Saturday, March 29th was all about fun…Children’s Fun and Fitness and Festival, that is. This year marked Port Huron Hospital’s 25th Annual Children’s Festival and the third consecutive year that the staff from Ross Medical Education – Port Huron has participated in this very popular event. This special festival that the hospital hosts each year is a free event for families in the local community. The goal of the Children’s Fun and Fitness Festival is provide an opportunity for children to become familiar with the hospital environment in a way that is fun and active; getting them excited about their health and fitness at a young age. There are several interactive stations set up throughout the hospital; including a visit to the operating room, ambulance tours, and various stations that include health screenings and educational material and activities.
This is event has become a tradition at the Port Huron Ross Campus; one that several instructors and staff members look forward to each year. This year, instructors; Mary Jo Jobbitt, Angie Wilczynski and Amanda Raab volunteered their time and hosted the “heart” station. They brought their stethoscopes and demonstrated to the children how to hear the human heart beat. “The reactions are priceless; the kids were curious, surprised, and intently focused on hearing their own heartbeat.” said Mary Jo Jobbitt , “It is such a great, fun, free event for children and their parents. It allows families to be exposed to the hospital environment in a non-threating way.” Angie Wilczynski added “You always know when the child has heard their heart beat because their eyes get big and they start to giggle.”
In addition to the heartbeat “lesson” from instructors, there was also a heart ring toss game at the Ross Medical Education booth. “This game has become a favorite over the past few years.” said Faith Kirnberger – Career Services, “the children who have attended in the past look for our table now because they enjoy our station so much.”
The Port Huron Hospital Children’s Fun and Fitness Festival provides a very positive message to young children regarding their health and fitness. This powerful message is one that the Port Huron Ross Medical Campus truly supports and will continue to support for years to come.
Founded in 1882 Port Huron Hospital (www.porthuronhospital.org) has celebrated a rich heritage of community involvement and support for over 130 years. The commitment of community members and the dedication of staff, physicians and volunteers have made Port Huron Hospital what it is today — a leader in healing and your partner in health.