The Massachusetts Amateur Sports Foundation announced today the winners of the spring 2010 Kids Fitness Challenge. The four schools chosen were Bourne Middle School (Bourne, MA), Nathan Hale Elementary School (Roxbury, MA), Salem Academy Charter School (Salem, MA) and Westminster Elementary School (Westminster, MA). Each school will be awarded a $500 grant to be used towards supporting the institution’s health and physical education programs.

This spring’s edition of the Kids Fitness Challenge, held June 1-4, was the most successful to date, with over 24,000 participants from 70 schools across Massachusetts. This makes for a grand total of more than 46,000 children who took part in the Kids Fitness Challenge for the 2009-10 academic year.

The Bay State Games will hold the next Kids Fitness Challenge in November.

The spring edition of the Kids Fitness Challenge kicks off today, June 1, and runs through Friday, June 4. In excess of 23,000 Massachusetts elementary and middle school students will take part in the event which makes it the largest Challenge in the history of the program.

Thank you to all the schools that have committed to spending a portion of their school day emphasizing the importance of health and fitness with their students.

We will have a drawing next week to determine the four schools that will each receive a $500 grant to be used to fund the winners' health and physical education departments.

Good luck to every school and thank you for participating.

Registration is now open for the spring 2010 edition of the Kids Fitness Challenge. All Massachusetts elementary and middle schools are eligible.

You can sign up your school today by clicking on the Register tab in the Kids Fitness Challenge menu on the left of the screen and entering your school's information. You can also click here to download a brochure which you can either fax to 781-932-3441 or mail to the Bay State Games, 55 Sixth Road, Woburn, MA 01801.

If you have any questions about the Kids Fitness Challenge, please contact Peter Cohenno via e-mail or call 781-932-6555.

The Spring Edition of the Kids Fitness Challenge will be held June 1-4.

Originally scheduled for April, the event has been moved to a later date to avoid conflicts with MCAS preperation and in order to allow teachers to tie the Challenge into field days and other planned events at the end of the school year. The weather should be warm in June which will give schools the opportunity to perform their Challenge outside. Also, the MCAS will have just wrapped up so kids - and teachers - can take advantage of a well-earned break and some physical activity.

Because the Kids Fitness Challenge was initially promoted for April, we will honor all events planned for that month, as well.

Brochures with additional material will be mailed in the coming weeks and also posted on the KFC website. Registration officially opens on April 15 but teachers can get a jump start by clicking here.

The four recipients of a $500 grant for participating in the fall edition of the Kids Fitness Challenge are Alice B. Beal School (Springfield, MA), Arlington Elementary School (Lawrence, MA), Stony Brook Elementary School (Brewster, MA) and Woburn Street School (Wilmington, MA).

In total, 21,228 kids from schools across the commonwealth took part in the fall edition of the Kids Fitness Challenge. This was the largest number of participants in the three year history of the program with the total representing a 25 percent increase from the previous high in the fall of 2008.

Since November of 2006, the Kids Fitness Challenge has attracted nearly 100,000 elementary and middle school students from across the commonwealth with $12,000 in cash grants distributed to selected schools that participated.

The Bay State Games are excited to name the winners of the Kids Fitness Challenge for April 2009. The four recipients of a $500 grant are:

Jefferson Elementary in Franklin
Mary Fonseca Elementary in Fall River
St. Joan of Arc/St. George in Chicopee
Tyngsborough Middle School in Tyngsborough.

In total, almost 10,000 kids from schools across the commonwealth took part in the spring edition of the Kids Fitness Challenge. Along with the more than 13,000 students who participated in the Fall Edition of the Challenge, in excess of 23,000 kids from across the commonwealth learned the lessons of a healthy, active lifestyle this school year through the Challenge.

Since November of 2006, the Kids Fitness Challenge, presented by SBLI with contributing funds from the Boston Bruins Foundation, has attracted nearly 75,000 elementary and middle school students from across the commonwealth with $10,000 in cash grants distributed to selected schools that participated.

Boston University's graduate-level community relations students put on an interactive workshop called, “Small Feet, Big Steps,” to educate Dorchester’s Roger Clap Elementary School about the benefits of staying physically fit and eating right during the Kids Fitness Challenge this week.

The visiting BU students participated in several activities with the Roger Clap kids including soccer drills and an exciting game of "Freeze Dance" (Click for video). Check out the press release for more information.