Kid Fitness Partners with the New York City Department of Education
to Bring Exercise Into Classrooms this February
New York, NY. January 11, 2007. Long Island-based Kid Fitness LLC has partnered with the New York City Department of Education's Fitness and Physical Education Department in an unprecedented program to deliver quick and effective doses of fitness directly into all Pre K- 2nd grade classrooms in New York City this February.
New York City is the first to adopt this nationally available, free of charge, "Kid Fitness for Schools" fitness program.
"We are pleased to be forging a partnership with Kid Fitness on a program that will roll out in over 8400 classrooms city-wide and that complements our department goals and healthy initiatives for young students," says Lori Rose Benson, Director of Fitness and Physical Education for the New York City Department of Education. "We assess each of our partnerships carefully and found that the Kid Fitness for Schools program was dynamic, well-designed, easy to integrate and met with our physical education standards."
The "Kid Fitness for Schools" program includes a 7-minute 'Fun Fitness Break' kit that incorporates exercise elements and characters of the Kid Fitness public television series to get children exercising directly in the classroom during regular instruction. Each kit contains:
(1) A large exercise poster featuring images of the Kid Fitness super health hero and his animal friends doing 8 sequential exercises
(2) Large flash cards depicting a Kid Fitness animal character doing their favorite exercise. The back of each card has a description on how to execute the exercise
(3) An audio CD that has a step by step 7 minute 'Fun Fitness Break' segment which uses either poster or flash cards as the visual guide. The audio segment ends with a calming message that encourages the participants to exercise their minds
Additionally, a Kid Fitness Workout DVD is included. The DVD can be used in the classroom and in recess and lunch break areas to encourage children to be physically active, especially on days with inclement weather. The DVD can also be an effective tool for pre and after-school programs.
Teachers will have the option to do any or all of the following 'Fun Fitness Break' activities during a regular classroom period:
(1) Use the Kid Fitness exercise poster and the audio CD to explain each exercise and engage the students to participate
(2) Use the Kid Fitness exercise flash cards, with or without the audio CD, to quickly stimulate the students through physical movement, in any part of the classroom
(3) Use the Kid Fitness exercise DVD
According to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, 1 in 5 kindergarten children in New York are obese. Furthermore, according to the American Diabetes Association, 1 in 3 children born after the year 2000 will suffer from diabetes and that number increases to 1 in 2 if the person is a minority.
"In light of the ever-increasing childhood obesity epidemic, our program was designed to assist pre-K and elementary school physical education programs and the challenges that they face. We felt it was important to put activity and movement back into the schools to help young children adopt healthy fitness and nutrition patterns early in life, while having fun doing so," says Paul Neville, founder and CEO of Kid Fitness LLC. "We hope that our Kid Fitness for Schools program will not only get children moving, but will also allow them to release pent up energy and help them focus better on the day's lesson plan."
The Kid Fitness for Schools program will be integrated into New York City classrooms starting the week of February 26, 2007.
About Kid Fitness:
Kid Fitness is a live, interactive public television series for 2 to 6 year olds that features a super health hero fitness character and his jungle animal friends on a tropical jungle set. Each episode incorporates exercises, healthy recipes, nutrition tips, original music and edu-adventure storylines designed to get young children moving and to provide tools to empower them to make the right choices about fitness and nutrition to help prevent overweight and obesity in adolescent years. Episodes are reviewed by a team of medical and education experts. All exercises follow NASPE (National Association of Sports and Physical Education) guidelines. Segments feature age-appropriate concepts in the sciences (physical, biological, zoological), and in geographic and multicultural literacy. Social issues that affect children such as telling the truth, team work, bullying, and caring for the environment, are also included.
About New York City's Education Office of Fitness and Physical Education:
The New York City Department of Education's Office of Fitness and Physical Education aspires to support all students K-12 in developing the knowledge, attitudes, skills, and behaviors to enjoy a lifetime of physical activity. Its goals are to help students to make the connection between good health, physical activity, personal achievement, and quality of life; and to encourage students to take action to support mental, emotional, and social wellness, for themselves, their friends, their families, and their communities. The Department of Education's initiatives mark the system-wide renaissance of physical education instruction, focusing on the implementation of a health-related fitness education curriculum with Physical Best (developed by the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE), and published by Human Kinetics); integration of a standardized fitness assessment tool with NYC FITNESSGRAM; and development of a co-curricular physical activity program for adolescents. The vision of the Office of Fitness and Physical Education is for all young people to be C.H.A.M.P.S.: Cooperative, Healthy, Active, Motivated, Positive Students - for life!
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Press Contact for Kid Fitness: Richter Strategic Communications/ Melisa Richter
Ph. 416.652.5592 or melisa@richterpr.com
New York City Department of Education Press Office: Lindsey Harr
Ph. 212.374.5141 or LHarr@schools.nyc.gov
Official Kid Fitness website: www.kidfitnesstv.com
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