The Department of Nursing and Allied Health Professions, Department of Health and Physical Education, and Center for Civic Engagement and Student Leadership are working with St. Thomas More University Parish to present the “Step into Spring” Walk and sixth annual health fair April 9, 2011.
The fair is planned from 10:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at St. Thomas More University Parish, 1200 Oakland Avenue.
In addition to the traditional Step into Spring Walk on the IUP track, there will be a bike ride on the Hoodlebug Trail. Participants of all ages can choose a mile-and-a-half or three-mile walk or a three- or seven-mile bike ride. Fitness challenges also will be offered along the route. Bikers must wear helmets, and no bikes with training wheels will be permitted.
Registration for the walk will be from 8:30 to 8:45 a.m. in the parking lot of St. Thomas More University Parish, and registration for the bike ride is from 8:00 to 8:15 a.m. The first sixty to register will receive a free T-shirt.
All who complete the walk or bike ride and return to the registration table will be eligible for one of three prize drawings.
Adults will have a chance to win a three-month membership to the James Mill Fitness Center, Zink Hall, on the IUP campus. IUP students can win a $100 Co-op Bookstore gift certificate.
The winner of the children's drawing can choose either a scholarship to the IUP Footlight Players summer theater program or to the IUP Summer Kids Activity Camp.
IUP students will be eligible for a drawing for a $100 gift certificate to the IUP Co-op Store, provided by the parish.
“This event has become a tradition in our parish and is a wonderful sign of the collaboration that can occur between IUP and others in the greater Indiana community,” the Rev. William Lechnar of St. Thomas More said. “Not only does it show that we can work together, but it shows that we are all truly committed to the health and well-being of the total person—body, mind and spirit.
Lechnar recognized the parishioners of St. Thomas More; the faculty, staff, and students of IUP; and members of the health care and business communities for their contributions to and support of the event.
“We also are grateful to the IUP Center for Civic Engagement and Student Leadership for their support of these students as they reach out to the greater Indiana community to offer health and nutrition information.”
Highlights of the health fair are as follows:
- Peripheral artery disease (PAD) screening, bone density screening, and depression screening, provided by Indiana Regional Medical Center
- Body mass index and blood pressure screenings, provided by Nursing faculty member Theresa Gropelli, Ph.D., and nursing students
- A thirty-minute cooking class, “Fiber with a Flair,” offered at 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. by dietetics interns under the direction of Diane Wagoner, a faculty member in the Food and Nutrition Department
- “Yoga for Stress Reduction,” a forty-five-minute introduction to yoga, offered at 11:15 a.m. and 12:45 p.m. by Dr. Kevin McKee, a faculty member in the Health and Physical Education Department
“Five Wishes” an easy-to-read legal document that lets adults of all ages plan how they want to be cared for in case they become seriously ill, also will be offered for participants. A hospice representative will be on hand to discuss this resource.
More than thirty booths on a variety of health topics will be at the fair. Representatives from several community agencies will join undergraduate Nursing students to present information on topics including bone marrow donation, gastrointestinal disorders, Parkinson's disease, reflexology, and foot evaluations for proper footwear. Participants can also try out the Nintendo Wii Fit exercise game.
Information about the body, germs, and nutrition will be provided for children. Crafts and face painting will be offered by the Catholic Student Association and IUP Nursing students.
Admission is free, and refreshments will be provided. Prizes, including tickets to an Altoona Curve baseball game, gift certificates to local restaurants, and prizes for children, will be given away throughout the day. The grand prize, to be offered during the day, is a Schwinn bicycle.
Parking is free in the IUP parking garage on Saturdays and in the church parking lot.
The Department of Nursing and Allied Health Professions, located in Johnson Hall, offers a bachelor's degree in Nursing and has 520 undergraduate Nursing majors. It also offers a doctoral degree and master's degrees in Nursing in the areas of administration and education.
The department includes more than two hundred undergraduate allied health majors in the areas of respiratory therapy, nuclear medicine, and clinical laboratory science.