Debbie Shrewsbury, Assistant Principal, Winfield Middle School has been named West Virginia’s Program Advisor of the Year. Shrewsbury is part of the Fuel Up to Play 60 Program, taking an active leadership role in encouraging students to get active, eat healthy and make a difference.

Through the efforts of Program Advisors like Shrewsbury, schools across the country are encouraging youth to consume nutrient-rich foods like low-fat and fat free dairy foods, fruits, vegetables and whole grains and achieve at least 60 minutes of physical activity every day.

Specifically, Shrewsbury and her staff added more healthy foods like hot oatmeal, yogurt and fruit smoothies to their school breakfast menu and rearranged the school schedule to include time for all students to get more physical activity.

To recognize Shrewsbury and celebrate the Winfield Middle School’s sustainable changes, NFL Alumni Carl Lee visited the school on Tuesday, May 1. Lee honored Shrewsbury and led the students in a milk salute, as well as shared a special message with the students.

For more information on Fuel Up to Play 60 or to sign up for the program visit www.FuelUpToPlay60.com or www.drink-milk.com

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:
◦”Breakfast Picnic”
◦”A Hero’s Breakfast”
◦”Breakfast in the Classroom”
◦”Taste Test Breakfast”
◦”Grab-n-Go Breakfast”

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

Reid School in Springfield, Ohio was awarded a $4000 Fuel Up to Play 60 grant from the American Dairy Association Mideast to encourage students to choose more nutrient rich foods and to get 60 minutes of physical activity a day. Under the direction of their student council, students and staff participated in a milk mustache booth during January. Future plans include a Fuel Up to Play 60 mural for the cafeteria, taste testing to share nutrition food ideas for next year’s menu and a 5K run.

Students are being encouraged to sign up on www.fueluptoplay60.com. To date, more than 250 students have registered to track their food choices they’ve made and the minutes they are engaged in physical activity each day.

Healthy Tips from the Let’s Move! Team

Get a healthy start to the new year by participating in Fuel Up to Play 60 Challenges, checking out the Playbook for healthy eating and physical activity ideas, and making some sustainable, healthy changes in your school. You have the entire year ahead of you to make great progress!

Here are a few tips to help complement your Fuel Up to Play 60 efforts this school year:

– Join the USDA’s HealthierUS School Challenge (HUSSC). HUSSC awards schools for making healthy environment changes through the promotion of good nutrition and physical activity. More than 2,162 awards have already been delivered to schools in 45 states, and schools that participate in Fuel Up to Play 60 are eligible! Learn how to join here.

– Be a role model for your students by encouraging your colleagues to be active and to consume healthy foods and beverages. For example, talk with your principal about creating incentives for staff who walk or bike to school instead of driving. For more tips on making your school a healthier workplace, visit the Take Action section of the First Lady’s Let’s Move! website.

– Encourage your students to help their families make healthy changes at home by cooking delicious meals together. Check out Beyond PB&J: Cooking with Kids – an online cookbook featuring recipes adapted from students, Fuel Up to Play 60 spokesperson and chef, Carla Hall and the National Dairy Council. You also can find crowd-pleasing dishes on the NationalDairyCouncil.org recipe page.

What else will you do to encourage your colleagues and students to eat right and move more? Share your suggestions and connect with others involved in Fuel Up to Play 60 on the Fuel Up to Play 60 Facebook page.

Fuel Up to Play 60 is proud to partner with the Cleveland Browns to encourage kids to eat right, be active and make a difference!

Click here to watch the latest Play 60 video from the Cleveland Browns featuring Chomps and Chocolate Milk!

Are you struggling with meeting Healthier US School Challenge criteria? Let Fuel Up to Play 60 help you!

USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service and Fuel Up to Play 60 (FUTP60) have formed a partnership, which recognizes FUTP60 as a great resource for schools wanting to become Healthier US School Challenge award winners.

To help you, the most common challenges schools face in meeting the Healthier US School Challenge criteria have been identified along with specific Fuel Up to Play 60 resources that can help schools overcome those challenges!

Click here to explore the new Fuel Up to Play 60 resources and “plays” page on the Team Nutrition website. The page includes links to FUTP60 resources that can help schools meet those challenges.

Need money to reach even more kids and have even more fun with Fuel Up to Play 60? Then this is your lucky day!

NFL PLAY 60 is sending the PLAY 60 Bus to one deserving community and we want it to be yours! If a cafeteria makeover, a gym refurbishment or new uniforms for the sports teams sound like something you might need, click here to enter and tell the NFL why your school needs help with continuing to Fuel Up to Play 60. You may end up winning just what you ask for!

The contest closes on February 10, so don’t delay!

Visit drink-milk.com to hear the facts from experts Dr. Robert D. Murray, a pediatrician, and Sally Kuzemchak, a dietitian.

Challenges are issued to schools throughout the year to help grow student involvement and discover fun new ways to Fuel Up to Play 60.

Each Challenge focuses on a different aspect of the Fuel Up to Play 60 program and provides the opportunity for students to collaborate with their peers to create a photo, an essay or story, or video that showcases what they have learned about “fueling up” with nutrient-rich foods and “playing” for at least 60 minutes every day.
By completing Challenges, students have the chance to have their submission featured in the Challenge Showcase on www.fueluptoplay60.com and earn exclusive online badges and rewards!

Want to see how it’s done? Click the link to see how the kids of Tallmadge Middle School did it!

tallmadge_hdmp4

Confused by some of the terms Fuel Up to Play 60 uses? Here’s a quick reference so you can stay “in the know!”

Fuel Up: Eat nutrient rich foods such as lowfat, and fat-free dairy, whole grains and a variety of fruit and vegetables.

Play 60: Play or exercise for at least 60 minutes per day.

Advisor: The teacher(s) or volunteer (s) who are willing to help but not lead the program. Fuel Up to Play 60 is a student-led program. The advisors write for funding and help obtain permission and/or supplies for the student team.

Dashboard: The dashboard is your home screen.

Challenges: A challenge is an activity that can involve one or more students. They usually involve entering a video, essay or pictures of how your school is using Fuel Up to Play 60. Some of the challenges have involved asking students to show how they would make their favorite healthy recipe. Or, it may ask them to make a short video, 1-3 minutes, demonstrating how students get extra exercise during the day. Often, challenges which have been uploaded to school tube become entered into a contest for big prizes. The challenges would not have to involve all students in the program. It can be just an individual or small group of students.

Plays: The “plays” are from the “playbook,” which is located on the top tab of your “dashboard”. The playbook contains around 70 options of actions that school would undertake including ideas or “plays” for making a sustainable nutrition change, making a sustainable physical activity change, and for hosting a kick-off.

Kick-off: The kick off is the day that a school begins the Fuel Up to Play 60 program with the entire student body.