After launching a successful wellness program for fellow workers at Dawson County High School, Tara Sewell decided to expand the reach to include students.

A school nurse at the high school, Sewell trained last summer to become a health and wellness instructor among her peers.

The group meets several times a week to exercise and talk about healthy eating habits.

Sewell said the program was a rapid success among faculty and staff. She alone lost 45 pounds.

"The students started asking us what the program was all about," Sewell said. "They got really interested in it."

The student health program is slated to begin in January. It will feature a wellness committee made up of 19 students, who will recruit other students to join.

"We not only want to recruit kids who are unhealthy, but we want to recruit athletes as well. This club is for anybody," Sewell said.

Ideally, she said, the club will have 50 members by the end of the semester.

"It's about educating them now, so that as they grow older, leave home and go to college, they can still make healthy life choices," she said.

For more information about the student health program, contact Sewell at (706) 265-6555, Ext. 1430.

According to America's Health Rankings, Georgia ranks 36th compared to the overall health of people in other states.

The previous year, Georgia was ranked 43rd.

According to its Web site, America's Health Rankings is the "longest running annual assessment of our nation's health on a state-by-state basis."