Titans Cheerleader Shares Healthy Habits With MES Students
By Jeff Edwards
The Moulton Advertiser
Hannah Smith has come a long way since she was a student at Moulton Elementary School.
Her journey has taken her to the NFL sidelines as a cheerleader for the Tennessee Titans.
But she welcomed the opportunity to come back home and speak to the Moulton Elementary students about the amount of hard work and healthy choices it takes to be one of the faces of an NFL franchise.
Smith was the featured speaker at the kickoff to Moulton Elementary’s Fuel Up to Play 60 program that will take place throughout the year.
The program encourages children to be active and live a healthy lifestyle, two things Smith said is crucial to her success as a professional cheerleader and dancer.
“It’s really important for me to give back because this community is what has built me and what has helped make me what I am today,” Smith said. “(The message) is just how important it is to exercise daily and eat healthy. It helps clear stress, keeps you focused and gives you a lot of energy.”
Lawrence County Child Nutrition Program Coordinator Michelle Chenault said the program’s goal is to increase physical activity at school and outside of school and create good habits for nutrition.
As part of the program, Chenault said the students will take part in a “100 mile” club, where they will attempt to walk 100 miles in their PE classes before the end of the school year.
“They will have landmarks and the kids will get incentives for reaching 25 miles, 50 miles and the ultimate goal is 100 miles,” Chenault said. “Southeastern Dairy Association has donated pedometers, so every child will have a pedometer to mark their progress.”
Chenault said teaching children good health habits at an early age is crucial.
“The more we can influence children’s habits, the longer they have them,” Chenault said. “So many times you get into high school without establishing those habits, and it’s harder to create habits at that age.”
Smith certainly had those habits, and it has helped give her the energy and focus to perform as a Titans cheerleader.
The Moulton native is in her second year as a cheerleader for Nashville’s NFL team, and in addition to performing at all Titans home games, Smith said the cheerleaders make approximately 250 public appearances per year.
“It is very busy, but it is also a lot of fun,” Smith said.
A Titans cheerleader is only guaranteed one season, and must try out each year to retain her spot.
Smith said the cheerleaders go through a two-month training camp before the season and also have to pass five physical fitness tests per year. Even after making the squad, if a cheerleader fails a physical fitness exam, she doesn’t get to perform.
Smith said the training the cheerleaders must go through before and during the season is extremely rigorous, and much more difficult than she first imagined.
“I played club volleyball in Huntsville and I thought the work I did there was difficult, but it’s nothing compared to this,” Smith said. “This is definitely the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but the most rewarding.”
Smith said her position as a Titans cheerleader gives her a platform to speak to groups, such as Moulton Elementary students, she normally wouldn’t be able to.
“I speak to a lot of schools about health and fitness,” Smith said. “I also speak to a lot of Fellowship of Christian Athletes groups. This gives me the platform to share my faith through sports. It is very important to me to use the platform I have as a Titans cheerleader to help others.”
Chenault said Smith was the perfect person to speak to the students about fitness and a healthy lifestyle because it is something she has lived from an early age.
“She’s such a generous person and actually lives what she’s talking about,” Chenault said. “Her family helped her establish those healthy habits early on. It’s not something she had to change, and you can see how far it has taken her.”
