BSPH student awarded ASHA scholarship
| September 20, 2011 | |
Camille McGirt
Camille McGirt, a Bachelor of Science in Public Health student at UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, has received a scholarship from the American School Health Association (ASHA). She will be recognized at the association’s annual conference in Louisville, Ky., Oct. 12. McGirt, a junior health policy and management major, is creating a program to promote “healthy bodies, healthy minds and healthy relationships” to 8- to 16-year-old girls in her community. The program teaches proper nutrition, portion control, disease awareness and exercise. McGirt enlists female collegiate athletes to speak to the girls about the importance of diet and exercise.
While she sees the benefit of such programs, McGirt believes policy is the path to real change.
“The most effective way to bring about sustainable change in this country is through its laws. By creating legislation to benefit school health and community health programs, we can attain government funding, a strong base of constituency, and overall healthier communities,” she said.
In 2010, McGirt served as a White House intern in the Office of Presidential Personnel’s Energy and Environment Cluster and participated in the White House Internship Service Project with the Boys and Girls Clubs’ After-School Program. There, she worked with inner city youth ages 8 to 16. She also was selected in 2010 from a nationwide pool of 200 minority candidates to participate in Management Leadership for Tomorrow, an intensive one-year career development program.
Through its scholarships, ASHA provides financial assistance to students whose academic and professional goals include the health of youth. The Association awards three scholarships annually, one each to students in school health education, school nursing and pediatric/adolescent medicine or dentistry.
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UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health contact: Ramona DuBose, director of communications, (919) 966-7467 or ramona_dubose@unc.edu.
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