Teen Health Leadership Program Students make Presentation to the National Library of Medicine in Washington, D.C.

Charleston, SC - Students and faculty of the Teen Health Leadership Program (THLP) recently returned from a successful trip to Washington, D.C., which took place Thursday, April 29 to Sunday, May 2, 2010. The Teen Health Leadership Program is a collaboration between the Communities In Schools program at St. John’s High School on Johns Island, S.C., and the College of Nursing and Medical Library at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in Charleston, S.C. The Teen Health Leadership Program is funded by a grant that was awarded to the Medical Library at MUSC by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) in Washington D.C.

The highlight of the trip was a presentation that the students made on Friday, April 30, 2010, to the senior staff of the National Library of Medicine, a division of the National Institutes of Health. The students presented the research and community outreach findings that they conducted on Johns Island earlier in the year. The THLP seeks to increase health literacy through access to quality health information, develop young leaders, and support student’s community engagement.

“These students deserve a hardy congratulation on their successful presentation. It was a good way to educate our national leaders about health issues facing the residents of Johns Island, the fourth largest island on the eastern coast of the United States,” commented Derek Toth, Student Support Specialist with Communities In Schools.

On the trip were six seniors at St. John’s High School including (left to right in picture) Michael Smith, Dorshinia Heyward, Dedre Lowry, LaKenya Wright, Chelsey Opoku and Priscila Zuniga. In addition, Melissa Cox and Candace Moorer from the Medical University of South Carolina, Tracy Lyles, science teacher at St. John’s High School and Derek Toth, Student Support Specialist with Communities In Schools attended the trip.

Communities In Schools of the Charleston Area, Inc. is a local nonprofit organization whose mission is to surround students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life. The overarching goal of CIS is that all students complete high school. Celebrating 20 years of excellence, CIS has helped students improve attendance, behavior, grades, and make better choices to support their academic goals. CIS provides dropout prevention services in Charleston and Berkeley counties to 4,500 students and their families in nineteen public schools. For more information about CIS please visit our website at www.cischarleston.org.

For more information about the THLP Program contact Coordinator, Melissa Cox at coxme@musc.edu.