Fuel Up to Play 60 Hometown Grant schools make healthy wager on the big game

Rhode Island and Philadelphia schools sent each other friendly video taunts and agreed to provide a 'Breakfast of Champions' to the school whose NFL team wins the Super Bowl.

Edwin M. Stanton Elementary School accepts a $10,000 Fuel Up to Play 60 Hometown Grant from the Philadelphia Eagles and the American Dairy Association North East.

The American Dairy Association North East, Philadelphia and North Syracuse, N.Y., and the New England Dairy & Food Council, Boston, said two schools have challenged each other to a little "healthy competition" in the first ever Fuel Up to Play 60 Hometown Grant Super Bowl Challenge. On Jan. 31, Hometown Grant-awarded schools Edwin M. Stanton Elementary School in Philadelphia and Elizabeth Baldwin Elementary School in Pawtucket, R.I., playfully shared video taunts cheering on their home teams. They also agreed to a wager.

If the New England Patriots win, Edwin M. Stanton Elementary school will send Elizabeth Baldwin Elementary a "Breakfast of Champions" package featuring a local Philadelphia dairy product. If the Philadelphia Eagles win, Pawtucket will send a similar package featuring the ever-popular coffee milk drink, local to the Rhode Island region, the organizations said.

Fuel Up to Play 60 (FUTP 60) is a student-led, national in-school nutrition and physical activity program launched by the National Dairy Council (NDC) and the National Football League (NFL) in collaboration with the USDA. Hometown Grants were awarded through the FUTP 60 program in an ongoing partnership between the NFL and the local dairy councils associated with the NDC this past school year in all 32 NFL clubs. For the first time, the National Foundation on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition is also partnering with the NFL, the local New England Dairy & Food Council and the American Dairy

"We are using the [Hometown Grant] money for a playground makeover and to help increase participation in school breakfast,” said Matt Bergeron, the headmaster at Elizabeth Baldwin Elementary. “We're excited to cheer on the New England Patriots this weekend and are confident they are going to bring home a big win!"

At Philadelphia’s Baldwin Elementary School, a grant was used to purchase a new milk cooler for increased breakfast participation, as well as physical activity equipment for the students. the school is so confident its home team will win, it did not hesitate to agree to the wager.

Schools nationwide can take advantage of the Fuel Up to Play 60 program to increase wellness by signing up at www.fueluptoplay60.com.