ING Run For Something Better School Awards Program in Partnership with the
National Association for Sport and Physical Education
ING Run For Something Better (ING RFSB), in partnership with the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE), seeks to increase physical activity in students and help fight childhood obesity nationwide through the creation of school-based running programs. Research shows that physical activity improves self esteem, school performance and overall well being.
The School awards program will provide a minimum of fifty (50) $2,000 grants to schools that desire to establish a school-based running program or expand an existing one. Through activity plans created by NASPE and based on the National Standards for Physical Education (NASPE, 2004), the awards program will offer children a healthy start to life and foster their desire to exercise before obesity ever begins. To ensure impartiality, NASPE will manage the 2009 school awards program for ING.
If you are ready to make an impact on the lives of your students through healthy lifestyle changes, improving self esteem and reducing the rate of childhood obesity, then step up to the starting line!
Benefits
Running is a great physical activity for promoting good health and self-confidence. It helps build strong bones and muscles, contributes to fitness, and lends itself to personal goal-setting and personal best accomplishments. Furthermore, running is a low-cost activity that requires very little equipment. All that is really needed is adequate running shoes, comfortable clothes, a safe place to run (e.g., school field, sidewalk, jogging path), water, and a positive attitude!
Program Vision
The ING RFSB school-based running program is designed to be flexible. It can be conducted in physical education class, during recess, before school, after school, or any combination of these. It can be facilitated by a physical education teacher, coach, classroom teacher, or school administrator. The program can be as short as eight (8) weeks or as long as you want it to be. The program’s culminating event can be any distance – such as 1 mile or a 5K (3.1 mile) event – held during school, after school, or on a weekend day (and include families and community members). It’s meant to be personalized to meet the needs of the school – it’s yours to run with – go for it!
