Area school gets physical

05.15.2009

Students at Ruffing Montessori School in Cleveland Heights were part of a special assembly Thursday with Browns defensive back Nick Sorensen.

Sorensen was on hand to honor the school's students, winners of a competition between 13 Cleveland-area middle schools to accumulate the highest number of physical activity minutes per student during a 6-week period.

Ruffing Montessori students averaged 5,689 minutes per student, which translates to nearly 16 hours per week.

"To win the competition we had to get each and every middle school student excited about exercise," said Francine Barnett, Ruffing Montessori School physical education teacher. "When students heard about the grand prize, they really got into it and did a great job."

As part of Sorensen's personal mission to encourage young people to exercise and eat better, he talked about the importance of participating in programs such as the "What Moves U Challenge", the program the school participated in to win the prize.

The local "What Moves U"program, which is presented by Medical Mutual of Ohio, is part of the Cleveland Browns Play 60 campaign. Play 60 is focused on getting every child active for at least 60 minutes a day. The "What Moves U" program also works with the American Heat Association to promote heath and fitness among young people nationwide.

"These kids were really interested in health and fitness," Sorensen said. "They were focused on this goal they had and it was really cool to be a part of this celebration."

In addition to Sorensen presenting a "What Moves U Challenge" banner to the school, each of the students also received growth charts from American Dairy Association Mideast and a gift bag courtesy of Cleveland Clinic and Medical Mutual of Ohio.