A school nurse at Vista Verde K8 School, Irvine CA, designed a school-wide health exploration model entitled “2010 Health Odyssey” to help the students develop good mental and physical health habits. Those participating in the “Odyssey” were challenged to become aware of their present state of health as it related to their chosen topic, to collect information about that topic, project their life into the year 2010, and formulate a plan for their optimum health lifestyle. Topics included diet, nutrition, physical fitness, avoidance of major health problems, dental health, the brain, artificial hearts, social problems and stress reduction. Teachers worked with multi-age groups to select a topic for investigation.

- One group of 4th and 5th grade students studied the effects of sugar on the brain together with some college students in a University of California, Irvine laboratory.

- Another group of students went to a senior citizen center and asked the residents: “What do you wish you had done to have better health than you have today?”

All their investigations were presented and documented. One teacher coordinated the videotaping of all student presentations while another teacher photographed special events. This was long before the advent of the Internet!

The partners for this project included University of California, Irvine, senior citizen centers, dentists, doctors, hospitals, sports centers, local police, accident investigators, paramedics, and health insurance companies.