Fuel Up To Play 60 Builds Awareness

By Mary Nicholson

?We’ve had such wonderful experiences using the funds from the FUTP 60 grant.  Our chocolate milk booth was a huge success, our walking/jogging club is moving right along and so much more? says Roberta Sipe, P. E. teacher at Rosa Parks Edison Elementary in Perry Township and advisor for the National Dairy Council and NFL Fuel Up to Play 60 program. This is just one success story we have heard this past year.  Fuel Up to Play 60 helps students learn about nutrition through school-wide Healthy Eating plays as well as the importance of 60 minutes of physical activity every day.  At Rosa Parks Edison Elementary, for every mile increment, the students at Rosa Parks receive a shoe charm.  Another school that has a walking club is Ligonier Elementary.  Their staff and students have walked 62,062 miles since the fall!  For the first 50 miles, the students and staff receive a t-shirt.  After 100 miles, a sweatshirt is awarded. Once they hit 150 miles, the students are fitted with new athletic shoes.

Another continuing success story continues in Crawfordsville at Meredith Nicholson Elementary with Fuel Up to Play 60 Program Advisor Laura Newman at the helm. With lots of fun activities going on throughout the year, Laura says the biggest change she has noticed is awareness: students are making more nutritious choices in the cafeteria line, and in P.E. class, they are discussing how they are Fueling Up.  The students are excited and highly engaged ? and they want to do even more.  Laura and her students have clearly made great strides and a big difference in 2010.  Look out for more from Meredith Nicholson Elementary students in 2011!

Sacred Heart School in Fowler will be implementing LearnerCize, a program that focuses on nutrition as well as activity, helping students learn in a fun and memorable way.  Teresa Gretencord, PE Teacher and FUTP60 Program Advisor, has also noticed that many students are coming to school without breakfast.  That ?most important meal of the day? is also part of Sacred Heart?s Healthy Eating play.

An extension of the Fuel Up to Play 60 initiative includes Blue, the official mascot of the Indianapolis Colts, and his handler (and voice of reason) Kat. Sponsored by the Indiana Dairy & Nutrition Council, Blue and Kat take the messages of eating healthy and being active to middle school students with a unique and engaging style.  Fifty-five Indiana schools will be treated to this event, and the same number again next year.