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Show ID Vernal Express Wednesday, April 3, 1996 o m IPeim paDs IheDp SDovaCtna sftiudleiriitis leairmi ErogDislhi by Vickl Feldt Staff Writer ' Ask any student in Kim Robb's first hour language class what year the Czech Republic and Slovakia countries split, and they will most likely give the correct answer. They may also describe the monetary system and what rock group is currently cur-rently on the top of the charts in Slovakia. So how did this small country, which is struggling toward economic freedom, find its way into in-to the Vernal Middle School's language lan-guage class? Through a bakery. Vernal resident, Brent Anderson, signed up for volunteer work through the International Executive Service Corp, IESC. It wasn't long before his experience in bakery and food service was called upon to help out a large bakery in Slovakia. He and his wife, Renae, packed their bags and traveled to a small town called Vel'ky Krtis. While Brent' went to work at the bakery to teach the workers there about management, advertising and marketing strategies, Renae chose to go into the schools. She visited the English departments every day, and found their schedules to be similar to schools throughout Utah. "The elementary school started classes at 8 a.m. and let out at 4 p.m. They had no lunch hour or recesses, re-cesses, so the children ate their bread and cheese between classes," shares Renae. "The high school students stu-dents started classes the same time in the mornings, but depending on their individual schedules, got out anywhere from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. What is different is when the students stu-dents go into high school they choose which career direction they wish to go into. They specialize in a curriculum at a specific high school, such as Academic High School, Technical High School, Science High School, or Art High School. The kids in Slovakia are more geared toward getting an education. They understand that in order to get out of their poor economic situation, situa-tion, they need a good education so they may change their circumstances. circum-stances. They are also encouraged to learn as many different languages lan-guages that they want. They are still forced to learn Russian, even though they refuse to speak it. While there, Renae developed a good friendship with Magda Gyuraszova who teaches English in the elementary school. "Magda gets a book or poem that is written in English and makes copies of it for the children to learn from. Teachers earn approximately $90 a month, and the schools cannot afford English textbooks for the students, so teachers like Magda use whatever whatev-er they can. I try to send material because they don't have much and are in great need of English reading material. Unfortunately, it is very expensive to send books and literature litera-ture to Slovakia." English seems to be the favorite language to learn as with it comes dreams of an American way of life. Renae explains, "To kids over there, America is the most ideal place to live. They wanted to know every little thing we did, from the moment we woke up in the mornings morn-ings to the time we went to bed. At first this popularity was hard to adjust ad-just to. Brent and I would walk through the park and people would follow and watch us and just wanted want-ed to be a part of us." "Before we left, Magda and her students gave us addresses and asked us if we would find them American pen pals as a part of their English studies. I brought their addresses ad-dresses to the English departments of Vernal Middle School and the junior ju-nior high. The students were excited excit-ed to write to someone their own age in another country," exclaims Renae. The first thing the students from Mrs. Robb's class learned about writing to foreign pen pals was how to mail a letter overseas. Without a second thought, the students rushed to write to their new friends and then dropped their letters in the regular reg-ular mail. A month and a half later, the letters arrived in Vel'ky Krtis. "We discovered we could send the letters air mail and they would arrive ar-rive in eight days," says Robb. The seventh grade students were somewhat surprised to find that their new friends enjoyed movies like "Forrest Gump" and "Casper." A few of the Slovakian students reported re-ported watching "Baywatch" on their television systems. "They are just like us," says Jared Jennings. "Except they have a lot of respect for their teachers," volunteers Gabe Houghton. "They stand when the teacher comes into the room, and they wait until they are told to sit down." The students began looking up facts on Slovakia in the libraries and on the Internet, and gave reports re-ports of their findings in class. Others would read from letters received re-ceived from their pen pals. They learned that Slovakia was once part Students in first hour language class at Vernal Middle School show letters received from pen pals. of Czechoslovakia, and the two countries emerged as independent republics on Jan. 1, 1993. They learned that certain areas of Slovakia are similar to Utah, and particularly Vernal. When asked if this experience made them want to travel outside the United States and to learn different cultures, over half of the class said "Yes." Charity Melo offered to share an important lesson learned from her pen pal and says, "She likes swimming, swim-ming, Janet Jackson and the book 'Girl Talk.' I learned I shouldn't judge someone by how I think they ought to be, but by who they are." Renae Anderson smiles and says, "The pen pal arrangement seems to be beneficial on both sides." V f I ' .1 1 I ' ' t. t .- . -4 L it m Ww M I JJJ ' : ; t-- Students at Vel'ky Krtis find they have many things in common with American students. Younger ladies like Gyuraszova wear modern clothing. PwIbQDC IKleallttlh) ceDebiraes 00 yea irs oi? success Older residents of Slovakia make their own traditional clothing. This , woman's dress is made the same as other elderly residents in her village. National Public Health Week will be celebrating "100 Years of Success" in Utah, April I - 7. Public Health had a meager beginning be-ginning in the Uintah Basin in 1886 with a provisional hospital built at Ft. Duchesne for the cost of S 1 ,959. It was expanded the fallowing year and remained active for years to come, This facility was built as a military hospital and around the turn of the century began to accept Indian paiicnl. Record of bronchitis, bronchi-tis, conjunctivitis, gonorrhea and cholera were among the many ailment ail-ment treated at this early hospital site. In 1889, Congfts officially established es-tablished the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps as a mbilc forte of physicians to assiM the nation na-tion in fighting disease and protecting protect-ing Health. The Corps ssas set up along military lines, with titles and pay corresponding to Army and Navy grades, and member subject to duty wherever assigned. In 1912, ncsv legislation prosided for espansiott of the sefvkc'i re scarvh prngratn to include proWcms other than communicable diseases. A deadly infWn4 epidemic in 1918 further alerted the Nation to the need for a mor tfTiie na tional health fort. The Public Health Service trans femd ttcatly 50 hospitals to the rly srtafed Vderan Administration during the catly 1920s. This cocntrated all health tart and servkts for veterans into a singte agency lit 190, over 180 yean since being a part of the Treary Department the MIS fsf tame pat nf the Department rf Health and Hwman Services. In 1978. tf Uintah Basin Plic Health Department as organised to smvde health servk in Daifftt Dwchwne and Uintah counties. UBPHD is governed by a nine-member Board of Health which is structured to allow for broad representation of all Uintah Basin residents. This week, the UBPHD will be celebrating their efforts to ensure clean water, safe food, better health, injury prevention, healthier pregnancies and births. Their services ser-vices include: Children's Special Health Services; School Health Nursing Services; Women, Infants and Children (W1C) Supplemental Pood, Nutrition and Iklucation; Medicaid case management; Immunization for all ages; communicable commu-nicable disease investigation and control; diabetes education; Family Planning Services; pregnancy testing; test-ing; dental screening and denial health education; birth and death certificate service; and many other health related services. "A long as ssc arc doing our job, no one notice we're here.' says UBPHD director Joseph Shaffer, "Public Health impact everybody When water tap art turned on in the morning, we've been there to check the water quality. Food served in area restaurant arc also checked mil by the UBPHD, Our school nurse look after ick or injured in-jured children at school, and our list goes on and on." Way the U, S. Public Health Serv ice i composed of eight agen-tie. agen-tie. These agencies include: the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research; the Agency for Tosie Substance and Disease registry; the Centen for Dieas Control and Prevention; the Food and Drug Administration the Health Resources and Service Administration; the Indian Health Service (IH51; the National Institute of Health, and the Substance Abe and Mental Health Serv ice Administration. 4' . v' 1 4 1 'O t til - t 1 1 1 1 1 1 I 1 ' - ' I UBPHD nursing director Sharon Hacking hands a congratulatory sucker to young Immunization recipient. Terry Rosenlund, Commissioned Corps worker from IHS Diabetes Center checks bodyfat percentages during Health Fair at Western Park. The IHS currently has 18 commissioned com-missioned officers assigned to the Indian Health Clinic at Ft Duchesne. They include doctors, nurses, dentists, optometrists, health care administrators, pharmacists, pharma-cists, sanitarians, dieticians and sanitary engineers, The uniforms they wear are older style Navy uniform uni-form with modification and different dif-ferent insignia for the Commissioned Corp. The PHS Commissioned Corps will be celebrating health care in the Uintah Basin with an aRernoon of presentation and wminars. The activities begin with a prayer and welcome from Father Richard Memkf and Tom Oann. at I p m. at the Indian Health Clinic in Ft Duchesne. Ethel Grant and John Ncalc, DDS, will present a history of health care on the reservation and of the Commissioned Corps. Marve Weber will present an honored hon-ored award to Dan Tompkins, Indian Health Service Project Engineer of the Year. Wayne Gardner will present a seminar on holistic health; and Darrcl Shavanaus and Gloria Thompson will present traditional practice. A special viewing of the 19 Sundance Film Festival entry "White Shamcn and Plastic Medicine Men" will close out the afternoon's presentations. For more information, please call the Indian Health Clinic at 722-5122. I i -111 ; 'y-if'-( 1 1"-- ' 1 t i j H- i n" 4 rr I wean the John Neais, DOS., Cornmissiorwd Corps. traditional uniform of the |