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Elementary 

School-Oriented

Middle 

School-Oriented

Local sports celebrities and coaches get students excited about physical activity and healthy food choices that 

can help them “power up.”

Objective

Motivate students to try different ways to be physically active, and increase awareness of how healthy food choices are 

important for active bodies.

The Event

During this event, students visit 6 to 8 stations, learning about a different sport at each. Station visits last about 10 to 15 

minutes and include an activity such as kicking a soccer ball or learning how to serve a tennis ball or ride a bike. Stations can 

be staffed by community athletic leaders, such as physical education instructors, coaches, and representatives from the local 

department of parks and recreation. High school or college athletes can serve as helpers.

In addition, include a “Power Up” station, where a registered dietitian or the school nutrition director can lead interactive 

nutrition education activities and offer a healthy snack like fruit, whole-grain crackers, or low-fat yogurt. 

For added fun, schools can give students the chance to enter a free raffle for sports lessons such as swimming or karate. This 

is a great event to hold in the spring, especially during National Physical Education and Sports Week in May. If weather permits, 

hold the event outside on the school’s playing field or coordinate with the school’s field day.

Planning 

Form a planning team. Physical education instructors, aided by wellness committee members, other teachers, the school 

nutrition director, and your school’s parent organization (e.g., PTA or PTO), may be interested in taking the lead on this project. 

Determine which sports you want to feature, as well as the sports equipment and other resources that are available. Collaborate 

with the school nutrition director and registered dietitians in your community, in addition to your school’s parent organization, 

to identify healthy snacks to offer at the “Power Up” station and ways to obtain the foods you’ll serve (e.g., donations, funding). 

Consider offering orange wedges, pineapple spears, low-fat milk, water, low-fat yogurt, reduced-fat cheese sticks, or snack mixes 

made with whole-grain cereal and dried fruit. 

Decide who will host each station. Invite local sports enthusiasts from your area. Consider asking coaches and athletes from 

local high schools, colleges, and even professional teams to participate. Once the volunteers are secured, contact them about 

possibly providing sporting event tickets to one of their upcoming games, which you can award as door prizes.

Determine what resources you will need. If the athletes hosting your stations are not able to provide their own materials 

or sporting equipment, the school can reach out to community organizations for the remaining items or find adequate 

substitutions, such as using a large bucket in place of a hoop during a basketball shooting drill.

Promote the idea in a fun way. Make students aware of your upcoming event through posters, announcements during 

after-school activities and gym class, notes in the school newsletter and calendar, or emails (see page 3 for promotion tips). 
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School

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Display Team Nutrition posters that emphasize being active and making healthy food choices 

(see appendix, page 96).

Band students and the chorus can perform a song at the event, such as the Olympics 

theme song, “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” or “The Star-Spangled Banner.” 

Have art students create decorations to display at each sports station.

Have the school mascot join in the stations.

Display the Power Up! snack poster (see appendix, page 96).

Classroom 

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Incorporate 5-minute sports-themed physical activity breaks into the classroom or as part of 

morning announcements to help promote the event; consider activities such as basketball 

jump shots, racing in place, baseball throws, or pretend jump rope.

Third and fourth grade teachers can invite students to come up with “Snacks of Champions” 

using Student Reproducible 1 in Serving Up MyPlate’s Level 2: Lesson 2 (see appendix, 

page 94). This lesson is connected to Common Core and other educational standards in 

core subject areas.

Fifth and sixth graders can test their nutrition knowledge with Team Nutrition’s Track and 

Field Fuel-Up Challenge (see appendix, page 98).

Feature students’ favorite sports in physical education classes, or ask event volunteers to 

come to physical education classes to offer additional lessons.

Cafeteria

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Feature sports-themed menu items or physical activity tips on posters throughout the cafeteria.

Ask school nutrition services staff to help provide or prepare healthy snacks for the event, or 

provide or store ice for coolers to keep perishable snacks cold during the event.

Community

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Invite representatives from the local YMCA or other sporting organizations to provide donated 

materials or information about the sports programming available to youth in the area.

Ask your local sporting goods store if it can offer a student discount or donations of 

equipment, either for use at the event or for door prizes.

Invite youth safety organizations to provide information on helmet use and other ways to stay 

safe while playing sports.

Invite local high school, college, and professional athletes to be part of the event.
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Team Up for Success (cont’d)

Media 

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Invite your local sports reporter to be a guest of honor at the event. Ask him or her to staff 

a station and demonstrate how to play his or her favorite sport.

Ask local photographers and bloggers to cover the event. Make sure to secure photo 

releases for any students who are featured in photos.

Home

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Send a letter to families informing them of the event (see appendix, page 90). Include 

materials about local sports programming available to youth. 

Ask members of the school’s parent organization (e.g., PTA or PTO) to assist by 

providing volunteers and supplies.

Provide families with a list of healthy snack options that help kids eat smart and play hard.

Covington Elementary School in Covington, IN, held a 

decathlon for fourth and fifth graders. During the 2 1⁄2-hour 

activity, students in all classes, along with their teachers, 

participated in different physical activity events led by the physical 

education teacher, music teacher, and elementary school 

administrators. The teachers placed students in at least two 

events each, and students competed against each other. The 

Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO) provided six members to help 

run the events, which included a 100-meter dash, 200-meter 

dash, 1,600-meter run, 4 x 100-meter relay, softball throw, and 

frisbee toss. 

Shoals Elementary School in Shoals, IN, offered a nutrition and 

physical activity event as part of a field day. The physical activity 

stations included a scooter board relay, basketball shot contest, 

and obstacle course. The event also featured a “Health Haven” 

station, which offered students samples of fresh orange slices, 

100% juice, carrot sticks, and a whole-grain bar. Students had to 

match each food with its respective food group and then discuss 

the importance of making healthy food choices every day. 

[Photo] In Sacramento, CA, an Elk Grove Unified School 

District student powers a blender using a stationary bicycle.