“I Like Your Eyebrows”

The title will make sense shortly!

After a fun and highly successful day on Tuesday with drunk driving prevention, Ashley and Britin switched gears to a more personal topic for health promotion today–body image.  Honestly (and I hate to admit this), I was not expecting much as far as participation from the students at the high school.  Boy, was I wrong!

We continued in the alternative class with about 14 students again.  Ashley and Britin did a phenomenal job with this topic, teaching and connecting like seasoned pro’s.  It even gave me pause to consider how I consider my own body image.  With some great examples on how to work on improving body image with positive self-talk and a reminder that we are always harder on ourselves than others are, the students were genuinely interested in the topic.

The activity for this topic was, “Do You See What I See?”–students were paired up and asked to list positive things about their partner.  After each wrote these down, the papers were returned to the partner to allow the student to see how others view them and to recognize that they do have positive attributes.  Some of the things that were shared were: you are a great friend…a good listener…you are funny…I like your eyebrows…and more.  Students were asked to keep these lists and pull them out on days when they are feeling bad about themselves as a reminder of their good traits.

After visiting this class, we moved up to the foyer again, and immediately went to work.  Students at the high school are now seeking Britin and Ashley out and seem to be quite comfortable with them.  It is interesting to watch the dynamics at play in the high school–I remember the challenges vividly and body image was a big part of those challenges.  I see the kids here, who have it much tougher than I ever did, and I hope that they can see their worth and know that they have much to offer.

It’s been a long day, and I am struggling to find the words to put the day in perspective so I will stop typing!

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