FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Aug. 2, 2007

Health education graduate students land interesting internship
opportunities

By Jill D. O’Bryant

COLUMBUS, Miss. -- Not only are Mississippi University for Women health
education graduate students learning essential information in the
classroom, but they also are gaining valuable knowledge through
interesting internship opportunities.

“I am excited about the opportunities in health education that are
available for internship experiences,” said Dr. Joyce Yates, Emma Ody
Pohl Professor of Health Education. “It is good to see our students
take advantage of these experiences.”

Dena Pope of Jackson used her internship to develop a toolkit for
Healthy Mississippi - A Worksite Wellness Program for State Employees.
Governor Haley Barbour’s Healthy Mississippi initiative began in 2006
in an effort to assist Mississippians in making healthy lifestyle
choices where people live, work and learn.

The worksite wellness part of the program will be implemented initially
in state agencies in Jackson. The goal of this program is to improve the
health status and quality of life of state employees by preventing
chronic disease and encouraging healthy lifestyle choices.

Pope, who will graduate in December, developed a Health Champion
Toolkit for state agencies to use as a guide in implementing a
comprehensive wellness program to promote a healthy work environment for employees at state agencies.

“My involvement in this project has been extremely rewarding because
of the anticipated positive effect it will have on the health of state
employees who contribute so much each day to Mississippi,” Pope said.
“Developing the toolkit provided me with an opportunity to apply the
knowledge and skills gained from the courses in the Health Education
Program at MUW.

Phoneshia Brown of Macon wrote and was awarded a grant for Action for
Healthy Kids (Mississippi). This grant was established to promote and
implement an after-school program called ReCharge.

Developed in partnership with the National Football League, ReCharge is
an innovative after-school program that helps get kids moving while they
learn about eating healthy, staying active, setting goals and teamwork.

“Receiving this grant was important because obesity has become a
growing issue that is causing our youth to experience severe health
complications,” said Brown, an August graduate. “In response to such
devastating news, there is a strong need to implement programs among our youth that will help to decrease sedentary behaviors and increase better eating habits.”

The grant in the amount of $2,000 will be awarded to the Boys and Girls
Club of Columbus. The grant also includes 20 kits that are to be
distributed to local schools with the goal of getting other schools to
adopt this after-school program.

LaToya Harris of Aliceville, Ala., who also graduates this month, is
currently serving as an epidemiological assistant at the National Center
for Zoonotic, Vector-Borne and Enteric Diseases (NCZVED) in Atlanta.

The vision of the NCZVED, which is part of the Center for Disease
Control, is to improve health by reducing the impact of infectious
diseases based on a comprehensive approach to ensure that human
interactions with animals, animal products, wildlife and the natural
environment are healthier and safer.

“As an epidemiological assistant, I will be given different
assignments or projects to complete such as helping the director and
other staff members with their presentations, designing surveys and
researching specific infectious diseases,” Harris said. “I am
thankful for this wonderful opportunity.”

For more information about MUW’s master’s health education program,
please call 662-329-7225 or visit www.muw.edu/hk/ms_degree.