Channing Joyner

Letter to the Judges'

Graduation Project Judges’                                                                                                     5935 Raleigh Road                                                                                                                      Benson, NC 27504

Dear Judges’:

 My Graduation Project topic is Childhood Obesity. I chose this topic because currently, the United States of America is the most obese country in the world. Our country’s childhood obesity rates are threw the roof with a whopping 18% of kids overweight and to no surprise; the United States is the leader in fast food chains and consumption every year. I am an athlete and I incorporate a healthy diet and physical activity into my everyday life to maintain a strong body, but why do kids have to be athletes to practice this lifestyle? I believe that kids do not realize the impact of sitting at home and playing video games or watching television has on their bodies. I chose my brother’s Boy Scout troop to have a day of activity and healthy eating. I informed the troop and their parents of the impact childhood obesity has in their lives and how we can make a difference one step at a time. I brought my little brother’s troop together and we played basketball, football, tag, soccer, and other sports that were fun and also promoted physical activity. I also replaced the rims and cleaned the church basketball court where they meet constantly during the week so that they could use them as a way to be physically activity for many years to come.

This project has taught me a lot about maintaining a healthy body and working with young kids. It made me realize how much fun helping the kids and playing games with them really was. This project has been very rewarding from the aspect of seeing the kids get together with their friends and engage in physical activities that are vital to fighting childhood obesity. I plan on joining Play 60, which is an organization that brings kids of the community together to play for an hour a day. I have also realized how I need to keep active and use this as an inspiration to maintain my body.

 I have encountered many obstacles and successes with this project. One of my obstacles was raising the money to pay for the new rims that are currently installed at Providence Presbyterian Church on highway 210. I also encountered a series of engine troubles with my vehicle and had to have the assistance of friends and family to travel back and forth to the church for clean up and the play day. Some of my successes were the play day turn out. I had 10 of the 12 kids from my brother’s troop show up and engage in my senior project product. Also, the rims and clean up of the basketball court of the church was a huge success and was done in time to be used in my play day with the kids. This project was very rewarding for me and I hope to help my brother’s troop and other kids that need to learn the importance of fighting childhood obesity.

 Sincerely yours,

 A. Channing Joyner