By Mary Leaver, Editor

A free backpack, school supplies and haircut may have been the draw, but students attending the OKDHS and GOALS Back to School BLAST also received valuable information about health and safety.

On Aug. 17, 478 students attended the annual Back to School BLAST at Fredrick Douglass High School in Oklahoma City, said Dianna Johnson, OKDHS community resource specialist, one of the event’s organizers.

Students attended two, 15-20 minute awareness sessions. Youth in grades 7-12 attended awareness sessions on cyberbullying and personal health. Students in grades 4-6 attended Achieving Lifelong Success, a session designed to motivate and inspire and Stranger Danger, a session to educate children about being aware of their surroundings and suspicious activity in their neighborhood.

Johnson said parents attended Bookworms, with an emphasis on literacy and a session on Bodyworks, designed to educate parents about nutrition and guarding against obesity.

From there, students received free immunizations and sports physicals. Also, fingerprinting, vision and hearing screenings were available.

"There were 49 hearing screens, 64 immunizations, 50 sports physicals and 184 vision screens," Johnson noted.

After completing the education sessions, youth were able to go through the BLAST where free backpacks, toothbrushes and toothpaste courtesy of Ocean Dental, school supplies, socks, underwear and t-shirts were distributed.

"Local barbers gave 160 haircuts to young men and 240 young women received beauty packs," Johnson added.

Johnson said the morning session served 238 students alone.

The annual event has continued to grow. In the first year, 3,000 people showed up. Now, OKDHS clients attend the event by referral only through their caseworker, Johnson explained. In this way, they are able to target 500 clients and they receive referrals to attend. Johnson said this enables OKDHS and GOALS to more effectively serve their targeted population.

Partners for the event were Douglass High School, Mary Mahoney Memorial Health Center, Effective Transitions Inc., Rainbow Fleet, Family Recovery Counseling Services, Guthrie Job Corp, Langston University, Healthy Start, Perma Jessup, Operation LifeSaver, First Step Learning Development, Oklahoma State Health Department, Oklahoma Department of Education, Ocean Dental, D.A.R.E. and Special Seven.

OKDHS also provided on site referrals to more than 50 clients that day. OKDHS workers sent clients directly over to participate, Johnson said.

The event is supported by year-round fundraising and community support is critical, she added.