Know2Protect

Our student-led Community Awareness project through HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America) focuses on promoting healthy body image, emotional well-being, and kindness toward ourselves and others. As part of the initiative, our team developed and presented an age-appropriate lesson for 5th–6th grade students called “Kindness to Your Body & Mind.” The lesson was designed to support students as they grow by encouraging confidence, self-respect, and empathy in a safe and uplifting way! All content was thoughtfully created for this age group and avoided graphic or sensitive topics, emphasizing positive messages and emotional wellness. We believe in strengthening our youth’s mind and awareness. Our goal with these presentations is to do exactly that, educating on healthy body image through appropriate and non-invasive ways. Through activities and our presentations, we hope to help young minds feel good about themselves and create strong mindsets that avoid putting pressure on themselves and others. 

 

Lynnwood High School’s HOSA awareness project named K2P came to Hazelwood Elementary School to teach students in the 6th grade about body positivity and eating disorders. The focus of this presentation was to inform and spread awareness upon mental health issues like body image and irregular eating patterns. During their time at Hazelwood Elementary, they went over the topics of understanding what eating disorders were alongside being able to find solutions to create confidence and positivity for their self image. Overall, K2P’s goal was to properly educate these students in being able to recognize mental health issues such as eating disorders. We did an activity called “Grow a Garden” where every student was able to build their own flower and write things they like about themselves that don't involve their appearance. This was a metaphor to show that every flower (person) is different, as every flower made was of different colors and shapes. It was to show that we need to look at our inner beauty and value our attributes rather than our outward appearance.

 

As presenters, we learned a lot from the students through their engagement and self reflection during the activity. Many of the sixth graders were initially shy, but as they began creating their flowers and writing positive qualities about themselves, we saw their confidence grow. Their responses showed that they understood the message that worth goes beyond physical appearance, with many choosing traits such as creativity, humor, or simply things they enjoy doing. Seeing how seriously they took the activity reminded us that younger students are capable of deep self awareness when given a safe and positive environment. This experience reinforced the importance of introducing body positivity early and presenting sensitive topics in an age appropriate, empowering way.