More Than 1,300 Students Racked Up 4.6 Million Minutes During Challenge
More than 1,300 middle school students at nine Wisconsin schools logged 4.6 million minutes during the recently completed "What Moves U Challenge," a physical fitness program from the Green Bay Packers and the American Heart Association.
Zion Lutheran, Greenleaf, was the winning school with an average or 4,658.26 minutes per student, which worked out to 166 minutes per day. The rest of the top four schools were St. Paul's Lutheran School, Grafton (4,194.03 minutes per student/149 minutes a day); St. Mary School, Luxemburg (4174.86/149): and Glacier Creek, Cross Plains (3939/140).
Each of the top four schools received 27 What Moves U rubber and synthetic leather basketballs and footballs, 27 volleyballs and soccer balls and 25 playground balls. Additionally, all participating students will receive What Moves U water bottles.
Overall, the students averaged 122 minutes per day, double the goal of the NFL's Play 60 program, a youth health and fitness campaign focused on making the next generation of kids the most active and healthy by encouraging them to be active for at least 60 minutes a day.
The six-week program challenged the students to get active and play for at least 60 minutes each day, with the activities able to be broken up and performed either in or out of school. The students tracked their daily totals on classroom scoreboards. Some schools had a competition between participating grades and the winning classes received a prize, with some examples including a pizza party, ice cream social or bonus break time. Other schools had teachers join the challenge and compete against the students.
The other Wisconsin schools that participated were Christ Lutheran School, Big Bend; Lake Holcombe Schools, Holcombe; Palmyra-Eagle Middle School, Palmyra; and Stockbridge Middle School, Stockbridge.
Schools received teacher guides and student planners, as well as a DVD that included a program welcome and message of encouragement from Packers linebacker A.J. Hawk. More information on the "What Moves U Challenge" can be found online at www.packers.com/community/communityprograms/whatmovesuchallenge. All of the schools' totals can be found there as well.
The Packers and the American Heart Association in 2007 initiated "What Moves U," a program offered to middle schools throughout Wisconsin designed to combat childhood obesity with the help of the state's teachers. More than 145 Wisconsin schools have participated in the program.
