Growing up as “the minority kid” in school isn’t easy, but it helped Brenda Frutos develop a passion for fighting for health equity among Latinos. Frutos not only earned her master’s degree in public health from West Chester University of Pennsylvania, she also is working as a certified health education specialist. She provides research and technical support in the Department of Family Medicine at Lehigh Valley Health Network in Pennsylvania, and also has experience helping with interventions in breastfeeding among underserved women. Motivated by the hard work of her significant other who overcame challenges to reach medical school, Frutos wants to continue pursuing more education. Frutos applied for the Éxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training program, which ...
Teachers in Betty Jane Elementary School in Akron, Ohio noticed kids were restless and not paying attention in class. Although testing is right around the corner, the school principal increased time for recess 15-20 minutes everyday. Schools play a huge role in helping kids reach their recommended daily physical activity, which boosts their mental and physical health, as well as their academic performance. Betty Jane Elementary also does a "Fit Five" brain break every morning, which is five minutes of physical activity in the classroom. Test scores improved from the fall to spring semester. The students' social skills are also thought to have improved given additional time in an unstructured setting. It is important that teachers and school officials understand that ...
Jose De Jesus’ grandmother had to cook Puerto Rican “mofongo” (Puerto Rican dish) on a large enough scale to nourish him and his six siblings. In the same way, a successful health intervention or program needs to be applied in order for people to receive the health benefits. That’s why De Jesus wants to tackle health disparities by applying and implementing proven programs to bring things like cancer prevention and physical activity to kids and families. He’s already helped many people in need as a health educator by working on several social issues, such as homelessness, criminal justice, mental health, and job development. The elimination of cancer health disparities is his newest passion. That’s why De Jesus applied for the Éxito! Latino Cancer Research ...
Currently, 1 in 4 kindergartners nationwide are Latino. By 2050, that number will be 1 in 3. Latinos are the fastest-growing population in the country and they are also becoming the youngest. However, many disparities in education exist between Latinos and other races and ethnicities. A new report from the Child Trends’ Hispanic Institute uncovered some alarming findings regarding Latino kindergartners and their math skills. According to the report, Latino students, on average show up to their first days of school three months behind their white peers when it comes to their mathematics abilities. While they “make up ground” throughout the school year, the achievement gap remains because they start so far behind. “One of the best ways to not be behind the starting gate at ...
Physical activity. Proper nutrition. Shayda Dioun is not shy about trumpeting these two big ways to prevent cancer. Dioun, a public health student at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, is already making an effort to push nutrition and activity as an intern for the San Antonio Mayor’s Fitness Council. She also mentors kids from low-income families. Dioun is interested in applying for a PhD program and applying nutritional and fitness concepts to cancer prevention, especially among minority populations. That’s why she applied for the Éxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training program, which recruits 25 master’s-level students and professionals for a five-day Summer Institute to promote doctoral degrees and careers studying Latino cancer. ...
Jackeline Ruiz of Los Angeles has a big heart. She learned compassion from her mother, who instilled strong faith on her and served as an example by always working hard to make friends and family feel welcome and loved. Ruiz’s compassion spills over into the tremendous effort she’s made as a health worker to improve the health of immigrant families. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in political science at Santa Clara University, Ruiz spent two years living in community and working with a community clinic as a referral coordinator, patient navigator and health educator. Ruiz is interested in working more with Latinos who face chronic health conditions, especially those who struggle with healthcare access and preventive care. To increase her training, she applied for ...
After United Way's Young Leaders Society, the Robla School District and the Health Education Council helped raise over $25,000 dollars to provide hydration stations at each school in the Robla School District (54% Latino), the district went a step further for health, literally. How? In the fall of 2015, after the Health Education Council met with students in their classrooms educating them on sugary beverages, the council also met with a small parent group at Taylor Street Elementary School to teach them about how to "Rethink Your Drink", educating parents on how much sugar is in the average soda, juices, and teas. Parents learned so much from the workshop that they wanted to know what else they could learn about. This conversation led to weekly nutrition workshops provided by ...
When she needed more money to support her own private-school education, Angelika Gutierrez became the youngest teller at a New Jersey bank at age 16. That’s how hard Gutierrez will work to achieve her goals. Now, buoyed by her resilient upbringing by her abuelita (grandma), the Ecuadorian-Puerto Rican went on to become a first-generation college graduate and now is a master-degree public health student at Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health. Gutierrez has a passion for studying the U.S.-Puerto Rico relationship’s effect on Puerto Rican health disparities, and strengthening the health systems in Latin America. That’s why she applied for the Éxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training program, which recruits 25 master’s-level students and professionals ...
Jose Ramos never gives up. He learned how to persevere from his mother, who survived breast cancer. So, after becoming the first in his family to graduate high school and college, Ramos is aiming high for an MD/PhD. He is currently studying global disease as a master’s student at Columbia University. He has an internship with the Brazilian Health Association to work on community-based cancer and disease research. Last year, he took another big step—he applied for Éxito!. Today Ramos is among two-dozen 2016 grads of the Éxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training program, which annually recruits 25 master’s-level students and professionals for a five-day summer institute and internship opportunities to encourage pursuit of doctoral degrees and careers studying ...
