SHELBY, N.C. — Addison Wease loves sports. She also loves to help others. So she was instantly drawn to the sports management program at Shelby High School.

What You Need To Know

  • Wease is part of the sports management program at Shelby High School

  • She also restarted a backpack program at her church

  • They feed about 30 children a week

  • She hopes to study physical therapy in college

“You're not necessarily going to use the quadratic equation as an adult,” Wease said. “But in the field I want to go into, we also learn muscle groups and bones and movements and all that. So that's something that I'm going to be able to take with me to college and already have that base knowledge that some people might not have in my classes.”

Wease wants to be a physical therapist, tying her love of exercise with her love of giving back. She dreams of one day opening a free physical therapy clinic in Cleveland County.

“It's very important because I really do love my community,” Wease said. “And being able to give back is just something that I love to do.”

She's taken her love of volunteering to the field house and even to her church.

In 2020, after she realized her church’s backpack program had fizzled out, Wease and her friends helped to get it up and running again.

“We try to do some like breakfast bars and cereals,” Wease said. “Pop-Tarts, oatmeal is really a big thing.”

Over the four years they’ve been back in operation, she’s seen first-hand how much families need help.

“Thirty-three percent of families in Cleveland County face hunger and a shortage of food,” Wease said. “So being able to help kids not come to school hungry, I love doing it and I've been able to provide that to children.”

The program has grown to about 30 children they help a week. It's a small operation with a big impact for those who need it most.

Wease plans to go to UNC-Chapel Hill in the fall. 

N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore presented her with the $1,000 schorship award.