March 2012 Highlights « Back

Fuel Up to Play 60 in North Dakota

Students at Cheney Middle School in West Fargo have been awarded an all-school “Viktor the Viking” assembly from Midwest Dairy Council as a reward for their extensive accomplishments with Fuel Up to Play 60. Over the past four years, the Cheney Fuel Up to Play 60 team has made great strides in encouraging healthier food choices and more physical activity among their peers, and completed an array of Fuel Up to Play 60 projects throughout their school.

The assembly will be March 7 in the Cheney Middle School Auditorium at 1 p.m., featuring the Minnesota Vikings official mascot, Viktor the Viking. A fixture on the Vikings roster since 2007, Viktor the Viking has been there to cheer on his team and gather support from Vikings fans. Viktor has visited numerous schools in the upper Midwest as part of Midwest Dairy’s partnership with the Vikings, encouraging students to eat healthy and be active. Viktor will help the students of Cheney Middle School learn fun, new ways to incorporate healthy food and fitness choices into their daily routines. He is known to be very energetic and humorous, and loves to engage the students in his presentation.

To help commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the North Dakota Winter Show and celebrate Midwest Dairy Day, Viktor will also travel to Valley City on March 8 to meet fans, pose for photos and sign autographs at the Midwest Dairy Association milkshake stand. The District 5 dairy producers have several other fun activities planned throughout the day, including a milking contest, appearances by North Dakota Dairy Princess Rachael Rott and more. Show-goers can also pick up free recipe brochures and chat with dairy farmers about the hard work and dedication it takes to produce the products enjoyed every day.

Three very influential Health and Wellness partners signed Fuel Up to Play 60 Certificates of Support in the past couple of weeks in North Dakota. They include the North Dakota Nutrition Council (which includes registered dietitians and licensed nutritionists working in public health, WIC, Extension, schools and worksites), Go Bismarck Mandan and the Dakota Medical Foundation/Cass Clay Healthy People Initiative in Fargo. Although these last two groups are not state level, they are extremely influential in the top two metropolitan areas of North Dakota and have members who are key players in health and wellness in their respective cities. In fact, the Go Bismarck Mandan group added Fuel Up to Play 60 to its action plan to encourage the middle schools in the Bismarck area to eat healthy and be more active. The Cass Clay Healthy People Initiative is starting an “adopt a school” program where student teachers in physical education from N.D. State University would help a school activate a program to encourage healthy eating and physical activity (and we know a program that fits that bill!).

In the latest round of Fuel Up to Play 60 funding from Midwest Dairy, Valley Middle School and Nathan Twining Elementary/Middle School in Grand Forks received $500 and $3,300, respectively.  In the West Fargo District, Stem Center was awarded $2,250 while Sheyanne 9th Grade Center received $4,000.

Other North Dakota Updates

Jennifer Holle of Mandan was one of the Dairy Farm Moms who attended the social media training referenced in the item earlier in this newsletter.  Her husband, Andrew, recently participated in a producer spokesperson training.  Thank you to both of them for going the extra mile to speak on behalf of dairy!