Penn State students did their part to ensure the well being of a future generation Friday at Park Forest Middle School's Wellness Day.

Penn State students from RPTM 356 (Recreation Park & Tourism Management, Event Planning) and a committee at the middle school arranged the Wellness Day with the purpose of promoting healthy food choices and lifestyle as well as emotional wellness, said Poppy Gatto, Family and Consumer Sciences teacher.

The students and the committee began planning the day in spring, and the committee plans to continue promoting the lessons of the day in the future. For example, teachers can give children homework freebies and appoint them as classroom leaders instead of rewarding them with candy, Gatto said.

RPTM 356 requires six to eight students to plan a large-scale community event a minimum of three-hours long with at least 50 people in attendance, said Kathleen Raupach, instructor of the day's eight event planners and former student of Gatto.

Raupach had Gatto for Family and Consumer Sciences "a long, long, long time ago," in the '70s when Gatto had a different last name.

Among the many vendors entertaining children in the school's gym, the Schneider Valley Farms Dairy table was the favorite of sixth-grader Garret Warner because he got chocolate milk out of it. The nearby Kegal's Produce table was the least favorite of Warner because "I tried mango and I really didn't like it," he said.

At the other end of the gym, Bonnie Barry, Family and Consumer Sciences teacher and Gatto, led a small army of students who blended orange smoothies together and dished out dozens of samples in Dixie Cups.

"They're proving that teenagers are not drinking enough milk," Barry said, adding that the purpose of the smoothie stop was to promote calcium consumption. The drinks contained about four times as much milk as sugar.

"Seeing [their] hard work coming out on top" by "doing something good for the community" was a reward for the event planners, said Sean Pender (sophomore-RPTM) who was one of the eight.

Additionally, seeing children score Anthony Morelli's autograph was a reward for the event planners. Morelli, wearing a T-shirt identical to what the planners wore and a nametag identifying him only as "Anthony," stood behind the canned food drive booth. While his face was solemn, the nose-less face drawn on his nametag had a big smile and a little boy who scored his autograph appeared very happy.