SILVER goes to a Washington County School and BRONZE to an Aroostook County School.
February 10, 2020, Westbrook, Maine – Prescott Memorial School in Washington, Knox County, is celebrating today having taken the coveted Gold Medal prize in the 3rd Annual WinterKids Winter Games, receiving $10,000 cash for their school – $5,000 from WinterKids and a surprise matching gift from Major Community Sponsor, Hannaford.
The regular competition period ended with 6 Maine schools in a one-way tie for first place. A final tie-breaker challenge, creating a likeness of their school principal out of snow ranked the schools 1st – 6th place. Jonesport Elementary School won the Silver ($3,000) for Washington County, and Dr. Levesque Elementary School in Frenchville won Bronze ($1,500) for Aroostook County. WinterKids presented the prizes in all-school ceremonies at the winning schools on Wednesday and Thursday, February 5th and 6th.
Students from 32 elementary schools, representing each of Maine’s sixteen counties, competed in the WinterKids Winter Games during the month of January. Competition was fierce as students participated in a four-week series of outdoor physical activity, nutrition, family engagement, and winter carnival challenges designed to help them be active in the winter and learn healthy habits. This year’s theme was Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math (STEAM). Each school was encouraged to involve volunteers, parents, healthy eating and active living organizations in their community, and hold a winter carnival to close out the month’s events.
Schools competed for weekly points based on the total percentage of the student body that participated. Schools competing in the WinterKids Winter Games received a toolkit full of resources and incentives to help students earn points, including the award-winning WinterKids Guide to Outdoor Active Learning- an easy to use resource to help kids move, learn, and explore outdoors while meeting education standards. In addition, schools received bonus points for Weekly Wild Card Submissions, including: a roster video, a meme, a photo and a Boomerang.
“Each year of the Games surpasses the last! We are so proud of each and every child, teacher, parent and staff that put their heart and souls into this month-long challenge to make themselves and their schools a healthier place! Over 7,500 kids and 1,200 teachers and staff statewide set and achieved countless goals with the help of their families and communities!” says Julie Mulkern, Executive Director of WinterKids. “This is a fantastic way to get kids excited about being active and learning outdoors in the winter and living healthier lifestyles.”
The 2020 WinterKids Winter Games are made possible by: The Bingham Program, TD Bank, Subway, Backyard Farms, Emera Maine, Flexible Flyer, Garmin, Mt. Washington Observatory, Johnny’s Selected Seeds, MaineHealth Let’s Go! 5210, MMG Insurance, Sam L. Cohen Foundation, Ski Maine Association, University of New England, and Boston Museum of Science. For more details on the games visit: https://winterkids.org/teachers-schools/winterkids-wintergames/.