Before the COVID-19 pandemic, most school-age kids had never heard the term “epidemiologist.” But a new Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) program is working to change that. 

The goal of the “Inspire” program is to teach kids about the importance of public health and possible careers in the field.

“Public health is pretty invisible. Most people don’t see it at work,” said Katie Stinebaugh, an epidemiologist with MDH.

“We’re really here to make public health visible. It touches all the facets of our life, from the water we drink to how we keep ourselves healthy during respiratory virus season,” she said.

A team from MDH spent Monday afternoon at Oak Hill Montessori Community School in Shoreview. Part of the lesson involved real-life, hands-on cases. For instance, students were asked to work together to try and determine the source of a foodborne illness.

“We are basically food detectives, and we are trying to see what is causing a certain illness,” said 8th grader Oliver Foster.

This is a new program for the Minnesota Department of Health and teams are interested in visiting more schools across the metro.  More information can be found HERE.