Garyville/Mt. Airy Math and Science Magnet School seventh-grader Heaven Mamou has been selected as a 2013-14 state ambassador for the National Football League’s Fuel Up to Play 60 program.
She is the only student who will represent the state of Louisiana at the 2013 Fuel Up to Play 60 Student Ambassador Summit in Charlotte, N.C., in July.
“Ambassadors are selected because they show initiative to get their classmates eating correctly and to get students involved in physical activity,” said Debbie Perkins, Fuel Up to Play 60 program advisor for GMMS.
Perkins will also attend the summit as a state program advisor.
GMMS has been involved in the Fuel Up to Play 60 program for the past four years. Among the fun activities the school has implemented to keep students active are pep rallies, goofy games rallies and the “hot dog roll,” which uses the school’s unique location next to the Mississippi River to have students run up and down the levee and roll down on cardboard boxes.
“We’ve also established the walking program after lunch,” Perkins said. “It helps the students be a lot less lethargic after eating and more receptive to learning.”
Mamou said she sees her role as a state ambassador as an important one.
“I’m involved because Louisiana is on the Top 10 list for childhood obesity,” she said. “If we can get people to stay active we can reduce that.”
Student leaders invited to the summit develop skills in leadership, communications, fitness, healthy eating and strategy development while connecting with fellow ambassadors and program advisors from all over the nation.