|
Corporate Social Responsibility
News
5.02.2007 - 07:42am ET
|
CSR News from:
|
|
|
News Categories: |
| | |
Nike Combats Childhood Inactivity in New York City Schools Through NikeGO PE, A Program Available in 400 Schools Nationally
Asher Levy Students Show New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein the Advantages of "New PE" to Stay Fit and Healthy
(CSRwire) NEW YORK, NY- May 2, 2007 – New York City Schools Chancellor Joel I.
Klein will accept the Ross Merrick National Recognition Award presented by
the National Association of Sports and Physical Education (NASPE) to the
New York City Department of Education today. This award honors the
district's commitment to improving physical education. A key component to
the school district’s curriculum is the NikeGO PE program. A press
conference and awards ceremony will take place at the Asher Levy School in
Manhattan.
The event will feature a NikeGO PE class to address an important topic for
New York youth: rising inactivity in school-age youth, a major national
health problem. The NikeGO PE program delivers 30 minutes of constant
physical activity in schools, ensuring that kids no longer have to stand
in line for a turn or participate in elimination games. The Asher Levy
NikeGO PE demonstration will take place at 10:30 AM on May 2nd.
"NikeGO PE seeks to instill a lifelong love of physical activity in young
people and is designed to address rising inactivity rates in youth, a
problem that we need to address in New York as well as across the
country," said Ralph Greene, General Manager, Nike New York. "NikeGO PE
provides elementary schools with tools to build a smart and effective
approach to physical education, including a unique curriculum, teacher
training and equipment."
NikeGO PE was created with help from SPARK (Sports, Play and Active
Recreation for Kids), a research-based organization dedicated to creating,
implementing and evaluating programs that promote lifelong wellness, to
bridge the gap until more full-time PE specialists are placed in schools
nationwide. The program complements the work of NASPE (National
Association of Sport and Physical Education), a national organization that
is working to increase PE classes in America’s schools.
"It is extremely important for all children to grow up healthy and
strong," continued Greene. "It's wonderful to see a city that prides
itself on actively taking a step toward increasing the level of activity
among school children."
American school-aged youth are becoming the least physically fit
generation in history. In the past 30 years, overweight and obesity levels
in children have more than doubled. There is evidence that today’s youth
may develop significant health complications such as heart disease, Type
II diabetes (adult onset diabetes) and premature death unless they
exercise more. Children spend a considerable amount of time in school, and
schools are a powerful motivator for helping them adopt healthy lifestyles.
Several studies demonstrate school-based PE programs are one of the most
effective ways to facilitate activity in our youth.
Unfortunately, in many school districts across the country, the role of
the PE specialist has been eliminated or drastically reduced. With recent
national guidelines recommending that young people accumulate at least 60
minutes of physical activity daily, having a quality physical education
program in every school should be a national priority. Through NikeGO PE,
Nike seeks to increase the quality and quantity of PE in schools.
'Because physical activity must be done regularly over time to achieve
health benefits, the goal of NikeGO PE is to encourage participating
classroom teachers to supplement the physical education instruction
already provided by their school’s PE specialist," said Paul Rosengard,
executive director for the SPARK Programs. "NikeGO PE was created to
bridge the gap until more full-time PE specialists are placed in schools
nationwide – a shared goal of Nike and SPARK."
About NikeGO PE:
NikeGO PE is an innovative physical education program designed to increase
the quality and quantity of physical activity in America’s schools with
an end goal of improving children’s activity levels. NikeGO PE
accomplishes this task by providing “the essential components”:
curriculum, teacher training, equipment, and follow up support to
elementary PE specialists and classroom teachers. NikeGO PE is part of
Nike’s signature U.S. community affairs initiative – NikeGO. Since its
inception in 2003, the program has been implemented in more than 400 public
schools, reaching more than 75,000 students. For more information, visit www.nikego.com.
About SPARK (Sports, Play, and Active Recreation for Kids):
SPARK is a research-based organization (of San Diego State University and
Sportime, LLC, a member of the School Specialty Family of companies),
dedicated to creating, implementing, and evaluating programs that promote
lifelong wellness. SPARK strives to improve the health of children and
adolescents by disseminating evidence-based physical activity and
nutrition programs that provide curriculum, staff development, follow-up
support, and equipment to teachers of Pre-K through 12th grade students.
For more information, visit www.sparkpe.org.
|
|
