AHS Students Helping Shape Youth Health Outlook in Virginia
Posted on 10/10/2024
Students are chosen for the council based on their desire to see positive change in the health of their community. The students provide input on projects to improve youth
health in Virginia.
Meetings cover important public health topics, and the students provide valuable feedback to the Department of Health. Approximately 60 students across Virginia serve on the advisory council. They connect with students across the state commonwealth interested in public health. They explore topics that affect youth such as nutrition, mental health, advocacy, and social connectedness. The students also collaborate with public health leaders. Interested students applied to the Virginia Department of Health last year as part of a selection process.
Chung is a junior at AHS, and she is strongly interested in pursuing a career in medicine related to psychology. Halterman is a sophomore. His career interests include civil engineering, political science, and journalism.
“My interest in healthcare stems from simply helping people. Lifting others up is an amazing thing humans can do for each other and learning a little bit of healthcare knowledge can help both in intense and less intense situations your peers could be in,” Halterman said.
By serving on the VDH’s Youth Advisory Council, he hopes to raise awareness of student health needs and help address chronic absenteeism in schools. Chronic absenteeism has been a nationwide problem since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Students are considered chronically absent when they miss 10 percent or more of the school year — typically 18 or more days. “I hope to try to help better day-to-day health and also try to rebuild a pre-COVID absence record. Absences especially are important now as a lot of my peers are now marked chronically absent. I hope on the council there is some sort of policy I can support that would help bring down this number and also make sure people can leave sick when they need to,” Halterman said. He says he’s leaning toward a career in journalism because “spreading information to others freely gets easier and easier every day because of new technology and it would be a dream to be able to take part in that.”
Chung is interested in a medical career because of her strong desire to serve others. “It may be something psychology or psychiatry-related. I would like to help people deal with mental health issues,” she said. “That was one of the main points I put in my application for the Youth Advisory Council.”
The council held its first virtual meeting on Sept. 19. Another meeting was scheduled for Oct. 10. The meetings are co-led by two youth advisors and employees at the Virginia Department of Health on the Adolescent Health Team.
Chung said she intends to use her role in the advisory council to be a strong voice for the mental health needs of youths. “People my age don’t get the recognition they deserve, especially with their mental health and how they are dealing with things going on in their lives,” she said.
Chung and Halterman are part of the Alleghany Highlands Advancement program in Alleghany Highlands Public Schools. The program was launched in 2002 as Alleghany Highlands Healthcare Advancement (AHHA). This year, the program became known as Alleghany Highlands Advancement after it was broadened to include students interested in law and political science. Students may now choose from AHA: Healthcare and AHA: Law and Political Science opportunities.
“I am excited to hear Elijah and Joowon were selected to serve on the VDH Youth Health Advisory Council! Their involvement not only gives them a platform to address important issues that youth in Virginia are faced with but also helps ensure that the voices of young people are heard in decision-making processes,” said Ginni Phillips, AHA coordinator for Alleghany Highlands Public Schools. “The Alleghany Highlands Advancement programs in healthcare and law and political science are affording our students opportunities to serve in leadership roles, and are making an impact across the Commonwealth,” she said.
Virginia Senator Chris Head of Roanoke visited Jackson River Technical Center on Aug. 29 and spoke to students interested in both AHA areas. The senator offered a unique perspective to students because he is involved in healthcare, politics, and law.
Head owns a home healthcare business in the Roanoke area and as a politician, he is one of 40 senators in the Virginia General Assembly. The General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere.
“We were very fortunate to have Senator Head visit and talk to our AHA: Healthcare and AHA: Law and Political Science students. Hearing firsthand about the senator's educational and professional journey from his healthcare business to public office allowed our students to hear how leadership roles can overlap,” Phillips said. Events that help students connect across the career fields of healthcare law/political science are useful to both AHA programs.
With approximately 2,700 students, AHPS was created when Alleghany County Public Schools, Covington City Public Schools, and Jackson River Technical Center merged in July 2022. The school division is jointly funded by Alleghany County and the City of Covington.
AHPS news and events are regularly updated on Facebook at AHPublicSchools and Instagram at ahpublicschools. Information is also available at www.ahps.k12.va.us.