MUNCIE, Ind. - Armed with an oversized toothbrush and plastic dentures, Ball State University sophomore Karissa McIntosh showed 300 third graders how to conquer tooth decay.

McIntosh, a 20-year-old elementary education major, was joined by dozens of other aspiring teachers at Ball State’s annual School Health Fair April 6 at the L.A. Pittenger Student Center.

While other information booths focused on nutrition, home safety, fitness, child care and bicycle safety, McIntosh helped students from area schools understand why dental health is important.

"We are trying to inform the students how to properly brush their teeth," said McIntosh of Fowler, Ind. "Now today, some of the kids didn’t want to participate and some weren’t very excited. But, my job as a teacher is to get them excited about doing this and help them learn.

"This is a great way to get introduced to young children," she said about the health fair. "I’ve always wanted to be a teacher because I like to work with young children."

The health fair is conducted each spring and fall at the student center. Ball State students enrolled in the elementary health program class man 10 information booths.

Susan Clark, a physiology and health science professor, said the aspiring teachers should use the fair as a learning experience.

"First of all, this is a wonderful opportunity to work both one-on-one and in small groups with third graders, which is a wonderful experience," she said. "At the same time our students will be able to see how the fair may be used later in their professional careers.

"We concentrated on eight-minute presentations at each booth and then move the children to the next one. The hope is that by focusing on one or two points, the children will take something with them."

For Amber Burkhart, an elementary education major from Greensburg, helping youngsters how to properly change a diaper was an interesting experience.

"A lot of the children knew how to do this already because they have younger brothers and sisters," she said. "At the same time, some of the young boys wanted no part of it while others couldn’t wait to start."

By Marc Ransford, Communications Manager

(NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information, contact Clark at sclark@bsu.edu or (765) 285-8356. Additional information about Teachers College may be found at www.bsu.edu/teachers.)