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Family Health and Fitness

The Commonwealth of Virginia is offering Weight Watchers at special pricing to state employees, spouses and adult dependents.

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Expecting? One of the best things you can do for yourself and your baby is to enroll in your health benefits prenatal education program.

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CommonHealths Quit for Life program is provided at no cost to employees, spouses and dependents over age 18 who are eligible to participate in the state health benefits program.

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Helping kids lead healthy lifestyles begins with parents who lead by example.

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Sharon Buckner

Counties Served

Biography

I received my bachelors in Elementary and Secondary Education and Masters Degree in Health Education with a concentration in Nutrition from JMU.

My past work experiences include teaching in the public schools, working as a Nutrition Educator for the Dairy and Food Nutrition Council. I have also served as an adjunct faculty at Blues Ridge Community College and worked as a Regional Coordinator with the CommonHealth program before the state took over the program in 2008. I am delighted to be able to continue to work with the program as a state employee. I really enjoy developing new programs, presenting at state and regional conferences and love the challenge of working with all different types of individuals and I find it very rewarding to work in prevention field of health education.

Why did you choose health education as a career field?

I grew up living and caring for several relatives with severe health problems. I did not like seeing my family members suffer and I did not want to have these complications when I became older. My childhood experience motivated me to become interested in how to prevent those health problems. The prevention aspect has kept my interest ever since.

What do you love most about your job?

Health Education is such a new, exciting and dynamic field. I enjoy learning and sharing the latest information and discoveries to help others get and stay healthy so they can enjoy a higher quality of life all the years of their life.

What do you want to share with your agencies?

One of my favorite areas of health education is behavior change. I love the fact that we have control over changing own behavior. It is a common excuse or myth that we have no control over our life and resign our life to fate. I hear all the time from individuals with chronic conditions or poor health that they wish they had taken better care of themselves when they had the chance. The fact is we can change an unhealthy behavior to a healthy behavior and be able to have control over the quality of our lives while shaping our own destiny. I feel that is the heart of why I do what I do.

One of the best suggestions I have heard from a state employee in relationship to the "Green Virginia" quarter is to make designer type tote/ shopping bags for all of your friends and family for gifts so they would want use, show off and more likely to remember to use and take them everywhere.

"Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle."

Contact Information

Sharon Buckner, M.S Ed
CommonHealth Regional Coordinator for Northwest Region
Phone: (540) 810-0125