Fuel Up to Play 60 coming to Cranston West

By Jen Cowart
Posted 3/8/17

By JEN COWART Cranston High School West will soon be joining several other schools, including Park View Middle School and Hugh B. Bain Middle School as participants in the Fuel Up to Play 60 Program, an in-school health and wellness program which

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Fuel Up to Play 60 coming to Cranston West

Posted

Cranston High School West will soon be joining several other schools, including Park View Middle School and Hugh B. Bain Middle School as participants in the Fuel Up to Play 60 Program, an in-school health and wellness program which promotes healthy choices, physical activity and a healthy competition between students and schools for great prizes. The New England Dairy and Food Council and the NFL, in collaboration with the USDA to help encourage today’s youth to lead healthier lives, launched Fuel Up to Play 60. The Fuel Up to Play 60 state ambassador for Rhode Island is Sophia Chan, a freshman at West who has worked closely with school administration to bring the program to West after having seen its success previously at Hugh B. Bain Middle School.

Thanks to Chan's hard work, a recent grant award of $3,600, the school will be instituting a "grab and go" cart, which will allow the students to choose healthy snacks such as yogurt smoothies, bagels, fruits, warm breakfast sandwiches and other nutritional snacks to keep them going throughout the day.

"All of the grab and go snacks will meet the nutritional guidelines at both the state and federal levels. The smoothies will have dairy, fruits and vegetables, even grains if they have oatmeal mixed in. They will hit all of the bases," said Ayana Crichton, Afterschool Alliance ambassador and program director for Cranston's 21st century afterschool programs and vacation camps. Crichton has worked with the other schools in Cranston who have instituted the program and has also worked with Chan at Hugh B. Bain in running the program there.

In addition to the healthy snack options, a big focus of the Fuel Up to Play 60 program is centered on physical activity, including in school, at home and in the community, such as with team sports, intramural sports, individual activity and recreational activities.

"The program will be kicking off this month and hopefully spark more kids into being more physically active and into eating healthier, too," said Crichton. "It's a whole initiative which works towards having healthier alternatives for things to do after school. These students have to wake up so early and often aren't hungry yet before they leave for school, or they have to worry about where their breakfast is coming from. With this program they don't have to worry about that. It's fun, it's accessible and it will have many different choices."

Students from West who get involved in the program may have the opportunity to attend the New England Summit at Gillette Stadium in July if they qualify through their participation.

"Last year seven or eight students from Bain were able to attend the summit," said Crichton. "Students can form a team or participate on their own and enter their information in, accumulating points. More and more points leads to consideration for being able to attend the summit. It's a great chance to network with other students."

Crichton would like to ultimately see the Cranston Public Schools institute a farm-to-school program.

"If more schools become involved with Fuel Up to Play 60, that would be in our future," she said. "We are learning more and more about urban farming and we have seen a big difference at Bain and Gladstone already. The students are eating healthy, nutritious foods and a lot of areas in RI have dairy farms, students could learn more about that and visit a dairy farm."

She is thankful for the support of Chan and her peers at Cranston West who have helped get this program started at the school, as well as the support of the school administration and the support of Aramark, the food service provider in Cranston Public Schools, who has worked with them every step of the way. For more information about Fuel Up to Play 60, visit the website at fueluptoplay60.com.

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