The WinterKids Winter Games 2020 got 32 Maine schools (2 in every county in Maine), including 7,332 kids and 1087 teachers and support staff (superintendents, principals, vice principals, school nutrition, guidance, maintenance, bus drivers, and more) to take their classrooms outside this winter, learning, playing, and taking advantage of the magic that is Winter in Maine!
Continue reading for a play by play rundown of what happened during this year’s Winter Games!
This month-long challenge was aligned with STEAM and focused on outdoor physical activity, nutrition, and family engagement. Entire communities wrapped their arms around these schools to support and get involved themselves. Schools were supported by 82 different businesses and local organizations!!! The snowball effect is real friends!
Each week, schools were given different challenges to complete throughout the week. They were scored on a rubric that allowed them to earn points that also took into account guest speakers, non-teaching staff participation, social media shares, community collaboration, and more.
Week 1: Outdoor Physical Activity & Science
The theme for Week 1 was Outdoor Physical Activity and Science. After kicking off the Winter Games with their opening ceremonies, Students completed 5 physical activity challenges from the WinterKids Elementary or Preschool GOAL.
Just look at how they took their science lessons outside and stayed active all week long!
Week 2: Nutrition & Math
The theme for Week 2 was Nutrition and Math, sponsored by Backyard Farms. Students completed 5 nutrition challenges from the WinterKids Elementary or Preschool GOAL.
Check out all the fun they had learning about nutrition & math:
And OH, the MEMES!
Week 3: Family Engagement & Art
The theme for Week 3 was Family Engagement & Art, sponsored by 5210 Let’s Go! Students took home bingo cards with many outdoor activities to do with their families.
Check out these awesome photos of healthy, winter fun that happened all across Maine!
Week 4: Winter Carnival & Technology / Engineering
The theme for Week 4 Winter Carnival and Technology / Engineering. Students enjoyed learning technology and engineering skills that allowed them to do fun and creative things both outdoors and indoors, and celebrated their final week of the Winter Games!
Weekly Wild Card Winners
Each week schools had an opportunity to enter the Wild Card competition for a chance to win ONE additional point. Here were our weekly winners:
Tie Breaker
As week 4 of the games wrapped up, 6 schools were in a one-way tie for first place! The final tie-breaker challenge for the Top 6 in first place was to create a snow likeness of their school principal. Here were their submissions:
Jonesport Elementary
Dr. Levesque Elementary
West Bath School
Leroy H Smith School
Prescott Memorial School
Bay Ridge Elementary
In the end, three schools had to be chosen to take top honors with Gold, Silver and Bronze medals, but the truth is, every participating school is a winner in our eyes. So much hard work was put in by every single one. We are so very proud!
Gold Medal Winners: Prescott Memorial School
Silver Medal Winners: Joneesport Elementary School
Bronze Medal Winners: Dr. Levesque Elementary
Participating Schools:
Final Scores
Thank you To Our Sponsors!
Our Major Community Sponsor, Hannaford Supermarkets, surprised our Gold Medal winning team AND the WinterKids team with a $5,000 match, granting Prescott Memorial School $10,000!
We’re so grateful for their support, as well as the support of our other sponsors, all of whom made the Winter Games 2020 possible:
WinterKids Major Community Sponsor:
WinterKids Supporting Sponsors:
Agren
Harvard Pilgrim Health Care
Irving Oil
L.L.Bean
Portland Glass
WEX