Mary Sheryl Horine grew up at Appalachian State University – literally. Her father was a professor at Appalachian State University and her home was adjacent to the football stadium. So, according to Horine, “The campus was my playground. Growing up in Boone contributed to my fundamental core, a grounded sense of who I am, and what my values are with a feeling of support from the entire community.”

But, she believes “getting out of your comfort zone is essential to growth.” She left Boone, and then, in 2005, came back.

Horine is actively changing ideas and realities about health care in this region as associate director of Appalachian’s Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBS-NC) Institute for Health and Human Services (IHHS) and council director of Girls on the Run - High Country  (GOTR-HC).

“Growing up here, becoming professionally trained and educated [elsewhere], and bringing my experiences back to try to personally apply what I have learned in a regional context has been a lot of fun. …[it] has also opened my eyes to the tremendous opportunities for growth and ways that we can be doing things differently to impact and help our region.”

Boone to Boston and back – a full circle experience

After attending UNC-Chapel Hill, she moved to the Northeast to start a career and to attend graduate school at Boston University. There, she gained experience in international and local public health, with a focus on urban environments. The Northeast offered Horine an extensive background in her specialty – infectious disease epidemiology – and, with training from various medical schools and subsequent teaching opportunities, she was able to achieve her dream of a career of service in public health.

After 20-plus years in the Boston area, she wanted to come back home to raise her family. Although the area had grown, the flavor of the town was still the same, she said: healthy and active, year-round. Horine also feels “Appalachian’s desire of caring about the region and the people by bringing teachers to underserved rural areas was why the university was founded. That tradition still remains and sets Appalachian aside from the other colleges in the UNC system. [Appalachian] has a strong tie to the region and to the environment.”

Horine joined Appalachian in 2005 as an adjunct professor. When in 2008 “this vibrant mix of people and colleges” formed the BCBS-NC/IHHS – a collaboration of various disciplines on campus coming together to provide health resources, Horine said she found a niche that appealed to her desire to make an impact. She was hired to assist with community outreach efforts for the IHHS before being appointed associate director. Her goal then, as it is today, “is to look at the needs in our regional community in terms of health and then try to figure out ways that the university can help meet those needs.”

According to Horine, opportunities for collaboration include:

• access to faculty and staff expertise;
• needs assessment and community-based research;
• community engagement; and
• experiential learning opportunities for students.

With regard to the latter, “I don’t think there’s a better way to apply what the students have learned in the classroom,’ she said, “than to go out and talk to a human and actually apply what they have learned.”

Making rural health her mission – at work and play

“Mary Sheryl is always looking to engage students in community outreach,” said her colleague Dr. Gary McCullough, associate dean of research and general education at BCBS and the director of IHHS. “She accomplishes this mission not only through her profession, but her active commitment to her region. Her engagement with her passion makes us all want to ‘live like you mean it.’ She serves not only as an excellent role model for students, but for us all.”

Horine’s impact on the region is evident through various projects at BCBS-NC/IHHS. She is currently working to build community connections through the Rural Health Outreach Collaborative (RHOC). The RHOC is a rural health training partnership between Appalachian’s Beaver College of Health Sciences (BCHS) and Wake Forest Baptist Health/Wake Forest School of Medicine. Using a hybrid in-person and telehealth approach, the RHOC takes faculty and students from a number of departments into regional senior centers and other locations to provide health screens, assessments and educational health-related programs. These partnerships with local providers create a sustainable collaborative culture of health, she said.

Girls on the Run – High Country  (GOTR-HC), which provides afterschool programming in Watauga, Ashe, Alleghany, Avery and Wilkes counties for third through eighth grade girls, is also a passion. In her role, Horine oversees all aspects of the organization: fundraising, site recruitment, coach recruitment – including Appalachian students – participant recruitment, evaluation and reporting, accounting, board development, training of program volunteers and marketing.

The after-school program includes a 24-lesson curriculum that combines self-esteem enhancement with workouts and culminates with a 5K race. 

Horine doesn’t normally have one-on-one time with the girls, but she does occasionally fill in as coach when a scheduled coach is called away. On one such occasion she recalled the girls’ responses when asked how they liked being coached by a college student: “She rocks,” “She’s awesome,” “She listens with both ears.” But one girl’s answer, “I can be anything I want to be when I grow up, even a ‘Girls on the Run’ coach like her,” was the one Horine said best sums up the program. “It’s not about running,” she said. “It’s about changing girls’ lives. Making them realize that they can do things in life that they never thought were possible; about inspiring them to be healthy and confident and developing their own set of values.”

Horine also practices good personal health herself. She exercises five to seven days a week by running and weightlifting. She also plays competitive tennis, snowboards and cross-country skis as often as the weather allows. “Mostly for good health though,” she said, “I try to stay positive and laugh and be my authentic, goofy self, as much as my family and people around me will tolerate.”

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Living Like You Mean It

Meet some Mountaineers who are living intentional lives, and making a difference for others.

We hear it over and over, in hundreds of iterations from visitors and members of the Appalachian Community:

• “Your campus is different.”
• “Everyone is so polite.”
• “There’s just a feeling here.”
• “My professor really cares.”

Is it merely good manners? Mountaineer resiliency? Our extraordinary location? Or, is it that Appalachian State University attracts certain types of individuals, and then nurtures their natural inclinations to be authentic and fully engaged – from demonstrating their commitment to sustainable living and social justice, to others who simply are intentional about the options life serves up every day: which products to buy, friends to choose or ethical path to follow?

Here, we profile faculty, staff, students and alumni who live intentionally, who are living like they mean it.

Learn more

Blue Cross NC Institute for Health and Human Services

The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Institute for Health and Human Services provides multidisciplinary research opportunities, clinical services, community outreach, and training programs related to holistic health and well-being with the overarching goal of improving lives through transformative social, environmental, and healthcare advances.

Learn more

Girls on the Run of the High Country

Girls on the Run of the High Country (GOTR-HC) inspires girls to recognize their inner strength and celebrate what makes them one of a kind. Trained coaches lead small teams through a research-based curricula which includes dynamic discussions, activities and running games. Over the course of the ten-week program, girls in 3rd-8th grade develop essential skills to help them recognize their inner strength and celebrate what makes them one-of-a-kind. The program culminates with girls positively impacting their communities through a service project and being physically and emotionally prepared to complete a celebratory 5K event.

Started in 2009, GOTR-HC enthusiastically serves the girls of Watauga, Ashe, Wilkes and Avery counties and is thrilled to have Appalachian State University’s Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Institute for Health and Human Services, within the Beaver College of Health Sciences, as their affiliate sponsor.

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About the Appalachian Institute for Health and Wellness

The Appalachian Institute for Health and Wellness (App Well) connects Appalachian State University to the community by supporting health and wellness research, interprofessional clinics and community outreach programs. The institute partners with the community to better prepare students to become exceptional practitioners who will continue to address health issues and disparities throughout the region and beyond. Learn more at https://appwell.appstate.edu.

About the Beaver College of Health Sciences

Appalachian State University’s Beaver College of Health Sciences (BCHS), opened in 2010, is transforming the health and quality of life for the communities it serves through interprofessional collaboration and innovation in teaching, scholarship, service and clinical outreach. The college enrolls more than 3,600 students and offers 10 undergraduate degree programs, nine graduate degree programs and four certificates across six departments: Nursing, Nutrition and Health Care Management, Public Health and Exercise Science, Recreation Management and Physical Education, Rehabilitation Sciences, and Social Work. The college’s academic programs are located in the Holmes Convocation Center on App State’s main campus and the Levine Hall of Health Sciences, a state-of-the-art, 203,000-square-foot facility that is the cornerstone of Boone’s Wellness District. In addition, the college supports the Appalachian Institute for Health and Wellness and has collaborative partnerships with the Wake Forest University School of Medicine’s Physician Assistant Program, UNC Health Appalachian and numerous other health agencies. Learn more at https://healthsciences.appstate.edu.

About Appalachian State University

As a premier public institution, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives. App State is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System, with a national reputation for innovative teaching and opening access to a high-quality, cost-effective education. The university enrolls more than 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and 80 graduate majors at its Boone and Hickory campuses and through App State Online. Learn more at https://www.appstate.edu.