Molly McKendry

For Educators: Tools to help your students earn Fuel Up to Play 60 points!

Make 2019 the best Fuel Up to Play 60 year yet by helping your students rack up points on their Dashboards! Students with enough points can apply to be a State Ambassador and attend the 2019 National Student Ambassador Summit in Cleveland, Ohio from July 16 – 19. The Fuel Up to Play 60 National Student Ambassador Summit brings together student leaders from across the country to participate in leadership and communications trainings, to network and share ideas, and to create plans to make their schools healthier places.  At the summit, students will hear from a diverse group of fantastic speakers ranging from Olympic athletes and CEOs to NFL stars. It’s truly a once-in-a lifetime experience!

2018 National Student Ambassador Summit

We’ve put together a list of resources below that can be used by program advisors to support students in activating the Fuel Up to Play 60 program at their schools. We also included tips for encouraging student involvement that were shared from Fuel Up to Play 60 program advisors in New England. 

Students from Massachusetts and Connecticut at the Summit

The application to attend the National Summit and become a State Ambassador for the 2019-2020 school year opened January 3rd on the Dashboard. The application closes March 10th

As a reminder, students who earn 30,000 points on their Dashboards will automatically become student ambassadors. But don’t stop there! Students must earn 45,000 points to apply to attend the National Student Ambassador Summit and become a Fuel Up to Play 60 State Ambassador! 

Students participated in a cooking challenge at last year’s Summit

Resources for Educators 

 

 

Tips from our Program Advisors 

We asked a few our program advisors to share tips on ways they support Fuel Up to Play 60 students at their schools. Bet at Fairfield Center School in Vermont, and Craig and Joe at Synergy Alternative High School in Connecticut had some helpful pointers.  

  • Visit the Dashboard on a regular basis as a team to go over what activities can be done together, individually, or in partners to be successful. Kids like to help each other gain points and love it even more when they can come up with a grade level/school-wide activity to help them meet their goal. 
  • “Highlight a Player”: In team meetings, give kids an opportunity to share their personal accomplishments or highlight someone else’s. It adds a small element of competition but also helps the others to see how involved and dedicated each student is.
  • Have a quick reference guide for support staff (coaches, tutors) that details how to log students in [to the Dashboard] and get them signed up. This equips more staff members with the tools needed to help students register.
  • Create blocks of time designated to logging in and completing weekly challenges. This could be done during a study hall or flexible learning period.
  • Let students know when prizes or incentives will be had. If students know this, they are more likely to log in and complete weekly challenges.
  • It helps a great deal to have flexibility with a schedule for many of the little and big activities (events, sign ups, etc.).
  •  Lastly, and most importantly, is having caring, passionate adults who are willing to do a little extra to help students log in and navigate the dashboard. 
    Thanks to our program advisors for sharing your tips!

For more information about the Fuel Up to Play 60 program in New England, visit our page and FuelUptoPlay60.com

 

Molly McKendry

Molly is a registered dietitian and Manager of Nutrition Communications for New England Dairy & Food Council. She is responsible for providing communications and public relations support for our Fuel Up to Play 60 program and Health & Wellness teams in New England. In her free time, Molly likes to run, read, and travel. Sound like someone you want to get to know? Contact Molly at MMcKendry@NewEnglandDairy.com