Falcons help over 6,500 children stay fit

The Atlanta Falcons will add the FITNESSGRAM® assessment tool in 35 local schools and after-school programs. The addition of the FITNESSGRAM system is part of a three-year, $1.8 million grant from the Falcons and NFL Charities, the charitable foundation of the National Football League, to The Cooper Institute to support youth health and prevent childhood obesity as part of NFL PLAY 60.

NFL PLAY 60 FITNESSGRAM will be made available free of charge to more than 1,000 schools throughout each of the 32 NFL markets, including the following local schools and after-school programs:

  • Alonzo F. Herndon Elementary School
  • Atlanta Preparatory Academy
  • Beecher Hills Elementary School
  • Boys & Girls Clubs of Hall County – Downey and Teen Center
  • Brandon Elementary School
  • Bright Star Elementary School
  • Burgess/Peterson Elementary School
  • Carter G. Woodson Elementary School
  • Centennial Place Elementary School
  • Charles L. Gideons Elementary School
  • Cleveland Elementary School
  • Deerwood Academy
  • F.D. Johnston Elementary School
  • F.L. Stanton Elementary School
  • Fair Street International Baccalaureate World School
  • Gainesville Exploration Academy
  • George Washington Carver Boys & Girls Club
  • Hutchinson Elementary School
  • John H. Harland Boys & Girls Club
  • M. Agnes Jones Elementary School
  • Madras Middle School
  • Mary McCloud Bethune Elementary School
  • NFL Youth Education Town
  • Parkside Elementary School
  • Peyton Forest Elementary School
  • Samuel L. Jones Boys & Girls Club
  • Slater Elementary School
  • Usher Elementary School
  • W.W. Woolfolk Boys & Girls Club
  • Warren/Holyfield Boys & Girls Club
  • West Haralson Elementary School
  • West Manor Elementary School
  • Winterville Elementary School
  • YMCA Kids’ Time After-School/Joseph A. Walters Family YMCA

FITNESSGRAM® assesses overall health of elementary through high school students. Through six tests, it measures aerobic capacity, body composition, muscular endurance, strength and flexibility. Results, based on age and gender, are available in a report that physical education teachers can use to educate parents and students and encourage healthy behaviors.

We are pleased to partner with the NFL and The Cooper Institute to offer the Fitnessgram system to local schools and after-school programs,” stated Kendyl Moss, Atlanta Falcons Director of Community Relations.  “The opportunity to utilize additional resources to help combat youth obesity is invaluable.”

“We are honored to team up with the Falcons,” added Kenneth H. Cooper, M.D., M.P.H., “father of aerobics” and founder of The Cooper Institute in Dallas. “Our studies have shown that, overall, fit and healthy students are more successful in school. Together with schools and parents we can be part of the solution in an effort that may help shape healthy bodies and minds, simply by increasing physical activity.”

About PLAY 60

Designed to tackle youth obesity, NFL PLAY 60 brings challenges youth to become physically active for at least 60 minutes each day. PLAY 60 is implemented locally through the Falcons First Down for Fitness program and the Atlanta Falcons Youth Foundation’s (AFYF) Fitness Zone program. For more information visit, www.Atlantafalcons.com/community.

About NFL Charities

Formed in 1973, NFL Charities is a nonprofit organization that enables the league to contribute collectively to charitable causes on a national level.  NFL Charities, which has approved more than $120 million in grants to more than 600 different organizations, approves grants annually to support sports-related medical research, youth health programs and the charitable work of current and retired NFL players.

About FITNESSGRAM

FITNESSGRAM, released nationally in 1982 by The Cooper Institute and now in its 9th edition, was created to increase parental awareness of children’s fitness levels by developing a practical way for physical education teachers to report the results of physical fitness and physical activity assessments. The Cooper Institute is a 501(c)(3) dedicated to preventive medicine research and education. For more information, visit www.CooperInstitute.org or www.Fitnessgram.net.

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