Back By Popular Demand:
New Session of Operation Jump-Start
Kicks Off in November 2005

Charlotte, NC, September 14, 2005 — This fall, the Carolina Wellness Coalition is partnering again with the Sandra and Leon Levine Jewish Community Center to launch a popular teen empowerment program called Operation Jump-Start.  The JCC will host OJS for seven weeks on Thursdays between 4:30 and 6:00 p.m. from November 3rd through December 22nd.

The program targets middle school students between 10 and 15 years old and is open to the public.  Scholarships and transportation are available for those in need thanks to the support of area businesses and the JCC.

The Operation Jump-Start curriculum was developed by CWC members who are experts in nutrition, physical and mental health, and fitness.  It is based on a basketball theme called “S.L.A.M.-Dunk Wellness ^TM.”  S.L.A.M. is an acronym for each aspect of a person’s life:  Spirit, Looks, Actions and Mind.

At the first OJS meeting, each teen is given a 50-page “Playbook” outlining guidelines for “S.L.A.M.-Dunk Wellness” through proper nutrition, exercise and goal-setting.  Participants also get a journal for recording their daily food intake, exercise, feelings and energy level.  This helps them understand the connection between mood, food and exercise.  The journal has a section for listing their weekly goals and at the end of the week, measuring their success.  Experts are on hand at the beginning of every OJS session to review these journals and provide one-on-one counseling as needed.

Each week, the teens are exposed to a different form of exercise such as yoga and stretching, weight lifting and weight resistance training, basketball drills, athletic conditioning, kickboxing and swimming.  Following their weekly workout, facilitators coach the teens in small groups on nutrition, goal setting and self-empowerment.  During this open forum discussion, they enjoy a healthy snack and learn how to make the snack at home.

Parents are given a “S.L.A.M.-Dunk Wellness Cheerleaders Guide” at the beginning of OJS so they can learn to support their teen’s new wellness program.  During the final session, parents are invited to join the teens at a wrap-up party where certificates of completion are handed out.  Teens are encouraged to choose a sport or exercise program they liked in OJS and sign up for ongoing classes in their neighborhoods.  OJS facilitators will assist them in making connections and enrolling.

Operation Jump-Start’s lead facilitator is CWC founder, Terrie Reeves, a fitness workshop presenter and trainer with a diverse background in dance, aerobics, martial arts and yoga.  Terrie hosts a weekly wellness feature on WSOC-TV and WAXN-TV called Wellness Wednesday.  She has appeared in numerous national fitness infomercials and has produced seven fitness videos through her wellness company EnergyQuest.

The host facility for the program, the Sandra and Leon Levine Jewish Community Center, is a broad-based agency located on the 54-acre Shalom Park campus in southeast Charlotte.  The center is responsible for the development and coordination of a variety of cultural, social, educational and recreational programs and services that are open to the public.

Session One Success Story:

The 24 participants of the first Operation Jump-Start which launched in April are still raving about their experience and many plan to sign up for the second session in November.  Here’s just a sample of the feedback from the teens:

• The instructors really helped me understand nutrition and the importance of exercise.  I always felt good after OJS.  I give this program an A+.
• I learned that when you exercise it makes you feel good and helps you to build a strong body.
• I learned what foods make me look good, change my attitude and give me more energy. 
• It was a fun program... I looked forward to every Tuesday.

From their parents:

• When we go through the drive-through, my daughter now is more conscious of what she orders.  She now replaces the fries with a side order of fruit for example.
• My kids came home asking me to get the recipes for the healthy snacks served at OJS.
• My son was very excited about the exercises he was doing.  In fact, I think it was very good for his self-esteem!

On the first and last sessions, the students were given surveys to rate their self-esteem, energy level, eating habits and fitness on a scale of 0 to 5 (0 means disagree and 5 means agree).  After participating in Operation Jump-Start for six weeks, their personal assessment ratings improved across the board at least slightly, but in some categories, the improvement was quite significant.  Here’s a comparison of the average responses to three key statements:

The students were also asked to list ten foods they should include in their diets as much as possible, ten they should limit and ten healthy snacks.  The average number of correct responses in the first session was 6.7 out of 30 or 22%.  In the final session, they averaged 20.6 correct answers out of 30 or 68.7%. 

Those numbers are exciting news to Operation Jump-Start’s founders and facilitators. Their goal is to develop a program that can be duplicated nationwide to turn the tide on the childhood obesity epidemic.  Facts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show just how serious the problem has become:

• Among children and teens ages 6-19, 16 percent (over 9 million) are overweight according to the 1999-2002 data, or TRIPLE what the proportion was in 1980.
• Type-2 diabetes has increased 15-fold in children in the past seven years.  1 in 3 children born in 2000 will become diabetic.

More than a dozen scholarships where made available for the pilot program through the support of the Charlotte Bobcats Charitable Foundation, the American Dairy Association’s “3-A-Day of Dairy” campaign, Diamond Springs Water, Charlotte Health and Fitness Magazine, Dr. Charles Payet, Ryan Hoover’s Extreme Karate, Charlotte Fitness Equipment, Peter Kwok’s Kung Fu Academy and All Body Systems, Earth Fare, Pine Mountain Resort, Superior Fitness Systems, Thunder Road Brandworks, Evolution Sports Training, Jami Masters School of Dance, Julie Tache of Helen Adams Realty and Sharper Image.