Park View students get their game on with `Fuel Up to Play 60'

On Oct. 18, students at Park View Middle School took part in the official kickoff event for the Fuel Up to Play 60 initiative being started at the school this year.

The initiative is sponsored by the NFL, the USDA, and the American Dairy Council as a means of infusing physical activity, nutrition, and overall healthy choices into students' daily lives. Students who participate in individual or school and community challenges can log their participation on to their individual accounts and receive incentive prizes or attend special events as they reach various goals and milestones.

Principal Mike Crudale welcomed students and the program coordinators, Stephanie Mills and John Macera from Park View, director of Expanded Learning Programs Ayana Crichton, and Aramark general manager Tricia Wright.

Crichton spoke to the students about how the program is working in other Cranston schools, such as Hugh B. Bain Middle School.

“At Bain a lot of students have already gotten to meet Devin McCourty. Some have received $150 gift cards for the NFL store just by entering raffles. The school has received official flag football flags from the NFL to use when they play flag football,” she said. “A lot of them could have the opportunity to travel with me up to Gillette for one of the summits that Fuel Up to Play 60 will be hosting.”

She gave some examples of what students can do to earn points, including eating healthy, trying out new recipes, and getting 60 minutes of physical activity a day.

“At Bain we have a Fit Club where the students compete against our site coordinator for Bain and try to do 100 pushups or 100 crunches or run a mile,” she said. “Those are the sorts of things that they are doing there to earn their points, and you can do those same types of things here at Park View.”

Crichton noted that some of the other summits have taken place in locations such as Chicago at the Bears facility and in Indiana at the Colts facility, where the students have gotten the chance to play on those fields.

“Our Bain students were recognized in the spring at a dinner in a hotel where they were able to eat with Patriots players,” she said. “These are opportunities you will now have also, as you log your points.”

Both Crudale and Macera encouraged the students to log on and enter their participation information in order to start accruing points. Crudale also explained that the students’ participation in the upcoming Park View Veterans Day 5K Race on Nov. 11 counts as participation in a community play event and can be logged in as such.

In addition to the incentives discussed, the school will be implementing a Grab and Go cart and a smoothie station to the morning breakfast program as a result of a $4,000 grant received from the Fuel Up to Play 60 program. Aramark will be adding in the new breakfast and smoothie choices for students in the near future.

For more information, visit fueluptoplay60.com.