The Department of Health and Sport Sciences Springs Into Action

Faculty and students in the Department of Health and Sport Sciences have been keeping busy during the spring semester. In just the past two weeks, they have shared their expertise with high school students, run community service projects to improve the health of our neighbors and helped Adelphi students acquire internships, said Emilia Zarco, M.D., associate professor and chair of the department that is part of the College of Education and Health Sciences (formerly known as the Ruth S. Ammon School of Education).

• On two consecutive Tuesdays, March 19 and March 26, the Exercise Science Program hosted approximately 30 high school students from W. Tresper Clarke High School, part of the East Meadow School District, who are enrolled in the exercise physiology course offered by Adelphi’s High School Program. Two exercise science alumni, Tom Abruscato ’92 and Kevin O’Hagan ’05, now teach at Clarke and are working with graduate assistants in Adelphi’s Exercise Science Program to conduct laboratory demonstrations of maximal oxygen consumption tests, body composition tests (hydrostatic or underwater weighing) and exercise EKG for the high school students. Dr. Zarco said Abruscato will also be teaching Adelphi students cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) as part of the Red Watch Band training in coordination with Adelphi’s Substance Abuse Counseling and Prevention program.
• On March 26, staff from Camp Winadu, a summer sports camp in the Berkshires in Massachusetts, visited classes and set up an information table in the Center for Recreation and Sports to share news with students about paid summer internships at the camp, which is attended by about 400 campers for the full seven weeks of summer. “These internships give our students opportunities to develop leadership skills, gain job experience and network with people from all over the world,” said Dr. Zarco, adding that 15 students applied for the internships. She credits Meredith Whitley, Ph.D., associate professor of health and sport sciences, “who connected us to this opportunity through our Sport-Based Youth Development program.”
• During the week of March 25, representatives from Equinox, which operates fitness clubs around the world, “visited several of our sport management classes to introduce their Personal Training Internship program and recruit our students for the second year,” said Dr. Zarco. She thanks Daniel Bedard, clinical assistant professor of health and sport sciences, for maintaining his connections with Equinox.
• Cynthia Proscia, M.A. ’92, clinical assistant professor in the Department of Health and Sport Sciences, has continued to involve our students with Garden Vines, a project she initiated along with Sharla-Renee Hart ’09, M.A. ’14, to address food insecurity on Long Island by establishing food-bearing gardens in Hempstead, New York, elementary schools to provide healthy produce to the children and members of the community. On March 23 and March 30, students from Adelphi Greek life organizations—Tri Delta, Delta Phi Epsilon, Phi Mu, Delta Chi and Delta Sigma Theta—churned compost and prepared garden beds, and members of the Student Appreciation and Recognition of Adelphi Pinoys (S.A.R.A.P.) planted seeds with 12 elementary school classes at Barack Obama Elementary School. Since Front Street Elementary School does not have outdoor space for a garden, Garden Vines provided four classroom greenhouses, soil, pots and seeds to be used for STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) lessons.

• On April 9, the department will again host approximately 60 high school students from Ward Melville High School in Three Village Central School District in Setauket. “This is the 12th year that we are showing high school students Adelphi’s Human Performance Laboratory and telling them about our programs,” said Dr. Zarco, thanking John Wygand, clinical associate professor and director of the Department of Health and Sport Sciences, for this effort.

“We are very proud of our faculty, students, alumni and community partners for their efforts and accomplishments,” added Dr. Zarco. “Through community engagement, our neighbors benefit from our expertise and our students get valuable opportunities for experiential learning. Congratulations, all!”