SOURCE: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
Bradley Middle School’s choral and dance team is working with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools to create a community-wide flash mob as part of “Charlotte, Get Your Move On!,” an initiative modeled after the national wellness campaign “Let’s Move” led by First Lady Michelle Obama.

A flash mob is when a large group assembles in a public place to perform a dance routine to a song. Bradley Middle students will lead the flash mob to the song “Take Your Health Into Your Own Hands” during the launch of “Charlotte, Get Your Move On!” held at UNC Charlotte June 2. The song was created by CMS educators Mark Propst, Becky Graf, Darla Barker and Kim Golden to support the district’s initiative to fight obesity.

The goal of the flash mob is to get everyone in Charlotte to stop what they are doing on June 2 at 6:45 p.m. to perform the choreographed dance to the song. CMS has uploaded a video ^[1] of the dance and song on You Tube so others can learn it.

“We want everyone to join us at the flash mob because it’s something that everyone can do and it has an important message about eating right and exercising,” said Mariyah Matthews, an eighth-grade student at Bradley Middle School.

As part of the Charlotte, Get Your Move On! initiative, all CMS eighth-graders are reading “The Fat Boy Chronicles.” Inspired by a true story, the book reveals the emotionally painful world obese teens experience in the face of a thin-obsessed society.

“The book focuses on a lot of issues that our students deal with on daily basis,” said Debra Kaclik, Director of Arts, Health & Physical Education, and PreK-12 Curriculum Support Programs. “It sends an important message for kids to get active and learn how to avoid unhealthy foods.”

The book’s movie premiere will also take place at the launch of Charlotte, Get Your Move On where the book’s authors and the movie director and actors will be in attendance. Other events scheduled for the launch include school visits by the authors, movie director and actors, a reception with UNC Charlotte Chancellor Philip L. Dubois, a book signing, and Q and A with the authors, director and actors.

Click here ^[2] for more information on the event or call 704-687-4949.

Charlotte, Get Your Move On! is the result of a collaboration between the CMS Arts, Health and Physical Education Departments, Family and Community Services/Parent University, Teen Health Connection, a community health partner with Levine Children’s Hospital, UNC Charlotte, and publisher Sleeping Bear Press.

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