CIBOLO, Texas – A small group of high school students hopes to make a big impact in their community.
The Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City Independent School District students are enrolled in Steele High School's certified nursing assistant program and have come together to help their community tackle the ongoing struggle with diabetes. They've created a PSA to get the word out.
Steele High School senior Vanessa Rodriguez said the diabetes epidemic hits close to home; her mother had pre-diabetes and diabetes.
"I remember trying to help her out," Rodriguez said. "I would take away her sodas and everything, and she would get mad at me. You know, it's an addiction, but she's over it now, and I really want to help people with that."
Now, Rodriguez and her fellow nursing students are trying to help out the community through a PSA, which shows not only the problem of diabetes, but how to do something about it.
"Honestly, if people can just take something from the video, like eating better, exercising, they can start doing that and realize, 'Oh, this is a serious thing. I can actually get diabetes,'" Steele High School student Hailey Watson said.
"It's an eye-opener for some people -- the pre-diabetes," Steele High School student Jose Govea said. "We wanted to inform people about it."
The 30-second PSA was a project the students completed with the Health Occupations Students of America, or HOSA, group. The students are also enrolled in the school's certified nursing assistant program.
"A lot of my students want to go on to be doctors or nurses, so this is giving them experience from the ground-floor up, and if they don't decide that's what they want to do, they know now, instead of going to college and spending a lot of money," health science teacher Krysten Bailey said.
