Big Island Schools Earn Awards for Active Living

Parker School photo.

More than 1,584 students, teachers and staff members from 14 participating schools across the state competed to win a portion of $6,000 during the semiannual Fire Up Your Feet Spring Activity Challenge.

Using the program’s online activity tracker, schools logged more than 1,012,089 minutes of physical activity—walking, biking, jogging, surfing and more—over the course of one month.

Three schools on Hawai‘i Island received cash awards to fund the purchase of physical activity and sports equipment or support wellness initiatives on campus: Mauna Loa School and Parker School received $500 each, and Laupahoehoe Community Public Charter School received $1,000.

Maui and O‘ahu schools also received awards:

• Ha‘ikū Elementary School, Maui: $1,250
• Kula Elementary School, Maui: $250
• Kamalii Elementary School, Maui: $750
• Central Middle School, O‘ahu: $1,250
• Iliahi Elementary School, O‘ahu: $500

“Fire Up Your Feet challenges students to earn money to improve their schools while inspiring them to develop healthy habits,” said Mary Ann Barnes, RN, president of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals Hawai‘i Region. “By supporting school health programs that enable our keiki to thrive, we can help prevent childhood obesity and encourage lifelong wellness and healthier communities overall.”

Fire Up Your Feet is a national, ongoing program launched in 2013 as part of Kaiser Permanente’s Thriving Schools campaign. Any K–8 public, private or charter school in Hawai‘i is welcome to participate in activity challenges held in the spring and fall school semesters.

Through the Fire Up Your Feet program, Kaiser Permanente and Safe Routes to School have awarded more than $37,000 to participating schools in the state and $427,000 nationwide.

To learn more about Fire Up Your Feet or to sign up for the fall challenge taking place in October, visit fireupyourfeet.org.

About Fire Up Your Feet

Fire Up Your Feet is a core program of Safe Routes to School National Partnership, available to any elementary or middle school (grades K–8) nationally. Made possible through funding from the Kaiser Permanente Community Benefit Fund at the East Bay Community Foundation, the program offers free resources including an online activity tracker, and a school fundraising organizer, all aimed at increasing physical activity before, during and after school for students, parents, staff and teachers. The National PTA is actively partnering to encourage family engagement to support both child and family health.

The Safe Routes to School National Partnership was founded in 2005 and works to advance safe walking and bicycling to and from school and in daily life, to improve the health and well-being of America’s children and to foster the creation of livable, sustainable communities.