QUINDARRIUS WHITLEY • Indianola Quindarrius Whitley plans to be a sports physician, but the Class of 2016 graduate got his real start in medicine, he says, by becoming a Junior Master Wellness volunteer. He signed up when the Junior Master Wellness program was introduced in 2014 at Gentry High School’s Indianola Career and Technical Center. Extension agent Ann Twiner partnered with health science teacher Angela Patton to train volunteers about healthy eating and living, as well as stress management and health screenings. Quindarrius now shares research-based health knowledge with school athletes, including track runners and football players, as well as other students. Interacting with his peers has improved Quindarrius’s self-confidence, he says. “When I joined the Junior Master Wellness volunteers, I felt part of something much bigger,” he emphasizes. “It made me feel like I had a confidence booster, and, now, when I talk to people about their health, I’m very confident, and I like to help them.” Quindarrius says using the right words helps him explain health topics and connect with his audience. “Before I started talking to the other students, my teacher talked a lot about being polite to the people we talk to, being social with others,” he says. “It’s important to watch what you say. I like to help, and knowing how to talk to people is helping me help them.” As a Junior Master Wellness volunteer, Quindarrius is sharing important health messages that are improving health among his classmates, he says. “Stress management and healthy eating are my top two things: I’m telling other students that they need to eat better, and I’m showing them how to manage their stress,” Quindarrius says. “People ask me, ‘What can I do to be better, to be more healthy?’ I love talking to them about what they can do.”
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