By

Leisa Prasser,   Meredith Nicholson Elementary School

Play:

Topics:

Student Leadership,  Teamwork

We wanted to boost our Fuel Up to Play 60 program and bring attention to it to encourage school wide participation for the 2016-17 school year. We came up with a game plan – Fun Football Friday! After our kickoff event at the beginning of the school year, we decided to highlight Fuel Up to Play 60 and our Indianapolis Colts on Fridays before every Colts home game. Students and staff wear Colts gear or the color blue. Then we play a game throughout the day that everyone can participate in. With the help of adult advisors, our Fuel Up to Play 60 ambassadors (two from each classroom) come up with the games during their after school meetings. We have had a tailgating party which included a nutrition trivia game, a “hot” football pass between classrooms where the goal is not to get caught with the football, and an NFL team hunt. FUTP 60 prizes are given to classrooms drawn from all participating classes. The winning classroom also gets to keep the football trophy in their classroom until the next Colts home game and Fun Football Friday. This helps to draw attention to our Fuel Up to Play 60 program and gives our ambassadors a leadership opportunity. Most recently, the ambassadors came up with a football turkey hide-n-seek game. Two footballs were dressed as turkeys and there was a turkey naming contest that week in the cafeteria. When Fun Football Friday rolled around, the turkeys were hidden in our school in two locations. Classrooms were given clues that they could follow throughout the day to find one of the hidden turkeys. The prize for this game? – a special milk and graham cracker treat during the school day for the winning classrooms! These games have allowed us to promote our program, emphasize healthy snacks including milk, get support for our NFL Team the Colts, and let our Student Ambassadors be creative. Fun Football Friday has really proven to be fun!

How did students and adults work together as a team?

During our monthly Fuel Up to Play 60 student ambassador meetings, students brainstormed ideas to promote Fun Football Friday and games to play to get the whole school involved.

What challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?

Our biggest challenge was getting teachers to understand the games that students had created. We tried to give ample instructions to teachers before the actual day of the game.

What improvements have you seen at your school?

We have seen an increase in student participation and knowledge of the Fuel Up to Play 60 program.