Chester Barrows Elementary School is excited for their upcoming community health and wellness fair, scheduled for Thursday, April 26 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. on the school grounds.

“The goal is to promote healthy habits, to share information about the benefits of healthy eating, physical activity and other healthy habits,” said Principal Janet Antonelli. “We are also excited about involving all of the families of our students. This is a free event, we want it to be accessible to everybody so that everyone is more informed and aware of health and wellness. It’s our way of being proactive and of addressing health and wellness concerns. There will be movement activities and music.”

The event was spearheaded by faculty member Sherry Gemma and school nurse, Dawn Harty.

“As a school nurse, a primary focus is disease prevention as well as healthy promotion,” Harty said. “If students are equipped with the tools they need to remain healthy, whether it’s physically, emotionally or socially, we will have lower absence rates and increased learning and positive school experiences. A health and wellness fair is a great way to educate students, families and the community about various health topics in order to create a relationship between health and learning.”

According to Gemma, there are many non-profit organizations participating in the event, giving students a wide variety of topics to explore.

Organizations include the YMCA, American Heart Association, CCAP, RI Department of Health’s Asthma Program and Skin Cancer Prevention program, Neighborhood Health Plan, Aramark Food Service, The Center for Resilience, West Bay Smiles, and the Cranston Fire and Police Departments.

Many organizations also donated prizes for the raffle that will take place that night. Each student who attends will receive a free raffle ticket for the raffle. Raffle prizes include a BMX bike and helmet, four PawSox tickets, $150 value movie party at Artist Exchange, $100 league gift certificate at Teamworks, Laidback Fitness monthly membership, a free YMCA birthday party and gift cards to Launch, BounceU, Dave and Busters, Biomes, Mulligan’s Island, Clayground and Essence Yoga. More exhibitors and prizes are being added each day.

“The fifth-grade students are also creating information boards about things like stress relief, sugary drinks, and hand washing,” Gemma said. “They are also creating a Health Jeopardy game. As a teacher, hosting a health and wellness fair at school is a great way to share information with students, staff, families and the community about healthy eating, physical activity, health services, and other local health and wellness resources. It’s an opportunity to build relationships with local community organizations and non-profit organizations that support our school health initiatives.”

Weather permitting, several of the events will be held outside.

Antonelli has been speaking to the Barrows students about the upcoming event and said that they are very excited for it.

“We hope to make this an annual event,” she said. “We are calling this our first-annual health and wellness fair.”