Holy Trinity School elementary students Matthew Janicki of Cameron Park, 7; Rachel Harvey of Cameron Park, 8; and Solita Miller of El Dorado Hills, 7, eye pumpkins in their school garden, just in time for their Harvest Festival.

Mercy Hospital of Folsom continues collaborating with area schools and partners through our Growing Well with Mercy program. The program supports school gardens, such as the most recent addition at Holy Trinity School in El Dorado Hills, as part of our efforts to promote healthy lifestyles, prevent obesity and Type 2 diabetes.

Principal Trisha Uhrhammer said she’s advocated for the garden since taking her leadership role at the school. “Each class will have age-appropriate ‘labs’ in the garden,” she explained, “and the educational component of the garden will also include a lesson in compassion, so that children learn how their labor can benefit others.” Produce from the garden will be donated to The Upper Room in Placerville, where meals are served to those in need. Monsignor James Kidder told the students that there is no better way to share than giving “God’s food for all people.”

For more information about the Growing Well with Mercy program or to volunteer, please call Jan Wilcox, Community Outreach Specialist, at 916.817.8673.

The PARTY program—which stands for Prevent Alcohol and Risk-Related Trauma in Youth—targets teens in their freshman and sophomore years of high school, before they get behind the wheel of a car. Modeled after a successful program in Canada, PARTY is one way to make sure teens stay safe and sound.

For Zachary Dryer, who attended the program as a freshman at Oak Ridge High School, PARTY had significant meaning. “It makes you think about the consequences of your actions on your family and friends,” he says. Now a junior and driving, Dryer still thinks about the lessons he learned.

According to Johanna Cunningham, cofounder of PARTY in Northern California, the results have exceeded her expectations. “When my partner, Vicky Fitzgerald, and I started thinking about the results we wanted to see, we would have been happy if we turned one or two teens around. However, we see now that this age group is really being affected by the interactive nature of the program.

“Ninety-five percent of the teens who attended the program say they have changed how they think about risky behavior,” says Cunningham. “Ninety-six percent say that since attending PARTY, they will not get into a car with someone they suspect has been drinking.” The behaviors addressed in the program range from alcohol and drug consumption to texting while driving.

Mercy Hospital of Folsom and PARTY recently have begun their third year of working together. The program takes place in the Willow Creek Medical Office Building on the hospital campus. During the program, one of the breakout sessions takes students through the hospital’s Emergency Department to see where accident victims are treated.

One important goal of PARTY is to increase communication between parents and teens. “Parents are still the most powerful influence on teens and their behavior,” says Fitzgerald. “Parents need to remain involved in what their teens are doing and who their friends are.”

During the 2011–12 school year, PARTY expects to educate up to 1,000 students from Folsom, Vista and Oak Ridge high schools. For more information, visit partyprogramca.com, e-mail partyprogramca@yahoo.com or call 916.798.4297.