YLK SESSION: HEALTH DAY

The Youth Leadership Kearney Class of 31 had the Health and Life Beyond high school day on August 20th, 2025. This was their first session of YLK since last year!

Their day was kicked off at 8am at CHI Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney NE. There they meet with many important faces that help Good Samaritan run the way it does. After they discussed their journey to where they are today, the class was taken to some really cool spots in the hospital not many people get to see!

  Tyler Schwartz was the man who took them to get a closer look at the morgue in Good Samaritan. He gave them a tour of the morgue and a little background info about it as well. Then he uncovered the procedure table in the middle of the room, and everyone was met with the sights of human organs! He talked to the students about all different organs. After that they went into a surgery suit and got a tour of it and a rundown of what goes on in surgery. Lastly the students were taken up to the helicopter pad and got to sit in and learn about the helicopter!

 After Good Samaritan, the students traveled to the University of Nebraska at Kearney. There Sara Bruner talked with the students about all the possibilities of the field of science. They did a couple fun activities as well. The students broke into teams and the first team to put the skeleton together in the correct way won! The next activity was putting an IV into a fake arm. The students dressed up in all the correct gear for surgery and tried to get the needle into the vein.

 Next, also at UNK, Jacob Peterson came and talked about his business. He stated that his healthcare is different from most people because he tries to get closer to his patients and does not just give them medicine and not care about them. He tries to help them and do what is best for them. The last person who talked to the students at UNK was Megan Bellamy. She was kind enough to tell them about her successful light therapy business. MY Wellness Center was built to help people get the light they need to stay healthy and happy!

 After that the students only had a couple more stops to make on their day. One of them being New West Orthopedic and Sports Rehabilitation. There the students met with Brandon Deeds, Janine Walker, Bailey DeVall, and others, and they gave the students a tour of the building, and some of their stories on how they got to the position they are in today!

 The students made their last stop at Prairie Meadows Dental. The students were given a tour of the dental clinic by Michelle Mullin, and Amanda Miller. These ladies also answered questions from the students about how they got the position, what are some of the coolest things they have seen, and many more. The students wrapped up their day by writing thank you cards to all the people who took the time to speak and give them tours of the business they work at, and Jimmy Johns for the amazing lunch they donated!