Students at Diamond Vale Elementary are number 1 when it comes to living a healthy lifestyle.
The school was the provincial winner in the 60 Minute Kids’ Club Winter Challenge, which sees students from across Canada track their healthy lifestyle choices over a 60-day period.
Students collect points by sticking to a 5-2-1-0 system — five vegetables per day, less than two hours of screen time, one hour or more of physical activity and zero sugary drinks.
By logging on the 60 Minute Kids’ Club website on a daily basis, students answer questions about sticking to the 5-2-1-0 lifestyle, and doing so earns them points.
With more than 5,000 points accumulated, Diamond Vale placed first amongst 13 schools in B.C.
The students were awarded for their efforts with a banner ceremony in the gymnasium on Wednesday.
Diamond Vale Elementary principal Bruce Bidney said it’s fantastic to see the students come together and accomplish this as a school.
“We just finished our assembly with one of our loudest “Go Cougars Go,” so it makes us feel a strong sense of community and pride,” Bidney said.
Josée Warren, representative of Merritt’s five elementary schools in the 60 Minute Kids’ Club, said she enjoys the program because it gets kids thinking about the choices they make throughout the day.
“How many glasses of water did I have today? How many fruits and vegetables did I have today? Well, maybe I should have an apple as my snack before going to bed,” Warren said.
“If we can get the kids talking, then it becomes a habit, and then it’ll be something that they carry on.”
Merritt’s elementary schools were well represented in the Winter Challenge, as all five placed in the top 10 out of the province’s 13.
Bench Elementary placed second in B.C. while Central finished fourth.
Collettville and Nicola-Canford placed seventh and eighth, respectively.
The top schools ranked within a few hundred points of each other, Warren said.
Between the five schools, 149 local students participated in the Winter Challenge, which ran from Jan. 15 to March 15. Across Canada, Merritt’s schools all placed in the top half of the 107 schools.
Diamond Vale came in eighth, while Bench finished in 10th, Central in 30th, Collettville in 46th and Nicola-Canford in 51st.
The Diamond Vale students have shown consistency throughout the school year, having finished second out of 11 schools in the province in the 60 Minute Kids’ Club Fall Challenge.
Starting tomorrow, local students will take on the 60 Minute Kids’ Club Spring Challenge.
With another impressive showing, Diamond Vale Elementary could finish the year as the top school in the province, and earn a field trip on behalf of the program.
When Warren asked the students who gathered in the gymnasium for the banner ceremony if they were up to the task, they responded with a resounding yes.
