Gold Medal Schools Program in National CDC Newsletter

Utah's Gold Medal Schools program was recently highlighted in the CDC's (Center for Disease Control) Division on Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity Program's newsletter. You can read the success story at http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/downloads/NutritionPolicies.pdf starting on page 3. You can use the link if you are interested in reading success stories in other areas.

SelectHealth Offers Free Health Program for 4th-Grade Teachers

We know that kids who are active are more likely to have improved concentration, be more attentive, and earn higher grades. But, too many kids these days aren’t getting the exercise and nutrition they need to stay fit.
To help with this, SelectHealth partnered with local school districts to create STEP Express. This free program helps 4th-grade students create healthier habits through classroom lesson plans, physical activities, and a fitness challenge.
STEP Express follows the 4th-grade core curriculum and comes with PE equipment and prepared lesson plans. For the fitness challenge, students track their minutes of exercise using a passport and convert the minutes to miles. Grants are given to the three schools with the highest average miles per student, which allows smaller schools to compete. Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort near Salt Lake City also donates free aerial tram passes to students from each winning schools.
Nearly 80 Utah elementary schools participated in STEP Express during the 2009-2010 school year. STEP Express will continue this school year and SelectHealth is encouraging more schools to participate. For additional details and registration information, visit www.stepexpress.org.