Hi! My name is Maliyah. The first thing you should know about me is that I’m a HUGE Carolina Panthers fan. I became a Panthers fan when members of the team visited my school for the FUTP 60 “Hometown Huddle” in October of 2015. All the students at my school thought it was AWESOME that the Panthers chose to visit our school and it was the kind of day where good memories were made to last forever!
After seeing the accomplishments of FUTP 60 leadership team, I knew that I wanted to be part of it, and in 5th Grade I was given the opportunity to be part of the FUTP 60 leadership team at my school. The FUTP 60 program taught me the importance of making good choices, whether it was being more physically active, choosing to eat healthy foods, always doing my best at school or working to have positive relationships with others. Through this program I was able to strengthen both my mind and body in more ways than ever before.
This was also a great experience for me because I was able to be a role model and help other students at my school be more active and encourage them to make healthier food choices. I was able to assist kindergarten students with our school’s morning exercise and help lead the entire school in exercise during the morning announcements. Last fall I was one of two FUTP 60 team members to participate in the Healthy School Leaders Summit at the White Water Center. On this day we were able to share with others how FUTP 60 was being successfully implemented at our school, and also hear the positive outcomes at other schools across the Carolinas.
In March I was able to encourage even more people to realize the importance of a healthy lifestyle as I participated in my school’s FUTP 60 Family Night. The focus of this event was to bring families together and show them ways they could make healthier food choices and be physically active for at least 60 minutes each day. As a FUTP 60 team we ended the night with a dance performance to show how much fun being active and healthy can truly be.
I will always remember the part the Carolina Panthers and the FUTP 60 program played in helping me to choose a healthy lifestyle, work hard to meet my goals and always KEEP POUNDING!
Maliyah
North Carolina
6th Grade
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