抖阴ap

Broncos cheerleaders, mascot Miles and singer Jordin Sparks got kids at Allendale Elementary School dancing and jumping around their gym during an assembly Wednesday morning in Arvada.

Principal Rob聽Malling signed up the school to be part of Fuel Up to Play 60, a health program for schools created by the National Dairy Council and the NFL with thousands of schools across the country enrolled. The program gives schools ideas about how to talk to students about eating healthy and getting more physical activity.

鈥淲e kind of realized last year that a lot of our kids are inactive,鈥� said Malling, in his third year as principal at Allendale. 鈥淓ven at recess kids were walking around, hanging around, instead of burning calories.鈥�

Being part of聽the program also聽makes the schools and their districts eligible for several grants.

This year, the Jefferson County School District is getting about $40,000 鈥� including $10,000 from a Hometown Grant provided by the NFL. .

Wednesday morning, officials from the Fuel Up to Play 60 program, the聽cheerleaders, Miles and Sparks appeared at the聽school assembly to present the check and get kids excited about being聽more active. Miles was the crowd favorite by far.

Most of the grant money will stay at Allendale Elementary to pay聽for a dairy cooler, cafeteria signs encouraging healthy eating, an after-school ball sports program and playground equipment.

Diana Wilson, a spokeswoman for the Jeffco school district, said the rest of the money will help implement the after-school ball sports program at other district schools, but聽which ones or how many has not been determined.

As part of the changes at Allendale, staff聽also picked聽about four of their older students to be leaders in the school, reminding聽other kids to eat healthy and stay active.

“It’s all about empowering students,” said Dottie Ryan, vice president of Fuel Up to Play 60. “We’re helping schools create leaders.”

Malling said the school recently also incorporated a 10-minute break into their afternoon where teachers get kids stretching, jumping, or doing a quick yoga session.

“You can’t do your best in academics if your personal life isn’t in order and you’re not healthy,” Malling said. “We really believe in the whole child.”