Health and Wellness Fair returns to Revere High

REVERE – Operating under the influence of “beer goggles,” 18-year-old Nico Luisi tried to walk a straight line that to him appeared curved.”I can’t do this,” he said, pulling off the goggles. “It’s making me feel sick.”The Revere High School senior was just one of hundreds of students who donned the head gear during the Second Annual Health and Wellness Fair.Health teacher Doreen DiRienzo spearheaded the event that brought out about 30 vendors representing mental, physical and financial health to educate students on how to stay healthy in many ways.”Our students are so focused on academics, and rightly so, they don’t get as much exposure to health and fitness issues as they should,” she said.Exhibitors ranged from in-school groups like the high school health clinic, Junior ROTC and The Friendship Club, to financial institutions like Winthrop Federal Bank and Metro Credit Union to service organizations like Essentially Chiropractic, Revere Winthrop Pediatrics and Perfect Dental, were interactive.Miriam Ervin, a mental health counselor and adolescent program coordinator with North Suffolk Mental Health said the point of the beer goggles is to educate.View a photo gallery”Wearing the beer goggles represents four (alcoholic) drinks or so,” she said. “They’re not themselves.”Students took turns tossing beanbags into numbered buckets and trying to walk a straight line. Without the goggles the tasks were simple, with the goggles Luisi said it was funny but also frightening.”You could see my judgment was completely off,” he said. “I thought I was walking a straight line, but it looks curved to me and my feet were all up under me ? it kind of also scares me, too, if that’s really how hard it is I’ll never drink and drive.”Samantha McCarty and Deidre Vaughn from East Boston Neighborhood Health Center Let’s Get Moving, challenged students to give up soda and other sugary drinks. They showed kids how much sugar is contained in Pepsi, Snapple and other drinks by filling the appropriate bottles with sugar.”They’re skeptical at first,” said McCarty.”But then they see the amount of sugar,” Vaughn added.Aramark administrative assistant Linda Murphy invited students to have a reduced fat, whole grain cookie and pick up advice on healthy eating while sophomore Manuela Quintero schooled her classmates on The Power of Know.”We let kids know that drugs and alcohol are not good and why,” she said.”But we call it the Power of Know because we’re not telling them ‘no, don’t do it’ we’re telling them the power of knowledge is better,” added junior Dzeneta Velic.Technology teacher Aislin Davis educated students on “soft addictions,” quizzing them on how often they texted, played video games, watched television or shopped.”They’re not necessarily life-threatening, but they take up a lot of your time,” she said.Treatment however is tricky because organizations are only starting to took at such things as compulsive texting as an addiction.Music, dance exhibitions, a mini-bootcamp and exercise routines also took center stage at the event DiRienzo called a success.”I’m thrilled so many people from the community came to support the kids and that the administration supported the fair,” she said. “It does disrupt school, but it’s really important.”Chris Stevens can be reached at [email protected].