The Byrnes Health Education Center continues to grow to be a leading resource of innovative, high-quality, effective health education. This growth has driven the emergence of four educational platforms: Teaching Theaters, Outreach, Adult Education and eLearning. To date, over 2 million children and adults have discovered the wonders of life through our dynamic health education programs. They are inspired to take charge of their health.
A visit is an exciting multimedia experience. Innovative programs are led by exceptionally qualified health educators and are enhanced by amazing, interactive exhibits. All programs and exhibits meet many National and State Education Standards and were designed in conjunction with local school representatives to enhance classroom curriculum.
Health education programs are taught in five high-tech Teaching Theaters located in York, PA. Each theater highlights an important area of health and is named for the topic of emphasis: Substance Use and Abuse Theater, General Health Theater, Nutrition & Fitness Theater, Family Living/Life Begins Theater, and Body Shop for Early Learners.
Visitors come from across Central PA and Northern MD to participate in one of over 40 program offerings on topics such as nutrition, tobacco prevention, dental health, puberty, the five senses, anatomy, safety, and fitness, just to name a few.
To reach additional students and to further the message of healthy lifestyles, we provide outreach programs that are delivered directly in school classrooms. The onsite classes include a learning session on a particular health topic, hands-on activity stations, and an organ dissection. Parent volunteers aid in the learning process and help to reinforce the learning points at home.
Dynamic, interactive programs are also available for adults. We offer a full spectrum of services for the workplace, designed to assist employees and their family members in making healthy lifestyle changes. The Byrnes Health Education Center has successfully developed programs for businesses with 10 to 3,300 employees, in diverse areas such as manufacturing, construction, offices and schools.
Programs are custom tailored to a companies unique business needs and health risks of employees. While some companies are looking for a complete wellness plan from assessment to implementation, others seek to supplement a current wellness program with a few "lunch and learn" programs or activities that encourage ongoing staff involvement. Wellness Works services include customized corporate health assessments, coordination of employee wellness team, development of a strategic wellness plan, dynamic onsite health programs, personal health coaching and more!
LearntobeHealthy.org is a FREE online health science learning site designed to help educators and parents communicate health concepts to students, while engaging students in a medium they enjoy. LearntobeHealthy.org is currently comprised of four separate and very different websites. The two sites for adults - the Parents/Teachers site and the Community site - provide classroom teachers, community leaders or parents with a series of high quality Internet-based educational activities and lesson plans. The eLearning kits enable school teachers the flexibility to choose activities that are done in collaborative groups, independently, or teacher-led. Each kit employs a variety of media and educational modalities, such as animation, vivid graphics, and sound effects, to make learning fun.
The Kids site is for students in grades 1-6 and is in the form of a fully interactive elementary school in which students explore and access games and activities is fully animated, almost like a video game. The students can navigate through the halls, head to their locker where they find health tips and other fun resources, or dive right in to an interactive health education game. The Teen site dedicated to students in grades 7 – 12 is more sophisticated with streaming video and peer hosts. Both sites feature a journal where students can track food intake, physical activity, water consumption, and how they feel that day. Our hope is to help students link their lifestyles back to mood, scholastic achievement, and overall wellness.