At summer camps across the region, kids are playing football, tie-dying T-shirts and building mock volcanoes. But at one WashU summer camp, students are making art to explore an unlikely topic: public health.
The LIGHT Creativity in Public Health Summer Camp encourages students to tap into their imaginations and lived experiences to create artwork, poetry and stories that communicate the importance of health and science.
“As a field, public health rarely considers children as experts of their own health and well-being. Our goal is to give children that voice through art,” said Juliet Iwelunmor, a professor of medicine and associate director for global health and dissemination at WashU Medicine and director of the school’s Light Institute for Global Health and Transformation, which hosts the summer camp for elementary and middle school students.
During the one-week camp, children engaged in various creative practices such as writing, zine-making, drawing and more. They also heard from a range of speakers, including faculty from the new WashU School of Public Health, local medical experts and community activists. They also dove deep into the concept of trust — why it matters in their relationships and how to build it in their communities.