eNewsletter | Fuel Up To Play 60

March 2012

This eNewsletter is a companion to the Fuel Up to Play 60 program, designed to help you manage and guide students as they lead the way toward school wellness!

News You Can Use

National School Breakfast Week (March 5-9) is right around the corner, and Fuel Up to Play 60 is here to help your school mark this important occasion.

Better nutrition, including eating a healthy breakfast each day, helps students get the nutrients they need. That, along with physical activity, may help improve their academic performance. In fact, according to the Action for Healthy Kids report, The Learning Connection, "increased participation in breakfast programs is associated with increased academic test scores, improved daily attendance, and better class participation, and has also been shown to reduce tardiness."

Looking for ways to energize breakfast at your school? Try one of our "Bring on Breakfast" Plays:

Each Play provides step-by-step guidance for targeted activities schools can take to increase school breakfast participation.

Above: Students at Dater Montessori Elementary School in Cincinnati, Ohio, celebrate eating a healthy breakfast!

Program Updates

Apply now! Be recognized as State Program Advisor of the Year and win for your school!

Do you have what it takes to represent your state as Program Advisor of the Year? Fuel Up to Play 60 and the NFL Alumni Association recognize your hard work and dedication. We know that Program Advisors lead the charge toward creating healthier school environments for their students.

To show our gratitude, we will once again award one Program Advisor or Program Advisor team from each state* with the "2012 Fuel Up to Play 60 State Program Advisor of the Year" reward. The program is supported by the NFL Alumni Association.

This year, the stakes are high! State Program Advisors of the Year will win a visit to their school from a member of the NFL Alumni Association!

In addition to engaging and empowering students to get involved in Fuel Up to Play 60, Program Advisors help their schools and students earn recognition, rewards and funding to support wellness initiatives in their schools. Any adult enrolled in Fuel Up to Play 60 can become a Program Advisor. Just sign up for this role on your Dashboard.

Applications will be accepted until March 16, and winners will be named in April. Simply log on to your Dashboard to access the application.

*Program is valid in the District of Columbia. Hawaii is not a participating state.

Free national webinar on applying for Funds

A free national webinar highlighting two Fuel Up to Play 60 Program Advisors will be held Thursday, March 15, 4:00-5:00 p.m. Eastern. Titled "How to Complete a Successful Funds for Fuel Up to Play 60 Application," the webinar will feature Lisa Riley (school health teacher at Cabell County Alternative School, Huntington, West Virginia) and Elonda Davidson (P.E. teacher at Stanley Elementary School, Stanley, North Dakota). The webinar will be co-hosted by Fuel Up to Play 60 and Action for Healthy Kids. To register for the free national webinar, click here. To view January's webinar ("Fuel Up to Play 60: Kick It Off and Get Support from Your School"), visit the Training Camp, where you'll find the archived webinar.

March is National Nutrition Month

National Nutrition Month is a nutrition education and information campaign held annually in March by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. The campaign focuses attention on the importance of making informed food choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits. To help you celebrate, we've got 28 Healthy Eating Plays in the Fuel Up to Play 60 online Playbook.

"Like" us on Facebook

"Like" Fuel Up to Play 60 on Facebook to get the latest program updates and healthy recipes and to connect with other program participants across the country! Visit Facebook.com/FuelUpToPlay60 to learn more.

Time to vote for the 2012 Summer Challenge poll

Yes, it's still winter, but Fuel Up to Play 60 is thinking summer! Voting for the Fuel Up to Play 60 Summer Challenge poll has started! So far, "Dance Party" is in the lead, with "Obstacle Course" and "Go Green" not too far behind. Encourage students to sign into their Dashboards at FuelUpToPlay60.com to vote for their favorite. Voting closes March 9.

Contest winners named

Lindsay Hacker, a Program Advisor in Wellington, Colorado, and Sheila Burkhardt, a Program Supporter in Fowlerville, Michigan, are January's national "spotlight" winners in the Fuel Up to Play 60 monthly activation contest. They won $500 prize packs featuring gear from the Fuel Up to Play 60 Store and NFL. They're joined by 102 other individuals who won $100 prize packs. To learn more about how the monthly activation contest works, click here.

$100,000 physical activity award for schools!

Want the chance to earn up to $100,000 and the opportunity to share your Fuel Up to Play 60 program with other schools? Check out the Active Schools Acceleration Project (ASAP) Innovation Competition, which is looking to uncover the best in-school programming to get kids active. All K-6 schools and districts are eligible to apply by April 2.

Upcoming Deadlines

Voting for Summer Challenge poll ends 3/9
Fuel Up to Play 60/Action for Healthy Kids webinar: 3/15
2012 Fuel Up to Play 60 State Program Advisor of the Year, supported by the NFL Alumni Association: application deadline 3/16
Physical Activity Skit Challenge: ends 3/26
Touchdown School Award: Complete all Six Steps by 4/1
Funds for Fuel Up to Play 60: application deadline 6/1

Building a broad-based team is essential to the success of your school's Fuel Up to Play 60 program. Assistant principal Debbie Shrewsbury - Program Advisor at Winfield Middle School in Winfield, West Virginia - is a pro at drawing on the strengths of others. To kick off her program and energize her students, she assembled a team of staff members who could help lead the way. Her team consists of the school nurse, school counselors, a health teacher and the cafeteria's head cook. Here, Debbie (right) joins school nurse Stacy Jones (left). Learn more about Winfield's outstanding Fuel Up to Play 60 program.

April 1 is the deadline for your school to become a Touchdown School! If your school has a Program Advisor and completes all Six Steps by the deadline, you'll be added to the list of 313 schools that have already achieved this special honor. You have to track your progress on your Dashboard to be eligible. All Touchdown Schools will receive a banner to display proudly in their school! See the list of schools in your state that have already earned their recognition and reward!

Congratulations to Park View Middle School of Mukwonago, Wisconsin, for their winning Cooking Show Challenge video. As a reward, students at Park View Middle School will have lunch with an NFL player.

It's time to get active with the Physical Activity Skit Challenge. This Challenge encourages students to engage in a Physical Activity Play from the
Fuel Up to Play 60 Playbook and remains open through March 26. The winning entry will receive an Xbox Kinect system! As a reminder, all entries – including music, lyrics, film and/or dialogue – must be original.

Above: Students at Park View Middle School in Mukwonago, Wisconsin, show off their healthy cooking skills in their winning Challenge video!

This month's "Activate Educators" column is written by Tom Levett, a Program Advisor at Rogers Middle School in Hyde Park, Massachusetts.

At the end of last school year, I noticed that our students were not getting enough exercise and were not eating a healthy breakfast. Only about 40 or 50 of the school's 580 students ate school breakfast.

To combat these problems, my Fuel Up to Play 60 student representative and I started a morning walking program, in which students walk for 20 minutes around our play yard. While the students are out walking, they have the option to go inside for a hot, healthy breakfast or continue walking and take a grab-n-go breakfast. Now our breakfast numbers run nearly 400 students per day! In fact, we have 100% participation from our students – whether they are walking outside or eating a healthy breakfast.

Administrators and all staff were extremely supportive with this walking and breakfast program – and as a result, there have been many changes in our school community. In addition to participation in the walking and breakfast program, we're also seeing fewer behavioral and attitude issues. Our school nurse has also noticed a considerable difference in the students seeing her throughout the day, with fewer students reporting stomachaches, headaches and other minor health issues.

In addition to the great success we're seeing with the walking and breakfast program, we're also excited about the recent Super Bowl Fuel Up to Play 60 pep rally we held with a school in Manhattan, New York. Our school rooted for the New England Patriots, and the Manhattan school supported the New York Giants. Former New England Patriots tight end Jermaine Wiggins and mascot Pat Patriot came to our school's rally, and we Skyped with the Manhattan school. Three local television stations were on hand for the event and ran the story on the evening news and early morning the following day. We had a friendly bet between the two schools, and since the Giants won, our principal wore a Giants jersey the day after the Super Bowl and we sent the New York school 600 New England cheddar cheese snacks. Overall, it was an unbelievable event, and the kids really enjoyed it, especially seeing themselves on the news that night!

Above: A student at Rogers Middle School takes a grab-n-go breakfast.

NFL Corner

Fuel Up to Play 60 students and Program Advisors in the Indianapolis area were rewarded with a fun day at the Super Bowl XLVI NFL Experience. The students got to enjoy a Fuel Up to Play 60 show from Indiana Colts mascot Blue and run football plays with NFL players Dwight Freeney (Indianapolis Colts) and Alex Smith (San Francisco 49ers). Everyone had a great time!

Featured Articles

Featured Resource: Rate or Comment on a Play

Plays are at the heart of Fuel Up to Play 60 – and we want to know what's working at your school! To provide feedback to help others who may be considering a Play, simply log in to FuelUpToPlay60.com, visit a Play and then click on "Rate or Comment on This Play." And when you're exploring the Plays, don't forget that you can check out other schools' ratings and comments!

Fuel Up to Play 60 Helps Schools Meet HealthierUS School Challenge

The USDA provides a useful chart that shows how Fuel Up to Play 60 can help schools achieve the HealthierUS School Challenge (HUSSC) distinction. Technical assistance and regional HUSSC/Fuel Up to Play 60 webinars are also available.

School Nutrition Association Features Fuel Up to Play 60 District

Thanks to School Nutrition Association for highlighting Massachusetts's North Andover school district in a recent SNA SmartBrief. The district – which participates in Fuel Up to Play 60 – capitalized on excitement surrounding the Super Bowl to teach students about health and nutrition. The district paired its younger students with high school athletes, who led students in outdoor exercises and shared a healthy "Tailgate Luncheon" in the school cafeteria.

News You Can Use

National School Breakfast Week (March 5-9) is right around the corner, and Fuel Up to Play 60 is here to help your school mark this important occasion.

As a physical education teacher, you have an outstanding opportunity to send positive messages to your students about the importance of a healthy breakfast.

Just ask Sharon Foster, P.E. teacher and Program Advisor at James Bowie Elementary School in Dallas, Texas. Sharon started a breakfast incentive to increase the consumption of breakfast at James Bowie and to inform students of the importance of eating breakfast every morning. Students who participated in the breakfast program received a smoothie celebration. As a result, breakfast consumption is up 20%!

Sharon says, "Our students understand that breakfast jump starts their day and provides nourishment that they need to focus and be attentive in class. The staff at Bowie has commented on the noticeable difference in students' improved ability in class."