The Get Up
Get Moving campaign, offered by the Alexander County Partnership for Children
and funded by Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation, has ended
with Millersville Child Development Center claiming the title of most steps
walked during the campaign. Millersville
Child Development Center was also the winner of the October challenge recording
2.7 million steps. A total of 17,328,122
steps were recorded by the staff participating at Millersville CDC during the
six month Get Up Get Moving campaign.
Debbie
Morgan was the individual overall winner walking the most steps of any child
care provider in Alexander County, 2,151,144
steps. Coming in second was
Shirley Hickerson with 1,953,608 steps.
Debbie and Shirley are mother and daughter who constantly motivated each
other. They would check each other’s
pedometer throughout the day to see who was the most active. They would even call each other in the
evening to check on their pedometer step counts. Both Debbie and Shirley are employed by
Millersville Child Development Center.
Debbie was the overall winner for the month of October with steps.
Other
winners recognized for most steps at their center included Dara Grinton from
LuLus Child Enrichment Center with 1,509,932
steps and Rita Parson from First Baptist Child Development Center with 642,992 steps.
LuLus CDC was the second place winner with 11,996,578 steps recorded for
the campaign.
The Get Up
Get Moving six month campaign began in May and ended in October. Over 41 million steps were recorded by
participants using pedometers that recorded each step that participants
took. Each month individuals reported
their total steps to their employer and the child care center reported total
monthly steps. This campaign was
designed to encourage movement and activity within the child care center.
During
evaluations, participants reported feeling better, reducing stress, and losing
weight. Most participants indicated they
will continue wearing the pedometer to record steps to ensure a higher level of
activity.
Susan Cogdill, Executive Director of the
Alexander County Partnership for Children, spoke on the benefits of the Get Up
Get Moving campaign. “The Partnership
for Children was honored to be chosen to receive funding from the Blue Cross
Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation.
Child care teachers are influential in the physical activity of young
children. Movement throughout the entire
day while caring for young children is not only a necessity but a requirement
to maintain a successful classroom environment.
Preschool children begin learning about the
importance of physical activity in the classroom through their role model, the
classroom teacher. Get Up Get Moving has
allowed over 72 teachers and assistants to recognize and value movement
throughout the day.”
