A Day at Lowry Park Zoo with New York Yankee's Pitcher Andy Pettitte!  

We were privileged to be asked to participate in the filming of this segment of "Yankees on Deck" for the YES Network.  Some of our Sports Academy kids: Zan, Jason, Zak and Matt, got to tour the zoo with Andy, talk and visit with the major league All-Star, and later to see the results broadcast on national cable TV!  Producers Janice & Lisa Molinari's award winning 9 Hill Production team (6 Emmy's!) were so wonderful and gracious and made it a day these four kids will always remember!

Lt. Colonel Ty Edwards was a featured participant at the fabulous "I Will Inspire" road race in Temple Terrace. I'm proud and humbled to call him a friend.  He and his wife Anna inspire me daily.

                      At the Great American Teach In at Chiles Elementary                    

It's critical that we teach our children the importance of a healthy lifestyle and empower them to make healthy choices.  We have a national childhood obesity problem.  Schools "teach" nutrition but their lunchrooms routinely serve junk-food.  Fast food restaurants serve something that's a far cry from real food.  According to the Center for Disease Control, up to 17% (about 12.5 million) of America's children and teens are obese.  

What used to be called "Adult Onset Diabetes" is no longer just for adults.  It's been renamed "Type II Diabetes" and is frighteningly prevalent in our children.  To simplify, the amount of sugar and empty carbohydrates (which convert quickly to sugar....so it's just sugar in a different form) that it used to take someone with poor eating habits the accumulation of adult years to ingest, are now consumed by many children early in their childhood; they get a lifetime of junk-food by the time they're teens!

The foundation for health is nutrition, paired with quality exercise and adequate sleep.   It's not rocket 

science, it's simply a matter of making & teaching good choices and having discipline to stay consistent.

* See additional resources on nutrition, exercise, and sleep at the "Health & Fitness Info" page.