By Hunter S.
Alumni Student Ambassador
On July 11, 2012, a lot of amazing people arrived in Washington, D.C. to attend the Fuel Up to Play 60 Summit! I was lucky enough to attend the Summit as an Alumni Student Ambassador and loved every minute of it! The Summit was jam-packed with great Fuel Up to Play 60 staff members, student leaders, adult leaders, information, learning, good healthy food, physical activity, and fun! OH, and I almost forgot to mention a special appearance from a few special guests, but I will get to that later.
As students and their adult leaders started to arrive at the Summit, I noticed that it didn’t take long for complete strangers to make connections and start building friendships! I think that the connections and friendships came so easily because we were all there for the same purpose….to FUEL UP AND PLAY 60 — and we did just that!
Each day of the Summit was an exciting adventure and every minute of the Summit (really, every minute) we were learning how to make the Fuel Up to Play 60 program at our schools just a little bit better! Those who planned and organized the Summit gave us so many opportunities to become better leaders of the Fuel Up to Play 60 program.
Not only did they give us a lot of information and ideas on how to be better leaders, they provided us with a media experience! We were taught how to fight our fears and tell our Fuel Up to Play 60 story in front of the lights and camera!
Don’t tell my mom, but the food they served was almost as good as hers and healthy too! They made sure that we ate whole grains, low-fat dairy, fruits, veggies, lean protein, and plenty of chocolate milk to drink. The Physical Activity Breaks were fun and always seemed to come at the perfect time.
As I mentioned before, we were honored to have a few special guests. We first we had the pleasure of hearing from an NFL leadership panel, who taught us the importance of teamwork, overcoming challenges, and being good leaders. They were so personable, and the representative from the Colts, even let me try on his Super Bowl Ring! Oh yeah! Our next guest of honor was NFL alumni, LaVar Arrington. He gave us great leadership advice. He was funny and did I mention he was pretty cool!
And if that wasn’t enough, we even were able to rub shoulders with the starting quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs, Matt Cassel. After Matt talked to us about leading a healthy and active lifestyle, he threw a pass to us as we completed an obstacle course. It was a great time!
I could go on and on about the Summit. I am so thankful for the people that I met and the experience that I had. It is impossible to mention everything that happened at the Summit and everyone who made it happen, but I will say that I hated to see it come to an end! I do believe though, that everyone who attended left informed, energized, and ready to make a difference!
Hunter, you pretty much wrapped up our experience in this blog. I an so happy that I was able to meet you and all the state ambassadors from across the country. Meeting Matt Cassel and wearing a Super Bowl ring wasn’t too bad either. When I got home I emailed my superintendent and fire department to come to our school this year and wear a milk mustache. I don’t think I will ever forget my time in Washington D.C. Thank you for being funny and rapping with me at the summit. I can’t wait to get everybody on board. Awesome program and everyone should be a part of it. Keep cool and check out my FUTP60 shuffle on the website. I think you’ll like it.
Great job Hunter!! Idaho is proud of you!
You definitely summed up the summit well Hunter! The experience was more than I imagined, and Emily and I are also very excited to implement all we learned this coming school year. We look forward to helping students make healthy food choices and get moving when they join our fight to eradicate childhood obesity.
As a program advisor and parent, I was incredibly impressed by the level of participation and maturity demonstrated by all of the students, and by the leadership exemplified by the four student alumni. You four are fabulous role models and should be very proud!
Nice job Hunter! Your word choice was very good and helped me to express what I thought I couldn’t in words. Don’t tell my mom…but I think the food served was as good as my mom’s as well! It can be our secret.
Hunter, this was such an awesome article, and even if I didn’t attend this year I know our experience last summer was just as great. This program is going to go places, and it’s just exciting to be a part of something bigger than you!
Thank you Bobby, Cheri, Karen, Kimberly and Gabby. I had a great time at the Summit and truly believe that the FUTP 60 program is making a difference! I am glad I have been lucky enough to be involved!
AWESOME!
I am just in 3rd grade and level 2