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Story posted March, 2008

Results:
• 50% drop in suspension rate
• 10% increase in attendance rate
• 90% of Family Fitness Night participants are eating healthier and exercising more

What do college students, an Ivy League university, an urban health crisis and teenagers living in poverty all have in common? Too many times, the answer is "not a thing" but at Sayre High School in West Philadelphia connections are being made that could very well save lives.

Responding to the issues that plagued his students - violence, gangs, drugs and a lack of access to basic health and dental care - the principal of Sayre School approached Penn's Center for Community Partnerships (CCP) in 2002 with the idea that having a health center on site would be a boon to the students and the community. Around the same time, a group of Penn undergraduates were focusing their efforts on helping to solve the healthcare crisis in West Philadelphia. The students' research and work with the community led them to propose the establishment of a community health promotion and disease prevention program at Sayre.

Sayre High School is now the site of UPenn's University-Assisted Community School Initiative and houses the school-based community health center.

Sayre's entire student population is eligible for lunch subsidies and all of its 700 students are African- American. Sayre's HPDP curriculum focuses on preparing students for careers in the health field. Learning is active here: Sayre and Penn students learn about health and careers together in the classroom, apply the knowledge via service-learning, and educate others in the community.

Penn faculty and students in medicine, nursing, dentistry, social work, education, law, and arts & sciences, work at Sayre through internships, courses, and research projects. The curriculum is designed to not only teach students about health, but also to prepare Sayre students to deliver health promotion and education to the community. In a Medical Intake Procedures course, for example, Sayre eleventh-graders work along with Penn students to learn to perform basic medical intake operations, including how to record blood pressure, height and weight, glucose levels, reflexes, and vision. Students also learn about prominent health problems in the community such as hypertension, obesity and diabetes. At the health center, which opened in 2006, students then apply what they have learned to assist Penn doctors and health professional students in providing intake services, medical information, and referrals for community patients.  Students are learning by actively serving their community.

As a city-funded Beacon Centers site, Sayre extends its health focus into the after school hours through a variety of academic, enrichment, and fitness programs for youth of all ages. On Saturdays, Penn uses Sayre's gym to hold youth basketball league games; on weekdays, Penn volunteers conduct after school practices and tutoring sessions for students in the league.

Since this program began, school attendance has increased 10% between 2005-06 and 2006-07.  More students now consider careers in medicine due to the health-field pipeline program.  Ninety percent of Family Fitness Night participants say they are eating healthier and exercising more.

Additionally, Sayre graduated its first cohort of parents and students from REACH, an anti-truancy program, last January.  Since then, participants have been more involved in the school since the end of the program.

Further details about this story can be found in our sources:
www.communityschools.org

For additional information please contact:
Cory Bowman
215-898-5351
bowman@pobox.upenn.edu