Strength from Within
Bell Hospital is leading the way in Youth Wellness by developing multiple programs to help educate children and families, steering them toward a path of a healthier lifestyle and a better overall quality of life.
Good habits are the key to good health. Healthy lifestyle habits, including good eating and adequate physical activity, can lower the risk of becoming obese and developing related diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, stroke, bone and joint problems and more, as well as social and emotional problems such as stigmatization and low self-esteem.
During the transition from childhood to adulthood, adolescents establish patterns of behavior and make lifestyle choices that affect both their current and future health.
Bell is breaking fresh ground in Upper Michigan with the first program of its kind, specifically for 6th-8th graders (in the four western Marquette County School Districts) the age where good AND BAD habits are being formed and cemented into their lifestyle.
Bell Medical is proud to introduce the Strength from Within adolescent fitness scholarship challenge with Northern Michigan University. This is a year-long wellness and fitness challenge. It's a collaborative effort of parents and children, school administration, teachers and nurses and Bell Fitness leaders and trainers, dietitians and pediatricians.
While the real reward of this program is to provide parents and children with all the tools to become healthier and avoid illness and disease, there's an additional incentive.
The winner of the challenge will receive their first year of tuition at Northern Michigan University for free. To be eligible for the scholarship, the participant will need to meet or exceed all quarterly health, fitness and lifestyle goals, complete daily food and activity journals, complete 18 hours of approved fitness-oriented volunteer service within the year, complete quarterly assessments, attend monthly educational presentations, and show improvement in their final health risk assessment.
Once eligibility is reached, the participant will complete a written essay titled, "How I Found My Strength From Within" and will complete an interview with a scholarship committee. The scholarship recipient will be chosen based on the essay and interview. Four participants will receive a "runner-up" prize. It's a big commitment from the participant and the parents. While a year of free tuition is a huge reward, the benefits of the program could potentially pay off for life!
"Strength From Within" reflects Bell's mission to "improve the life of everyone we touch."
Sixty students from western Marquette County school districts have enrolled in the program. For more information about the Strength From Within program, call the Bell Wellness Department at 485-2677.
Update: 12.01.2010
The Strength From Within Challenge began this fall and has reached the end of its first quarter. So far, Bell Wellness Life Coaches agree that the amount of participation is wonderful.
Beginning with 60 participants, the Challenge has inspired many students to not only change their lifestyle and eating habits, but has also inspired their families to adjust their own lifestyle.
Bell Wellness is proud to announce that of those 60 original participants all have stayed in SFW. Each student who reaches their quarterly goal receives a 'prize' at the end of each quarter. The prize for the end of this quarter was awarded to 50 of the 60 participants, and was a $50 gift certificate for the Lake Superior Community Partnership, which can be used at over 200 businesses in the area.
If the first year goes well, Bell Wellness plans to move forward with a challenge for younger participants, possibly during the next school year.
"We would like this to become a permanent program from year-to-year," said Rick Ament, Bell President and CEO. "Nothing would make us happier than to continue to help kids make healthy lifestyle choices starting at a young age when habits are formed."
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