St. Joseph Health Ministries, school districts to bring Dental Olympics to Lancaster County
Vancouver certainly is lovely in February, but you don’t have to cross two time zones and one international border to catch the Olympics.
The 2010 Dental Olympics are coming to Lancaster County.
To celebrate National Children’s Dental Health Month in February, St. Joseph Health Ministries is teaming up with a number of elementary schools – including Stiegel in the Manheim Central School District and Conestoga, Martic and Pequea in the Penn Manor School District – that will each host a Dental Olympics.
The first one – complete with brief opening ceremony – is 9:30 a.m. Feb. 5 at Stiegel, 3 S. Hazel St., Manheim.
The news media is encouraged to cover this or another Dental Olympics. To coordinate a school visit, contact Neal Goulet at 717-566-4541.
The Dental Olympics comprises four activities, overseen by a physical education instructor, that teach students about oral health while promoting physical fitness. The activities focus on brushing, flossing, food choices and what to expect during a visit to the dentist. For instance, “Plaque Attack” pits students – competing as dentists, teeth or plaque – in a game of freeze tag.
St. Joseph Health Ministries (www.sjhm.org) improves the health of children in need within Lancaster County. Its children’s oral health initiative, “Brush. Brush. Smile!,” has provided approximately $2 million worth of free dental care and oral health education to 23,000 children across the county.
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