Fuel Up to Play 60 Events a Great Way to Increase Interest, Participation in Your School’s Program

One of the best ways to kick off a Fuel Up to Play 60 program, or to increase interest in an existing one, is to hold a fun event at your school. A school-wide event for students, teachers, and faculty—and even parents and members of the community—is a great way to motivate everyone to make healthy, lasting changes through the Fuel Up to Play 60 program.

Hosting a Kick-off Event

When you kick-off your Fuel Up to Play 60 program, an event can help generate interest and excitement which leads to participation, which leads to a healthier school for everyone! A kick-off event is an opportunity to share information with the whole school about healthy eating and physical activity, and how making healthier choices can benefit everyone.

Fuel Up to Play 60 offers suggestions to help you get your kick-off event started, including a huge selection of Kickoff and Promotional Plays, which include:

• Guest Speaker Series: Make a list of community leaders and organizations that may be willing to send representatives to your school, and review it with your principal; make appointments to share information about FUTP60, and invite a representative from each organization to visit the school and see the program first-hand.
• Host a Healthy Tailgate Party: Perfect for events like Open House and Back-to-School night, healthy tailgate parties can be combined with existing/ongoing school events (sports, art shows, etc.) to increase students’ and parents’ awareness and understanding of the Fuel Up to Play 60 program. Check out this example from Floyd C. Fretz Middle School in Bradford, PA, where school officials held a “Hunger Games”-themed event that included a Fuel Up to Play 60 “tribute parade.”
• Opinion Makers: Contact the editor(s) of your local paper(s) and offer them information about the FUTP60 program, and ask them to help you get the word out about the program’s impact, and to raise awareness to increase participation, volunteerism, and community donations.

Promoting Your Existing Fuel Up to Play 60 Program

In addition to holding events—which we’ll get back to in a moment—there are other ways to raise the profile of your Fuel Up to Play 60 program; specifically, social media. When Wareham Middle School P.E. teacher Nichole Stahmer shared a photo of her students holding a cutout of New England Patriots’ safety Devin McCourty, McCourty retweeted the photo to his thousands of followers. Her students were thrilled, and it was great for her school’s FUTP60 program.

Once you have established a FUTP60 program at your school, you become eligible to earn all sorts of incentives and prizes—including school visits from NFL players, which students love. In some cases, students win the opportunity to visit and play football with their local NFL franchise at their home stadium.

Visit Fuel Up to Play 60 for more ideas on Fuel Up to Play 60 Kickoff and Promotional Events, and don’t forget to follow them on Facebook and Twitter!