The first-ever Columbia Falls High School Health Fair was a success Thursday, according to organizers.

Dozens of high school students and 40-50 members of the general public visited the fair, which featured nearly 40 tables and booths representing local healthcare providers.

“Generating these types of community connections and these kinds of community opportunities is a great way to engage our students in their own healthcare and help them learn about the healthcare resources that are here in the community,” organizer and School District 6 Student and Family Advocate/Homeless Liaison Tamara Sundberg said. “If they have better education an exposure to it, they are more likely to take charge of their own healthcare.”

The event was organized by Sundberg and Montana State University nursing professor Brittany Coburn in the hopes of educating the public about healthcare choices in the area while drawing attention to a number of important health issues.

“Suicide prevention, mental health and general self care are some of the bigger issues we are trying to bring awareness to in our community,” Coburn said. “If we don’t take care of our mental health in addition to eating well and exercising, we can’t ever achieve everything that we are supposed to.”

According to Sundberg and Coburn, the vendors were impressed with the interest shown by the Columbia Falls students and they look forward to hopefully returning for another health fair next year.

“The vendors were really excited about how engaged our students were. They said the students were really excited to participate and they asked some very thoughtful questions,” Sundberg said. “All of the vendors told us they would like us to continue to have the health fair in the future, so that is a good thing.”