1 A student’s reflections Finding courage by trying new things Hero class had worked on a video with a group of college students who were helping a school in Sierra Leone build a well. Children in that country often don’t have clean water to drink or bathe. I also was chosen from my school to attend a Healthy NewsWorks book signing. I had contributed to an article in Leading Healthy Change In Our Communities 2018 about Dr. Alex Ortega, a professor at the Dornsife School of Public Health at Drexel University. It was a great experience. I met and greeted people and signed copies of the book. I was proud to be a part of this project. I used to be the quiet person in the corner who hardly raised his hand. But being involved in Healthy NewsWorks helped me find courage. Now I know it’s OK to make mistakes. There will be people to help me along the way. I have become the person who raises his hand and participates in whatever I can be involved in. Through my time in Healthy NewsWorks, I was able to go on interviews, Skype with children in Africa, try new foods, illustrate, and write. Now, I even have drawn the cover illustration for Leading Healthy Change In Our Communities 2019. I hope to be involved in this program and others like it even after I graduate from St. Veronica. — By Dominic Rivera Dominic is an eighth grader at St. Veronica Catholic School, an Independence Mission School. At the beginning of fifth grade, my class and I were introduced to a new program in my school called Healthy NewsWorks. I was nervous for a while. Just before we published our second newspaper edition, my teachers asked the class the question, “Would anyone like to illustrate a drawing for our newspaper?” I raised my hand as quick as lightning hitting the ground. They chose my illustration of an apple tree that went with an article about the many kinds of apples in the world. That’s when I realized that I need to try more things, because you never know if you’re good or bad at some- thing if you don’t try. My fifth grade class also went on a trip to Quest Diagnostics, where I interviewed a scientist for the first time. I was nervous at first, but he was welcoming. We talked about his profession. He looks at specimens under a microscope and checks them for diseases. After gathering all the information, we edited and published the article in our St. Veronica Healthy Hero. I had the privilege of talking to children in West Africa on Skype. Earlier that year, my Healthy