ACC Athletes Join Anderson Middle Schools for Health Program

Seven local middle school groups and four ACC athletes have been selected to participate in the United Way Healthy Teens program.  The Healthy Teens program is a health and wellness literacy program that aims to inspire middle school students to build a better quality of life for themselves, their families, and their communities.  The program is a collaboration between United Way Worldwide, the USA TODAY Charitable Foundation, and the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). 

Under the facilitation of United Way of Anderson County’s focus of health, the Eat Smart Move More coalition is coordinating the program.

ACC student-athletes from Clemson University will act as key influential role models as they are matched with the middle school groups to mentor and deliver this interactive curriculum to the students. These student-athletes include: Jessica Doolittle - Diving, Erica Kim - Women’s Soccer, Ara Amirkhanian - Men’s Soccer, and Hailey Karg - Women’s Soccer.  Clemson ACC athletes are dedicated to serving the community needs.  “As athletes at Clemson, we find it very important to give back to our community in any way we can.  As a Health Sciences Major, Healthy Teens is a great opportunity for me to gain experience working with the community to raise awareness about healthy choices and lifestyles”, said athlete Jessica Doolittle.

Participating sites and schools include: Riverside Middle’s “Ladies First” and “Man Up” programs, La France Elementary School, Belton Middle School, Anderson Area YMCA, Starr-Iva Middle School, and Robert Anderson College and Career Academy.

 Jeff Burke, Assistant Principal at Riverside Middle School believes the Healthy Teens program is a great addition to Riverside Middle’s pre-existing “Man Up” program.  “Our Man Up program is designed for our male faculty members to mentor our eight grade male students.  The Healthy Teens program will be a welcome resource for our group.  We hope that through this program our students will gain the understanding of how important a healthy diet and exercise is to their well-being”, said Burke. 

The participating students will be exposed to current, real-world information about healthy living from USA TODAY.  The teens will then be asked to consider their own health, as well as their community’s health, and implement a service project that will improve the health and wellness of their community.  At the end of the program, one site will be chosen based on program impact and sustainability to receive a $1,000 prize. 

Eat Smart Move More of Anderson County focuses on improving local access to healthy eating and active living opportunities by partnering with various organizations and individuals in the community. Eat Smart Move More Anderson County’s overall goal is to make the healthy choice the easy choice in Anderson County.