Newsroom | Archive 2006
Riverside County Office of Education helps launch Governor's Fitness Challenge
 Dr. David Long, Riverside County Superintendent of Schools, and the Riverside County Office of Education helped launch a new fitness program offered by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger during a press conference attended by 75 educators on April 11 (video).
Scott Himelstein, Deputy Secretary of Education and Chief of Staff to the Governor’s Secretary of Education, Kenny Rogers, Executive Director of the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sport, and Jake Steinfeld, fitness guru and Chair of the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, announced two competitions.
Educators can nominate principals, teachers, business leaders and others for recognition by the Governor’s office in support of physical education programs. Steinfeld said the plan is to create a fitness room at the winner’s school in his or her honor.
In the second competition, schools in Riverside County and the state can compete for how many students sign up to take the Fitness Challenge at www.CalGovCouncil.org. High school students can earn nearly a semester of free access to a 24 Hour Fitness facility. The Governor’s Challenge is for all Californians to be active 30 to 60 minutes a day at least three days a week.
“I am trying to draw attention to the need for physical activity,” Steinfeld said. “Students who are physically fit have higher self esteem and higher academic success… These are first small steps. But it all begins with one step, one repetition.”
Himelstein said the Governor is also interested in putting renewed interest into physical education with more than $85 million proposed for physical education, health and nutrition programs. He said the funding would not be a one-time grant, but would continue year to year. Individual grants (up to $100,000 per site) will be available.
For information contact:
Rick Peoples,
Public Information Officer
Telephone: (951) 826-6642
Fax: (951) 826-6199
rpeoples@rcoe.us
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