Twenty Madison Elementary second graders graduated from NDSU’s Great Health Care Adventure after school program on Feb. 24. The children attended six sessions, which took place Wednesday afternoons after school from Nov. 16 to Dec. 7, where they learned about health careers, healthy choices and medication safety. The children received a completion certificate and special NDSU lab coat or scrubs upon graduation. 

NDSU College of Pharmacy, Nursing, and Allied Sciences’ students helped with the project by visiting elementary schools in the Fargo-Moorhead area and teaching students about careers in the healthcare field in fun, interactive ways.

The healthcare sessions were meant to be entertaining and exciting for the elementary students. One session included finding simulated germs, or “Glo-Germs” with a black light to show how germs can hide on hands even after washing them. Other fun sessions included working with puppets to see their lungs, looking at an over-sized vein to show what makes up blood, making homemade X-rays, filling prescriptions, learning how to find a pulse and making healthy choices.

The program is funded by grants from Walgreens and Target and is free to elementary schools. The college has offered the program since 2009.