What’s New

 

Upcoming Safe Sitter Program Dates

The 2008 dates for the Safe Sitter program at RLHEC are January 3, February 9, March 8, and April 12. Would you like more information on the Safe Sitter program?

An Evening with Three Chefs

The Ruth Lilly Health Education Center will hold its seventh annual "An Evening with Three Chefs" on April 26th 2008. This important fundraiser for the Center features three distinguished local chefs creating a mouth-watering and palate-pleasing three-course dinner.

To learn more about An Evening with Three Chefs, click here or contact Anita Ray at (317) 924-0904.

Hip Health Hooray June 2nd

Join us for Hip Health Hooray! - a healthy play day for young Hoosiers. Kids will learn through fun activities and interactive theater programs, enjoy some refreshments, meet a few lovable mascots, and best of all... It's free! Click here to learn more.

Kids in the Kitchen event

Join Jared, from Subway, and 1st lady Cheri Daniels in the kitchen as kids learn some health-conscious cooking habits. Learn more.

IU Professor Cites Need for Prevention

Learn more from IU Professor, Lloyd Kolbe, about the important role that prevention programs play in the quest for national health reform.

Updates to Theaters Continue at RLHEC

Upcoming School Year Will Bring Exciting New Educational Experiences to Center Visitors

The Ruth Lilly Health Education Center (RLHEC) completed improvements to the Nutrition Theater at the end of 2004. Now the Center is renovating the Anatomy, Drug Education, Life Begins, and Omni theaters, aiming to be ready for the new school year this September.

“Our visitors are in for a wonderful sensory experience this fall,” says Verlyn Wilson, RLHEC technology coordinator and project liaison. “The Nutrition Theater is getting high marks from the kids. We anticipate more of the same with the theaters now undergoing renovation.”

As with the Nutrition Theater upgrades, technological innovations lead the list of enhancements slated for this stage of the 21st Century Project.

A Power Mac G5 computer will run the teaching system software, designed specifically for this project. A touchscreen interface will give the Center’s teachers a handy method for operating the system. Teachers will also have the option of using wireless microphones for more freedom of movement during presentations. Wireless keypads will allow students to provide immediate feedback to questions shown on new rear projection screens. The keypad voting/audience response system will tally student responses to on-screen questions in seconds. Special color overlays on keypads corresponding to answer selections will be especially convenient for younger students. Shapes such as circles and squares associated with answers will also appear on the keypads, assisting color-blind students in answer recognition. Audio improvements will include a multi-speaker surround sound system and new acoustic panels.

Sonar Studios, an Indianapolis design firm, is re-shooting approximately 20 high- definition 16 x 9 format videos to be run on the renovated theaters’ new presentation equipment. Sonar is also assisting in video content development in collaboration with the IU School of Informatics at Indianapolis.

Notably, the Anatomy Theater will provide a feast for the eyes. It will feature a 120” x 60” high-definition rear projection flat panel screen that can deliver eight times the resolution as that of any consumer high-definition screen. This state-of-the-art technology, developed by Thomson Consumer Electronics, is not yet available on the market.

TAM, the Centers’ Transparent Anatomical Manikin, will soon be able to reach her Spanish-speaking audiences in the Growth and Development and Drug Education programs. Wireless headsets will be distributed to Spanish-speaking students to enable them to listen to presentations in their native language.

Additionally, a unique 3-D theater is being installed in the Omni Theater by Bowen Technovation, an Indianapolis firm specializing in museum audiovisual solutions. Bowen handled the IMAX Theater® installation at the new Indiana State Museum and has international clients.

So as not to disrupt regularly scheduled Center programming, construction work is taking place after hours during the summer months. Special thanks to all participating vendors:

REI Construction Services – general contractor and project management

CSO Architects – interior and architectural design

MacExperience – Apple G5 computer

Electronic Equipment Corp. – sound system installation

Duncan Video – video display installation

Bowen Technovation – 3-D theater installation

Thomson Consumer Electronics – high-definition flat panel display

Sonar Studios – video and multimedia development

Because progress waits for no one, the RLHEC will continue to develop engaging program content and stay on the lookout for new technology developments to make health education even more effective – and fun!