Join us for the Healthy S.W.A.G. Fall 2013 event: Life’s Amazing on Saturday, November 2 at Bearden High School from 9:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Registration is required.
Teens will experience a life-size, interactive health “maze” designed to demonstrate how their choices can impact their life and health. At the end, teens are challenged to change two things to improve their health. Additional workshops include a healthy food presentation, distracted driving demonstration, physical activity circuit and much more. The goals are:
- To help teens understand the long-term implications of the decisions they make today, and
- To help teens understand that being healthy includes not just nutrition and physical activity, but also emotional, behavioral and environmental health.
Music, food and prizes all geared towards a healthy lifestyle are also included. Teens attending the half-day event will walk away with new friends and healthy lifestyle plans created by them. Community learning hours are available.
The registration deadline has been extended to October 30th!
Why Healthy S.W.A.G.?
For several years, TENNderCARE has worked to improve the health of children in Knoxville and Knox County. Seeing marginal improvements in health screening rates among teens, the staff decided to refocus some of its outreach efforts toward this special group.
Through brainstorming, gathering information, rallying community partners and creating a dialogue with teens, the staff realized the extent of the need for health outreach to area teens. TENNderCARE and its partners decided to become change agents for teen health. Few community efforts addressing this issue existed at the time, and so a teen health conference was born.
History of Healthy SWAG:
- 2010: The first conference called Healthy U: 101 was held at UTK. It included a keynote speaker (David Griffin, contestant on “The Biggest Loser”), GoTrybe and breakout sessions.
- 2011: The Healthy U: 201 conference welcomed former NFL player Franco Harris as its keynote speaker.
- 2012: The name of the conference changed to Healthy S.W.A.G., which means (Students Working to Achieve Greatness), and the first “Let’s Move” flash mob occurred at the event held at Central High School.
- 2013: At the March conference, “Voice” Finalist Jamar Rogers inspired the group with his life story including overcoming drug addiction and being diagnosed with HIV.
Our partners: TENNderCare, Knox County Health Department, Knox County Schools Coordinated School Health, Knox County Schools, KAPPI, Teen Health Empowerment Study, Youth Health Board, BlueCare Tennessee, and United Healthcare Community Plan
Click here for more information about TENNderCARE.
