By Kalyn Belsha kbelsha@stmedianetwork.com September 13, 2013 9:16AM
AURORA — Dieterich Elementary students in East Aurora School District are about to get new volleyball equipment and more family fitness nights, after winning a $3,300 grant that will help fund the school’s fitness and nutrition club.
The grant was awarded by the Midwest Dairy Council as part of the national Fuel Up to Play 60 program, which encourages students to get one hour of physical fitness a day and to improve their eating habits.
The program is part of a collaborative effort among the National Dairy Council, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Football League to increase children’s physical activity and access to healthy foods.
Schools that participate in the federally assisted meal program, which provides low-cost or free meals to low-income students, are eligible to apply for the competitive grants. This is the second year Dieterich is participating in the Fuel Up to Play 60 program.
Jessica Brunscheen, who teaches fourth grade at Dieterich and advises the school’s fitness club, said the extra money will let the school purchase new volleyball nets, get more scooters with basketball nets and host healthy food taste tests during lunch.
The grant also allows for second-grade teacher Meagan Sfrengeu to become a co-advisor for the growing club, which is open to students in third to fifth grade.
Last year the fitness club started with 19 students, Brunscheen said, and grew to about 45. Students often joined after hearing about it through word of mouth or seeing the activities, such as a smoothie-making day hosted in the cafeteria.
Students in the club got to hand out small tastes of smoothies to their classmates at lunch time, with a focus on healthy foods such as Greek yogurt and wheat germ.
The school hosted one family fitness night last winter, Brunscheen said, and they hope to hold two or three this year. The fitness night staged various stations where students participated in activities such as making their own granola, trying to beat the principal’s time on an obstacle course and playing “frolf,” a combination of Frisbee and golf.
This year Brunscheen also hopes to invite a farmer to speak to students at the school about growing fresh fruits, vegetables and grains.
For Brunscheen, who played soccer at Illinois State University, taking on the fitness club was a “no-brainer.”
“I think its something every person needs to take initiative on,” she said, adding she likes to play soccer with the students. “I think the fact that I’m in there joining them — they have fun with it.”
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