|
|||||||||||||
Printer-Friendly
Email this Story
Post a Comment (0)
Football stars roll out iPATH health program
Charles Mann still knows how to draw a straight line to a goal: “No white carbs,” Mann told an audience of teachers, students, health professionals and parents at the kickoff of iPATH – Inova Partnering Actively Toward Health – earlier this month at the Inova Fairfax Hospital in Vienna.
iPATH is a pilot partnership between Inova Health System’s Community Affairs office and four public schools, two in Loudoun, two in Fairfax. The plan is that 10 weeks from now, 40 middle and high schoolers will have completed a nutrition and fitness curriculum developed by Cliff Russell – like Mann, an NFL veteran – and will be leading their peers and their families to a heightened awareness health.
Success isn’t catching balls or Super Bowl rings (he has three of them), said Mann, the Washington Redskins defensive end from 1983 to 1993. “Success is getting up, looking in the mirror and being proud of what you’ve been able to accomplish. There are things I want to be taught, not caught, here.”
Mann serves today on the Inova Health Care Services Board of Trustees and chairs the Inova Alexandria Hospital Quality Committee. His Good Samaritan Foundation (founded with Art Monk and two other retired Redskins) brings mentoring to youngsters in tough city neighborhoods.
Russell started his NFL career with the Redskins in 2003 and finished it with the Denver Broncos last winter. He now devotes all his time to Russell Fitness in Ashburn and to supporting youth sports in the area.
“Basically I want to find fun ways to bring the kids up to speed on fitness and nutrition,” Russell said. The 10-week program at Heritage and Mount Vernon high schools and at Simpson and Walt Whitman middle schools will include fitness challenges, a question of the week that might involve some research and some shopping (including reading labels) and a fitness obstacle course.
First on Russell’s agenda: Get rid of the No. 1 misconception – “Based on my fat, I don’t have to exercise.” After that, dump the idea that “Exercise is for adults.”
Heritage High School Principal Margaret Huckaby said physical education teacher Sara Bolen will start every Wednesday at the Leesburg high school with a before-school session with the 10 student volunteers.
Senior Michael Clarkson, one of Heritage’s 10 ambassadors-in-training, said he will be trying to get his peers and everybody in the school to watch their weight and to be conscious of what they are doing and eating.
"We can talk about how we can benefit from that, how it can affect us in the future,” said Clarkson, who plans to come back to Loudoun County as a physical education teacher after college.
“People tend to think of hospitals as “big repair shops where we fix the dents,” said Inova Chief Executive Officer Knox Singleton. “A key mission for us is building health. These young people will also be partnering with us, exploring careers in health, helping others maintain wellness.”
Mann confessed that physical education was always a welcome class when he was growing up: He was the tether ball champion of his junior high.
You must be logged in to post a comment.