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Buncombe County Schools announced yesterday a partnership with MATCH Wellness, Inc., to bring to its schools an “interdisciplinary program” that “empowers adolescents to make healthy choices by focusing on nutrition education and increasing physical activity,” according to a press release.
Read more about the program here:
According to the press release, the program uses “wellness themes” and incorporates them into school curriculum, such as science, math, language arts, and social studies. The program will begin in August and is available through “Healthy Blue, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina’s (Blue Cross NC) Medicaid managed care plan” funds.
“One of our main priorities as a school system is meeting students’ academic, emotional, and wellness needs,” said Buncombe County Schools Associate Superintendent Susanne Swanger. “This program is an outstanding addition to our curriculum. Thanks to the support from Healthy Blue, our students will be empowered to learn more about making healthy choices that will have a positive impact now and in their future.”
According to the press release, the MATCH program has served more than 50,000 seventh graders since it started in 2007. Right now, the program is in 17 counties, 69 middle schools, and reaches almost 11,000 students.
EdNC made this video back in 2015 about what MATCH looks like in a classroom:
