Woodburn Independent Online

Olympics begin early at FPMS

The school held the event thanks to a grant that is geared to promote activity and healthy choices

• Published: 2/5/2010 4:12:12 PM

Photo By: Lindsay KeeferOlympics at FPMS
Sixth-graders Zachary Naeve, 12, and Lily Lind, 11, push Zachary's 2-year-old brother, Joshua, on a "bobsled" at French Prairie Middle School's Olympic-themed Family Fit Night on Feb. 4.

WOODBURN — “Let the games begin!”
 
More than 200 French Prairie Middle School students and their families, friends, community members and staff participated in an Olympic-themed event Thursday night through a new grant this year.
 
The event is part of Fuel Up and Play 60, a program through the NFL and the National Dairy Council to help schools promote 60 minutes of activity as well as healthy eating choices for students.
 
Nutrition Services Manager Kim Dennis signed the school up for the free program and 20 students teamed up to organize the evening’s events.
 
“It all has to be student-driven,” she said, adding the students volunteered to be part of the program.
 
“The kids decided that nutrition was good, P.E. was good but what we were lacking was family activities after school hours that they could be physically active with,” Dennis said. “With that they chose to host Family Fit Night once a month. That’s what we used the grant money for.”
 
The school is receiving a total of $5,000 in grant money from Fuel Up, therefore allowing it to have a Family Fit Night every month for the rest of the school year. The first $1,000 was awarded in October, when the school had its first fun night, featuring games brought by Nike. The Olympic-themed night was run on the second $1,000 grant while the rest will be awarded in March.
 
Dennis said she’s not surprised by the number of volunteers willing to come in on their days off to work on the program.
 
“I’ve been here at French Prairie for 11 years now and that’s who they are and that’s what they do,” she said. “It’s a dedicated group of kids.”
 
Eighth-grader Elizabeth Baxley, 13, said she joined Fuel Up because she wanted to learn more ways to stay healthy and active.
 
“I learned that being active doesn’t have to be work, it can be fun,” she said.
 
In addition to Family Fit Night, the school has taste testing during school hours, when students taste a healthy food, such as a clementine, and vote on how they like it.
 
The Family Fit Night started with a healthy dinner and family flag decorating to represent their “Olympic team,” followed by opening ceremonies, which featured a flag ceremony from Boy Scout Troop 59.
 
Then came the 60 minutes of activity, with teams bobsledding, curling, playing hockey and alpine skiing on the Nintendo Wii.
 
Medals were awarded for participation and raffle drawings of mostly school supplies rounded out the evening’s events.
 
“It’s all about kids feeling better and doing better,” Dennis said, adding that the physical education teachers volunteered to referee the games. “When it benefits the kids, (the staff members are) all about doing whatever they need to do. Without the staff, it wouldn’t fly.”

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