BATON ROUGE — LSU gymnast Kelly Phelan was out to support Baton Rouge Mayor Kip Holden as part of festivities surrounding National Adoption Month at the Office of Community Services on Wednesday morning as part of the Shaquille O’Neal CHAMPS/Life Skills program.
Phelan visited with 27 children currently available for adoption at the ceremony while a choir of 14 children sang different songs for the event. In addition, she handed out pamphlets on adoption at the door for the event themed “Building Families is the No. 1 Game in Town.”
A senior all-arounder for the women’s gymnastics team, the Orlando native earned All-America honors last season on the floor at the NCAA Championships. In addition, she finished in the top five individuals on the vault at the SEC meet in 2006 and earned Academic All-America honors.
The CHAMPS (Challenging Athletes Minds for Personal Success)/Life Skills Program was designed by the NCAA to help student-athletes realize higher academic achievement, increase likelihood of graduation and enter a chosen profession with a higher level of vision, knowledge, motivation, self-responsibility and greater overall success. In Spring 2003, the CHAMPS/ Life Skills Program honored one of LSU’s most memorable graduates, Shaquille O’Neal, by naming the program after him.