The Challenge: Get active, and get fit to fight childhood obesity. New York’s First Lady, Michelle Paige Paterson, took that challenge statewide with the “Healthy Steps to Albany” initiative, and over 50,000 middle school students responded. And when it was over, three classes from the Syracuse City School District went to Albany for a healthy lunch with Gov. David Paterson and the First Lady, for outdistancing the pack.“Healthy Steps to Albany” is a six-week spring fitness program, encouraging students to log the steps they take. Schools throughout Central New York participated in this first statewide effort, and three Syracuse schools excelled.
· Heather Marzullo’s 6th Grade class from Hughes Magnet School logged 23,175,620 steps.
· Kim Priest’s 7th Grade Health class totaled 16,883,659.
· And Bridget Shepard’s 5th period 8th Graders at Edward Smith School racked up 76,352,507 steps!
They were among 160 students who had lunch with the Governor and First Lady at the Executive Mansion in Albany in May. The healthy menu included chicken and roasted vegetable wraps, fresh carrots, asparagus and radishes, along with oatmeal raisin cookies, fresh fruit tartlets and a fruit salad. Later, they walked the meal off during an exclusive tour of the Executive Mansion.
Michelle Paige Paterson created the program last year, in her hometown of Harlem. Nearly 270 classes from cities across the state got involved, logging over 1.4 billion steps along the way. Planning is already underway for next year’s program, which launches in March of 2010.
You can find more about Central New York’s participation in “Healthy Steps to Albany” at http://www.healthystepstoalbany.ny.gov/syracuse/syracuse.htm.
Source: www.ny.gov
