2007 Governor's Health Bowl School Challenge

The 2007 Governor’s Health Bowl again featured a School Challenge. This year’s winners were judged not only on miles, but also on their answers to a Coordinated School Health Survey.

Coordinated School Health is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s model for integrating health into all aspects of school life. Learn more at www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/CSHP/.

We asked two of the 2007 Governor’s Health Bowl School Challenge winners to share their secrets of success:

Fit to Achieve at Riverview Elementary

Riverview Elementary students love a fitness challenge! For the second year in a row, they jumped at the chance to step up their physical activity during the six-week Governor’s Health Bowl Challenge. The student’s enthusiasm helped to rally the entire school community and families into being active. And here’s how they did it!

Physical Education: Dance & Rhythms, Climbing Wall, Aerobics, Individual & Team Sports, Bowling, Jump Roping, Fitness Activities, Gymnastics, Circus Skills, Project Adventure.

Alice Atha, Riverview Elementary physical education specialist, designs her P.E. program with the goal of giving her students many opportunities to find activities where they can feel successful. Riverview students know that physical activity is FUN—for everyone, not just athletes.

During the Health Bowl, P.E. students used pedometers to keep track of daily steps, logged physical activity in weekly journals, and created fitness projects which were displayed in the school hallways to motivate fellow students.

Family Involvement: One sure way to keep communication flowing between home and school is to get parents involved in their child's school community. Riverview Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) members Tonia Wubbena and Lindsay Middlemas are healthy moms who stay fit while raising their growing families. They were the driving forces behind getting parents and families involved in the Governor’s Health Bowl by contacting and encouraging fellow parents to join the challenge. P.E. teacher Atha logged the daily students’ activity miles and the parents eagerly lent a hand by logging the miles of health their families accumulated outside of school.

Active Play: Riverview recognizes that children need short, unstructured play and physical activity and that recess offers unstructured opportunities of play and physical activity. These are essential elements of creating a strong academic performance because it helps energize them and get them ready to learn more effectively.

Staff Role Models: The Riverview school community values the health of its members. By practicing healthy behaviors, staff members are role models for the students in their care — from the marathon runner to the folk dancer and karate master — teachers and staff know healthy teachers contribute to a more positive school climate.

The Riverview Elementary school community eagerly supports Washington Governor Chris Gregoire and the Healthiest State in the Nation Campaign in preparing each student for a productive and healthy future—and in developing healthy habits that will last a lifetime!

Ilalko Elementary School

Ilalko Elementary School in Auburn, Washington would like to thank Governor Chris Gregoire and the Healthiest State Campaign staff for promoting health and fitness in Washington state schools.

Ilalko elementary kicked off the 2007 Governor’s Health Bowl with an all school Parent Teacher Association (PTA) meeting. The PTA meeting provided an opportunity to get parents pumped up to help Ilalko achieve record mileage in this year’s challenge.

We expanded participation in the Governor’s Health Bowl by setting up computers during open house and harvest festival, helping families sign up to log miles at www.HealthiestState.org. The PTA promoted physical fitness with an all school walk-a-thon, raising $18,000 dollars. Additionally, our school received a $1,000 grant, which was used to purchase pedometers. Our principal had the entire staff and some students wear these pedometers for the six-week challenge.

Ilalko’s PE teacher provided significant support during the Governor’s Health Bowl by opening the gym in the morning, at lunch and after-school. During recess, Ilalko students participated in indoor and outdoor jogging clubs. Cardiovascular exercise is a primary focus of Ilalko’s PE program.

Another success was that our community helped make our effort a huge success. We doubled our community participation with friends of participants donating miles to our school. A special thank you to the: Hindmans, Rudas, Dolans, Sandborns, Sadors, our SLC staff, Doreen Rogers and Marilynn Greer. Their support of this event was awesome. Overall, it was a combined effort. I would personally like to thank the Ilalko staff and PTA. You guys are incredible!

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For more information, please visit: www.HealthiestState.org.

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