foods. By expanding the program the child learns about new ways to keep their body in shape
by building on what they have already learned. In first grade the student learns about food
groups, the bone and muscle structure, dental health, germs and feelings. In other words, by this
age the child is learning about more of their body and their emotional well-being to balance out
their physical health. In second grade the student learns about anatomy and senses, among what
they have already learned. In the third and final grade the child learns about cell anatomy,
anatomy function and how to take care of the digestive system. By stacking little by little the
student now has a well-rounded idea of what makes up their health; their outer body, dental,
mental well-being and diet.
Drug Education
In No ifs, ands, or butts students from the fifth to seventh grades will learn how
tobacco affects their body, how the media targets youths and influences their decision-making,
and how stopping use of the substance (tobacco) will ultimately benefit them. The next segment
Up in Smoke targets the next three grades (eighth through tenth) and still focuses on education
about tobacco usage. In addition to learning how tobacco affects their bodies, students in this
program will also learn the costs that come with the usage of both smoking and chewing tobacco;
as well as how advertisements impact societys view of tobacco as well. The final program,
Under the Influence: Drugs, Decisions, and You targets students in the high school grades (that
is, ninth through twelfth). This program stands out from the other two in that one of its primary

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focuses is the valuing of clarification activities. This suggests that an absolute understanding of
the source material is tantamount to progression. In addition to this, this program not only
touches the consequences of tobacco usage, but also that of alcohol and other drugs. The final
aspect of this third program is that stresses that students are responsible for their own personal
behavior.
Conclusion
Teachers can find The Ruth Lily Center to be very beneficial to their overall outreach on
the importance of educating their students about their health. As educators, teachers have quite a
bit of freedom as to how they present certain topics. Some children are not exposed to correct
health information at home and by involving them in a program offered through Ruth Lily, this
can alter a childs life by clarifying their understanding of the subject. Field trips can be arranged
during the school day or the programs can be brought to the actual school. Although the
programs can be a bit pricy, in some cases school districts may fund these experiences. If the
school system does not fund it, educators may have to resort to applying for grants to allow their
students the opportunity to participate.

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References
Ruth Lily Center Programs. (n.d.). Retrieved February 11, 2016, from
http://www.marian.edu/academics/school-of-education-and-exercise-science/ruth-lillyhealth-education-center/programs