Blog

Intergenerational Discussions Surrounding Health, Community, & Life                           

On March 15th, Sanna and Matisyn met with Ms. Jessie Howard from the West Philadelphia Senior Community Center. Ms. Jessie Howard is 81 years old and she has been a long time resident in Philadelphia for 79 yers. She grew up in North Philadelphia and experienced schooling in both the catholic and public school environment. She has always been focused on success and she began studying social work but ended up taking a position in the Philadelphia Banking system, doing check processing, data entry, and she retired from The Federal Reserve Bank.

Ms. Jessie enjoys cooking and her favorite food is cinnamon raisin oatmeal which she has every morning and she often enjoys delicious dinners combinations with baked chicken, salmon and oxtail with vegetables such as string beans and cabbage. Ms. Jessie once suffered from serious health and weight management issues so she had to exercise and loose weight. Because of these positive changes and her participation in Ms. Lynns healthy cooking class she has reached optimal health goals.

Ms. Jessie, leans heavily into her faith to find peace, and spends a lot of time participating in church activities and sometimes she finds peace right at home in the quiet. Ms. Jessie also loves going on trips with the Senior Center. She is grateful to be living and loves inspiring her 19 grandchildren to succeed, and stick to their goals.

Take away message: “Stay in School. Study. Whatever your dreams are stick with it, dreams do come true”

Stay Tuned-Full interview video coming soon!

~Emilia Onuonga, University of Pennsylvania ’23

Intergenerational Discussions Surrounding Health, Community, & Life

On February 16th, Ms. Barbara discussed her revived approach to health as she returned from two strokes last year. Since 1956, Ms. Barbara has lived in Philadelphia and sees the value in individual responsibility in improving the community. “As for what the community needs, it needs a lot of forgiveness.” Ms. Barbara finds immense joy and peace in her faith and hopes that Philadelphians can also find inner peace.

Ms. Barbara ensures her food palette is vibrant and nutritious. She was even a vegetarian for a long time due to animal rights concerns. While she is no longer a strict vegetarian, she values the nutrition of fruits and vegetables. As she grew older, Ms.Barbara dietary needs and habits changed. She learned to eat in portions and be more cautious of what was going into her body. Ms. Barbara urges the younger kids in this generation to be aware of what is going into their foods and she wants them to know the functions of each ingredient. 

Today, Ms. Barbara enjoys going to Farmer’s Market and occasionally eating out to learn about different cuisines. Unable to distinguish a favorite food, Ms. Barbara remarked that she appreciated each food due to its unique benefits.  

Take away quote: “As for what the community needs, it needs a lot of forgiveness.”

Stay Tuned-Full interview video coming soon!

~Emilia Onuonga, University of Pennsylvania ’23

Intergenerational Discussions Surrounding Health, Community, & Life                           

On February 1, 12th graders Sanna Gilyard and Anaya Thomas met with Ms. Sudell Cirwithen from the West Philadelphia Senior Community Center. Ms. Sudell loves writing, singing and being a positive role model for young people. Her warm energy resonated with the local 12th graders, and she felt comfortable showing everyone her singing. The three individuals talked about healthy eating, community, and life. For Ms. Sudell, healthy eating meant having a balanced meal that consisted of meat, starch, and vegetables. Ms.Sudell encourages individuals to cook more at home as a healthy eating tip because it’s a more nutritious and financially savvy option. At 82, Ms.Sudell would love to explore being more creative. Her interests in drawing and art resonated with the 12th graders as they both agreed on their love for the arts. Regarding life tips, Ms. Sudell reflected on her isolated life in South Carolina but appreciated her time as it made her more appreciative of life. Her advice for the youth and motto in life is to keep a “Head Up, Pray Up, and Focus on what you’re doing!”

Take Away Quote: “An apple a day keeps the doctor away!”

Stay Tuned-Full interview video coming soon!

~Emilia Onuonga, University of Pennsylvania ’23

Here you’ll find important  information on Spiritual Wellness. This newsletter was created in collaboration with Ms. Tosto’s 3rd period class and Penn Media Assistant.                                  ~Emilia Onuonga, University of Pennsylvania ’23.

Spiritual Wellness Newsletter

Here you’ll find important  information on Emotional Wellness. This newsletter was created in collaboration with Ms. Tosto’s 3rd period class and Penn Media Assistant.                                  ~Emilia Onuonga, University of Pennsylvania ’23.

Emotional Wellness Newsletter

Greetings Everyone!

Check out the progress! Scholars from Ms.Tosto’s health and wellness class had an opportunity to engage in several activities related to becoming agents of change within their school community.

The group explored Dimensions of Wellness while contributing to the HSOTF- Health and Wellness Blog Vol. 2., and they explored the importance of storytelling and learning across generations through the “Be-Wise, Be-Well” project.

The Vlog interviews, summaries and newsletter submissions were created in collaboration with HSOTF’s Athletic Director, Jessica Tosto, Netter/UACS/AUNI Nutrition Education Coordinators, Sophia Canady and Lynn McCullough, Nutrition Systems Manager, Maris Altieri, and UPENN Media Assistant, Emily Onuonga. The following scholars also made a huge contribution as media assistants and interviewers: Sanna Gilyard, Aniya Thomas, Matysin Allen, and Jasir Phillips. Special shout out to Ms. Sudell, Ms. Barbra and Ms. Jessie from the West Philadelphia Senior Community Center for sharing Philadelphia’s rich history, and their perspective on nutrition, health and life.

It’s been a special journey and we thank Principal Smith, the School District of Philadelphia, The West Philadelphia Senior Community Center and the Netter Center for Community Partnerships at the University of Pennsylvania for making this project a success.

WEEK TWO: Financial Wellness

During week two, our goal was to highlight the importance of financial wellness. The youth were taught what financial wellness is, and how they can achieve this category of wellness on a regular basis.

Some of the ways the kids were taught to promote their financial wellness included spending time volunteering, saving money, aspiring towards a career, and more. The students were then posed with three questions to answer to assess their understanding of financial wellness, and they were asked to ask a caregiver these questions as well and record both answers. Below is a summary of how the kids responded to each question, and what they seemed to have taken away this session.

Question One: The first question we posed was: “Have you ever been a volunteer? What skills did you learn?” The answers varied from the kids volunteering in libraries and community centers, to have no experience at all. The kids who have volunteered emphasized that they learned important skills while volunteering, such as organization. The kids who volunteered also noted that they learned it is important to volunteer and give back.

Question Two: The second question we posed was: “What do you want to save money for when you grow up?” The children had varying answers for themselves. The most universal answers that were noted by the kids included saving for a house, car, and education. Some kids said that they wanted to save money just to always have access to money. The caregivers also gave practical answers like “homes” and “vacations”. The goal of this question was to teach the kids that it is crucial to save some of your money because you will always have a purchase you want to make, even later on in life.

~Emily Milgrim, University Of Pennsylvania ‘25

WEEK ONE: INTELLECTUAL WELLNESS

Goals From Week One: During week one, our goal was to illuminate the importance of intellectual wellness. So, the children were taught what intellectual wellness is, and how they can achieve this category of wellness on a regular basis. Some of the ways the kids were taught to promote their intellectual wellness was by picking up a hobby, traveling to new places, reading for fun, learning about a different language, and more. The kids were then posed with three questions to answer to assess their understanding of intellectual wellness, and they were asked to ask a caregiver these questions as well and record both answers. Below is a summary of how the kids responded to each question, and what they seemed to have taken away from the first successful session of the year!

Question One: The first question we posed was: “What are your hobbies? What do you enjoy doing in your spare time? Or what do you wish you had time to do?” The kids’ answers for this question ranged from coloring, to watching TV, to cooking, to playing sports, and more. They also recorded a caregiver’s answer which hopefully encouraged them to see the importance of carving time out for hobbies.

Question Two: The second question we posed was: “Do you imagine yourself traveling to distant places? Have you taken a trip recently and/or do you look forward to future travels?” The children had varying answers for themselves. Some noted they have traveled before and look forward to traveling again, noting special recent trips like beach vacations. Many students noted that they would like to travel to new, foreign destinations like Mexico, Thailand, and more. The kids were able to share their travel goals and acknowledge the role traveling plays in their lives.

Question Three: The third question we posed was: “Why do you think it’s important to be open minded?” This question was more philosophical and open-ended, making it slightly tricker for the kids to answer. The overarching theme from the kids’ answers was that it is important to be open minded because you can learn new opinions and perspectives from other people that you may not have thought of. Many noted that this allows you to learn something new and may encourage you to try something a new way. Overall, while this question was ticky, many students were able to grasp the concept of open-mindedness.

~ Emily Milgrim, University Of Pennsylvania ‘25