Donated by Hibba Waqar

Be happy. Be healthy. Be HIP. A 6-word phrase that has impacted the lives of thousands of students in Florida. The Health Information Project is a nonprofit organization that aims to educate high school students on physical and emotional health. One teacher here at PPCHS has made it her mission to grow this program and make it reach the lives of students here in Charter. That teacher is the beloved science teacher in S222: Mrs. Maria Pardo.

Mrs. Pardo’s journey as HIP sponsor started at Ronald Reagan Doral Senior High in 2012. She remained the sponsor for this high school for 9 years until she left in 2021. Making her way into the halls of Charter, she knew it was her goal to bring this program to life in her new school. Thanks to her dedicated work, HIP is now a prevalent program that is working to educate Charter’s freshman students. 

“I think it is an extremely important and beneficial program for young people to obtain information about important Health related topics that they otherwise may not be exposed to. That is one of the million reasons why I fight for the program so hard.”

HIP is an organization in which juniors and seniors become the teachers and inform their freshmen peers on health information. To ensure the topics being taught to the students is accurate, Mrs. Pardo dedicates hours after school each month to train the Peer Health Educators (PHE) the lessons they will be discussing. Encouraging candid, interactive discussions as well as important skills needed for the classroom, Mrs. Pardo aims to create an encouraging learning environment. 

After years of sponsoring this organization, Mrs. Pardo explains why she has dedicated so much time to the program. “Students are not exposed to some of this information and they have a lot of misconceptions since they are not educated on these topics. By having these presentations, students now have the information they need to make more informed decisions.”

As a high school teacher, Mrs. Pardo acknowledges the importance of discussing health topics that otherwise wouldn’t be talked about. To ensure students are able to cope with issues like anxiety and mental health, HIP has taken the initiative by discovering the best way to positively influence teens is for them to be taught by their own peers.

Mrs. Pardo’s dedication was awarded in 2016 when she was given the veteran HIP sponsor award that recognized her inspiring work. Although HIP was placed on hold this year due to unforeseen conflicts with scheduling, Mrs. Pardo’s 12 continuous years  taking leadership over this program doesn’t stop here. She remains determined to keep it alive by stating that she will continue to work with HIP until she leaves education. Even then, she is willing to volunteer or even work for the HIP program after retiring. 

Alongside HIP, Mrs. Pardo will continue to encourage the students here in PPCHS to make informed decisions and obtain reliable information about important health related topics. To insure a successful future, the message will remain the same: Be happy. Be healthy. Be HIP!

HIP’S IMPACT

• Partnered with over 100 schools

• Trained over 21,000 high schoolers
• Taught over 425,000 students