Being in an urban setting, textbooks are outdated. There's nothing dealing with HIV, crack cocaine, or even new drugs being approved by the FDA. Stories on mental health, nutritiion, suicide, or sexually transmitted diseases may appear in USA TODAY, and I can use these to show students what's happening in the world. I can show them that it has been documented. Reading the stories makes serious issues more believable to students.
Grover Cleveland has 34 different cultures and and 24 languages. It's multicultural. The scope of USA TODAY is international, but students also get a better grasp of what's happening in the far corners of the USA.
Often I'll have students research health-related articles and make a presentation to the class. They get graded on note taking, presentation, etc.
The exercise gets small groups to work as a team. It gets them to use this instrument for knowledge, because, as we say, "knowledge is power."
That's the key to teaching, you have to make it relevant. You want to make sure they're as prepared as young adults when they leave this school.
