New Wellness Program for BCS Students

BCS has partnered with MATCH Wellness, Inc., to provide the highly successful MATCH Program, Motivating Adolescents with Technology to CHOOSE Health™ (MATCH), to all seventh-grade students in the school system.

By BCS Communications Department

BCS has partnered with MATCH Wellness, Inc., to provide the highly successful MATCH Program, Motivating Adolescents with Technology to CHOOSE Health™ (MATCH), to all seventh-grade students in the school system. The school-based interdisciplinary program empowers adolescents to make healthy choices by focusing on nutrition education and increasing physical activity.

Created by a North Carolina teacher to work within the current school day, MATCH integrates wellness themes into lessons and activities that fit into the existing curriculum. Lessons can be taught in healthful living, science, math, language arts, and social studies.

The MATCH program, set to begin in August with the 2021-22 school year, is funded through Healthy Blue, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina’s (Blue Cross NC) Medicaid managed care plan.

“One of our main priorities as a school system is meeting students’ academic, emotional, and wellness needs” said BCS 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.”

"MATCH is a research-tested, third-party verified program that gives students the education and tools to make real and lasting improvements in nutrition and fitness to achieve better overall health for themselves,” said Al Delia, CEO of MATCH Wellness, Inc. “Fifteen years of proven results are testament to MATCH’s success.”

In 2016, The NC State Board of Education declared North Carolina a “Whole Child” state - the description used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Association for Supervisors and Curriculum Development’s (ASCD) school “wellness” model. Whole Child recognizes that meeting needs of children outside the classroom has tremendous impact on academic performance and works to connect children and families with community resources.

“Healthy Blue recognizes that investing in the health of our youth is fundamental to improving the long-term health of North Carolinians,” said Jesse Thomas, VP of Medicaid and Chief Executive Officer of Healthy Blue for Blue Cross NC. “We’re proud to support the MATCH program and to help Buncombe County students adopt the nutritional and active habits they need to grow into healthy adults.”

Since its inception in 2007, over 50,000 seventh graders have participated in MATCH. Currently, MATCH is in 17 NC Counties, 69 middle schools, serving almost 11,000 students.

New Wellness Program for BCS Students

DISTRICT

Elementary

Intermediate

Middle

High

Other

Buncombe County Schools