TRIO students learn about careers in health and exercise

Dr. Kari Lewis, Teaching Assistant Professor in Health and Exercise Studies, welcomed 30 middle school students from Johnston and Wake County as part of the TRIO Program at NC State this summer. Students were from Zebulon Middle, Smithfield Middle, Selma Middle, and Wendell Middle schools.

Federal TRIO Programs were established to support the nation’s commitment to providing educational opportunities for all Americans to enter college, graduate, and move on to participate more fully in realizing “America’s Economic and Social Dream.”  These programs are funded under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 and are referred to as TRIO programs because initially there were just three programs Upward Bound, Talent Search and Student Support Services.

The students were on campus for the week and they came over to Carmichael Gymnasium for a presentation on careers in health and exercise. Dr. Lewis presented information to them on these careers: physical education teacher, health coach, strength coach, facility manager, and nutritionist.  Students were given information about college curriculums for each of these careers/majors and the average income for each of. They then participated in a short activity pertaining to each career/major. For the physical education teacher students did 3 gross motor activities: balance on one foot, walk a straight line, and hop on one foot. For the health coach profession, they answered 10 question pertaining to their sleep and exercise habits. To learn about being a nutritionist they answered 10 question pertaining to their consumption of sugar, soda, and fried foods. Thinking as a strength coach, Dr. Lewis taught them how to correctly perform a squat, and finally, working as a facility manager, they had to guess the cost of 3 items that they saw during their tour of Carmichael Gymnasium and discuss with a partner how to keep students safe in a facility such as ours.