Elementary students to move and groove to fitness in Third Annual Wonder Fresh Fitness Challenge

National program designed by educators helps teachers implement 20 minutes of physical activity every day

TORONTO, October 10, 2006 – Starting today, nearly 700,000 elementary students from 2,400 schools from coast to coast will shake, boogie and stretch their way to fitness like never before thanks to an interactive program called the Wonder Fresh Fitness Challenge.

An eight-week, in-school physical activity program, the Wonder Fresh Fitness Challenge offers schools a fun and educational way to encourage daily physical activity and education in Kindergarten to Grade Eight classrooms. Written by an educator from Ontario’s York District School Board as a high-quality complement to any teacher’s fitness curriculum, the free program is delivered in collaboration with kidsworld Magazine to teachers and schools nationwide, excluding Quebec.

“The Wonder Fresh Fitness Challenge is our commitment to help kids feel great through good nutrition and fitness,” says Sheryl Johnson, Marketing Director at Weston Bakeries - the makers of Wonder Bread. “We know that fitness has to be fun to keep kids engaged, and the Wonder Fresh Fitness Challenge is a program that puts the fun into physical activity and education.”  

The program runs from October 10 to December 3 and encourages teachers to track total minutes exercised for a chance to win prizes based on participation. The school with the highest average minutes per student will win the grand prize – being featured on a package of Wonder Bread in 2007.

Half a million students participated in the Wonder Fresh Fitness Challenge in 2005 – an increase of more than 200% over its inaugural year – making it the fastest-growing supplemental physical fitness and education program in Canadian schools today. This year, the Challenge aims to grow the program by nearly 50% and turn up the fun factor by providing teachers with a “Move to Your Groove” CD, featuring popular songs from favourite artists, along with easy-to-teach dance moves.

“The Wonder Fresh Challenge is a great example of an innovative, creative, and effective in-school program,” says physical education specialist Neil Sorbie, a teacher at Regent Park / Duke of York Public School in Toronto. “Because it’s designed by educators for educators, it’s an easy way for teachers to both lead their students in physical activity each day, and help educate them about how they’re using their bodies in the process.”

By offering simple and fun activities that can easily be integrated in the curriculum and performed during the school day, this year’s Challenge can help schools – which play a critical role in increasing physical activity among Canadian youth – implement daily physical activity time in elementary classrooms.  

This is particularly welcome in Ontario, where, starting this fall, elementary students are required to take part in a minimum of 20 minutes of daily physical activity (DPA) as part of the province’s Healthy Schools Program.  The Wonder Fresh Fitness Challenge is just one way teachers are helping students meet that requirement.

“The Wonder Fresh Fitness Challenge is a bold demonstration of the value we place on active living, and we are proud of the role the program now plays in helping teachers deliver fitness activity and education in classrooms across the country,” adds Johnson.

HOW IT WORKS

Participating in the Wonder Fresh Fitness Challenge is simple as 1, 2, 3! 

• Register online at www.wonderfitness.ca

• Perform the fun and interactive exercises and dance moves on a daily basis

• Calculate the time spent exercising, and

• Submit your totals to help Canada beat last year’s national fitness total of more than 41 million minutes (more than 79 years of exercise)

Participating teachers receive the following program materials:

• A Teachers’ Guide with a series of age-appropriate and cross-curricular activities and health related lessons. Fitness activities are developmental and age-appropriate for students in Grades K-8.

• A “Move to Your Groove” CD

• Posters for their school

• Participation certificates for the students

Participation prizes offer added incentive:

• Every week, total minutes of exercise are submitted online and national totals for minutes of exercise are then tabulated and posted on the www.wonderfitness.ca website.  Weekly prizes are awarded to schools by draw

• The school with the highest average minutes per students wins the grand prize – the opportunity to be featured in kidsworld magazine, and have their school name and photo printed on a package of Wonder Bread in 2007.

• Final results and the grand-prize winning school will be announced in December 2006.

For information about the Wonder Fresh Fitness Challenge, please visit www.wonderfitness.ca