A Seventh-day Adventist Boarding Academy Serving Native American Youth Since 1946
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Health Emphasis Weekend with Dr. Zeno Charles-Marcel
ave you ever heard of piccadilly? It’s one of our students’ favorite treats. It’s essentially a snow cone with chopped pickles and KoolAid. Or how about Flamin’ Hot Cheetos? Then there is the Navajo traditional food called fry bread, which serves as the base for Navajo tacos. These foods have two things in common: they are nutritionally void, and they are staples in our students’ diets. One of the main emphases that we have here at Holbrook Indian School (HIS) is health. From mental health to physical health to spiritual health, we strive to instill in our students the importance of maintaining a healthy equilibrium in their lives in order to succeed and to be the best version of themselves that they can be. Many of our students have not been exposed to an education that involves health, and it is important to us that we give them the best advantage while here at HIS so that when they graduate, they are better equipped to handle what life has to offer them. On March 27th, HIS welcomed guest speaker Dr. Zeno Charles-Marcel during our health emphasis weekend. The purpose of his visit was to reinforce the health concepts that we’ve been trying to work on throughout the whole year with our students. He shared insights on how our health is important when it comes to connecting with our Creator God. We were
38 Pacific Union Recorder
Holbrook Indian School
very grateful for his willingness to share with staff and students alike the wisdom and knowledge that he’s gleaned over the years regarding health and our relationship with God. Charles-Marcel is a well-known medical doctor in the Adventist church. He is mostly known for having started the first lifestyle center, based in Oklahoma, called Lifestyle Centers of America. For years, he worked together with Dr. David DeRose, developing the program for this lifestyle center, educating volunteers and attendees, and setting a standard that other lifestyle centers would eventually follow. Charles-Marcel has been involved in self-supporting ministries and hospital work for many years. He currently serves as the Senior Health VP for the Adventist Health Ministries department at the General Conference. Health Emphasis Weekend is just one initiative that supplements Holbrook’s four core pillars that we call MAPS: Mental, Academic/Artistic, Physical, and Spiritual. We are very grateful for important guests like CharlesMarcel, who take an active interest in our little school in the desert. God always brings the right people to our students, and we give Him praise for showing such care for them. ____________________ By Kimberly Cruz