Crestview students are health champions

Students at Crestview Elementary School now have one more reason to stay active and eat well.

At the beginning of October, the students were introduced to Champion Village, an online fitness program they can do at home with their parents. The basic idea of the program is that whenever they do something good for their bodies--play outside, eat vegetables or drink water--in real life, they can log onto the Champion Village website and enter their activities into an online game. Each real-world healthy activity--when confirmed by a parent--earns them one game point, and points can be used to buy clothes or decorate rooms for their game avatars. Participants can eventually earn real prizes as well.

"They want to play video games," the school's PE Specialist, Katrina Andrus, said. "That's what they're drawn to."

Because this type of game is so popular with children today, it serves as a great reminder and motivator for the students to keep up healthy habits at home, she said.

The ultimate goal of the Champion Village program is to improve children's lives now and in the future by establishing healthy habits early.

"Whether your goal is to become an athlete, an astronaut or even an artist, being healthy is an important part of life," according to the program website. "Living a healthy lifestyle will make your life more fulfilling, make you happier and help you achieve your dreams."

By motivating students to stay fit, Champion Village is an excellent supplement to other healthy-lifestyle programs Crestview already has in place, Principal Verneita Hunt said.

The school provides a salad bar option for students buying lunches, and encourages students to walk to school whenever possible. Every class in the school also meets with Andrus for 45 minutes each week.

"During that time we do a lot of fitness, and we talk about nutrition," Andrus said.