Valders Middle School (Valders, Wis.) was announced on Tuesday as the winner of the 'Play 60 Challenge,' a physical fitness program from the Green Bay Packers, American Heart Association, Bellin Health and WPS Health Insurance.
The month-long 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 prizes. Other schools had teachers join the challenge and compete against the students.
Valders led the way with an average of 5,287.12 minutes per student, which averaged out to 188 minutes per day. The rest of the top four schools were Bay View Middle School, Green Bay (5086.11 minutes per student/181 minutes a day); Peshtigo Middle School, Peshtigo (3862.36/137); and Lineville Intermediate School, Green Bay (3840.24/137).
Overall, the students logged 9,763,447 minutes, which came to an average of 3,725 minutes per student. The amount of activity per day per student was 133 minutes, which is more than double the amount of the Play 60 program's goal.
The top four schools Valders, Bay View, Peshtigo, and Lineville, received US Games gift certificates (1st-$700, 2nd-$600, 3rd-$500, 4th-$400) to be used to purchase gym equipment.
Clinton Middle School was the recipient of the most improved award during the final two weeks of the challenge, and received a $300 gift certificate to US Games for that recognition.
As first place winners, Valders has received a trip to Lambeau Field which will include a stadium tour, Hall of Fame passes, a chance to meet a Packers player, and a $700 gift certificate from US Games. The date of the visit is yet to be determined.
The other Wisconsin schools that participated were Wrightstown Middle School, Wrightstown;
Clinton Middle School (most improved), Clinton; Colby Middle School, Colby; Durand Jr. High School, Durand; Urban Middle School, Sheboygan; and Dodgeland Middle School, Juneau.
The program supports 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. More than 160 Wisconsin schools have participated in Play 60 programs since 2007.
More information on the 'Play 60 Challenge' can be found online at http://www.packers.com/community/community-programs/play-60-challenge.html
