December 7, 2004What a Success!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for supporting the San Antonio Sports Foundation’s 2004 Diamond Shamrock Go!Kids Challenge™! Because of all of the participating school districts' PE coordinators, coaches and other teachers and school administrators, not only was last Sunday’s Subway Victory Lap Celebration a huge success, but the entire 10-week program was too. Based on the numbers you submitted, about 55,000 children completed the Diamond Shamrock Go!Kids Challenge. That’s more than one-third of the 160,000 elementary students in San Antonio, New Braunfels and Boerne who were introduced to the program on September 29. That’s an impressive participation rate, but lets us know that there’s plenty of room for improvement next year.
Subway Victory Lap Celebration
Beginning at about 12:00 p.m. on Sunday, December 5, families began checking in at the Alamodome to participate in the Subway Victory Lap Celebration. By 2 p.m., we had a huge crowd for the official kickoff and the flow remained steady until 4 p.m.
We estimate that 5,500 children received their finisher’s medals and t-shirts at the event. Seeing the pride of achievement on their faces as they were awarded their medals was incredible! It was especially rewarding to see how many parents and siblings attended to support their Go!Kids. The total attendance was about 21,500.
Many thanks to Mayor Ed Garza, city councilman Richard Perez, the program’s honorary chairman Dr. Gabriel Magraner, all of our sponsors, Olympians Josh Davis, Liza Hunter-Galvan, Ross Davis and Casey Tibbs, WOAI radio’s Walter Pasacrita, many Sports Foundation board members, and all of the school officials who helped to make the kickoff extra-special.
Terrific sponsors like Diamond Shamrock, Subway, Spectrum Health Clubs, PacifiCare, Methodist Children’s Hospital, WemakePEfun.com, and the Sports Foundation’s own Dreams for Youth program provided interactive exhibits that engaged the children and their families in lots of fun. Mascots from many schools, teams, sponsors and civic organizations added to the festivities.
We also have to thank Southwest High School for sending out their drum line and cheerleaders, and Southside High School’s drum line and Roosevelt High School’s Patriots dancers for making the event extra lively for all the elementary students who were thrilled to see the “big kids” supporting them.
In addition to the photos you see here, more will be posted on our website at www.gokidschallenge.org. Check them out!
Medals for all Finishers
Every child who completed the Diamond Shamrock Go!Kids Challenge™ deserves to receive a Go!Kids medal for his or her accomplishment. Based on your participation estimates, the Sports Foundation has distributed medals to every school district’s PE coordinator. If you have not already received your school’s medals, please contact your district PE coordinator. We know many of the schools were planning a big campus-wide celebration to mark the conclusion of the Diamond Shamrock Go!Kids Challenge™ and to distribute medals to those children who were unable to attend the Subway Victory Lap Celebration. We hope your school will celebrate this accomplishment, too! Remember, only the children who attended the event last Sunday received a Go!Kids finisher’s t-shirt, but every finisher gets a medal.
New Nikes for the Most Active!
Congratulations to all of the teachers and students who were nominated as Most Active Teacher and Most Active Child. One teacher and one child from each of the 18 participating school districts was eligible to win a new pair of Nike running shoes generously donated by the Carrozza Foundation of Austin. The winners are listed below. Unfortunately, not every district nominated a teacher or child. We hope to have greater participation in this effort next year.
Most Active Teachers
Vicki Wilson, East Central ISD
Gloria Martinez, Edgewood ISD
Harry Barnhill, Judson ISD
Kristi Lally, North East ISD*
Patty Rice, Northside ISD
Delia Rivas, Jubilee Academic Center (private)
Tony Symcheck, Randolph ISD
Paula Hayde, San Antonio ISD*
Delia Velasquez, South San Antonio ISD
Susan Even, Southwest ISDMost Active Children
Richard Luna, Alamo Heights ISD*
Albert Olivarez, Edgewood ISD*
Drevon Rhodes, Judson ISD
Joshua Irwin, North East ISD
Tanner Newsome, Northside ISD
Christopher Herrera, Jubilee Academic Center (private)
Zachary Hudson, Randolph ISD
Megan Cherizola, San Antonio ISD
Vivianna Ramirez, Shertz-Cibolo ISD
Destiny Estrada, South San Antonio ISD*
Joel Luna, Southside ISD
Miranda Medina, Southwest ISD*The asterisks (*) indicate those teachers and students that we do not have shoe sizes for. If you are one of these teachers or are the teacher who nominated one of these students, please provide the individual’s shoe size and mailing address to Mary Ullmann Japhet at mjaphet@sanantoniosports.org or 210-820-2123.
It’s Time to Claim Your Prize!
Now is the time to submit your school’s entry to win new playground equipment! The elementary school in each district with the highest percentage of teachers to walk and complete the Diamond Shamrock Go!Kids Challenge will win GYM-I-NEE playground equipment, courtesy of www.WeMakePEFun.com. (School districts with fewer than 10 elementary schools will compete against each other.) The GYM-I-NEE is the perfect game for excitement, exercise and fun.
Now that you’ve completed the Diamond Shamrock Go!Kids Challenge,™ turn in your form (click here for a form) to your district’s PE contact, and he or she will submit it to the Sports Foundation by December 15th.
Post-Event Questionnaires
The San Antonio Sports Foundation asks your help in conducting post-event questionnaires with your students to help us measure the reach and effectiveness of the Diamond Shamrock Go!Kids Challenge. The information from these questionnaires is very important as we continue to pursue grants from government sources and private foundations. Please contact Susan Blackwood at sblackwood@sanantoniosports.org or 820-2110 if you are willing to participate and have not spoken with Susan already. We will deliver the questionnaires to you. Your results should be submitted before classes break for the holidays.
SBC Awards Grant for Go!Kids
On Wednesday, December 1, the SBC Foundation generously granted the Sports Foundation $50,000 to enhance its website, www.gokidschallenge.org. At a press conference attended by 500 students at Jackson-Keller Elementary, SBC’s Jerry Fuentes presented a giant check to Dr. Susan Blackwood, the Sports Foundation’s executive director.
Susan thanked the SBC Foundation and pledged to use the funds to help make the program’s website more interactive, creating a useful resource for Go!Kids and their families to stay active and healthy.
Celebrities Pump Up Go!Kids
Several celebrities helped motivate Diamond Shamrock Go!Kids Challenge participants in the program’s final week. Local Olympic hero Josh Davis (left) joined SBC and the Sports Foundation at Jackson Keller Elementary on Wednesday. He inspired the children to keep exercising and then took a Go!Kids walk with them around the playground.
WOAI-TV’s chief meteorologist Jennifer Broome (center) and Liza Hunter-Galvan (right), who represented her native New Zealand at the 2004 Summer Olympics and is a four-time winner of the San Antonio Marathon, visited Elm Creek Elementary (Southwest ISD) on Wednesday. Liza also visited Coronado Village Elementary (Judson ISD) on Friday. Thanks to Josh, Jennifer and Liza for sharing their time and talent to motivate our Go!Kids!
Let Us Hear From You!
The only way we can improve the Diamond Shamrock Go!Kids Challenge is to hear from you about what worked and what did not for you and your students. Please take the time to share your thoughts with us about how we can more completely engage students, their families and you in this program. How can we get more kids involved? What would it take to motivate more teachers to participate? How can we improve our communication with you? Do you need new or different materials? Every comment is important! Please send your thoughts to mjaphet@sanantoniosports.org.
Stay Tuned…
Though the 2004 Diamond Shamrock Go!Kids Challenge is complete, we will continue to communicate with you throughout the rest of the school year. We want to keep you posted about changes in the program, upgrades to the website and other key issues. Never hesitate to contact us either.
Who is Your PE Contact?
For general Diamond Shamrock Go!Kids Challenge information and supplies, please contact your districts’ PE coordinator. In case you are not aware who that person is in your district, please see the list below.
Alamo Heights ISD Karen Rotzler rotzler@ahisd.net Boerne ISD Mary Meckel mary.meckel@boerne-isd.net Boerne ISD Sam Champion champion@boerne-isd.net Comal ISD Rene Schafer rene.schafer@comalisd.org East Central ISD Clyde Peacock clyde.peacock@fc.ecisd.net Edgewood ISD Rosantina Ruiz rruiz@eisd.net Fort Sam Houston ISD Amy Cichon acichon@fort-sam-houston.k12.tx.us Harlandale ISD Gina Castro Gina.castro@harlandale.k12.tx.us Judson ISD Diane Fisher dfisher@judson.k12tx.us Judson ISD Charlie Neumeyer cneumeyer@judson.k12.tx.us Lackland ISD David Cardenas cardenas.d@lackland.k12.tx.us Lackland ISD Mike Flores New Braunfels ISD Rosalyn Bratcher rbratcher@newbraunfels.txed.net North East ISD Karen Willaford kwilla@neisd.net Northside ISD Linda Seewald elem04@nisd.net Northside ISD Rachel Naylor rachelnaylor@nisd.net Private - Jubilee Academic Center Daniel Amador danielamador535@hotmail.com Private - La Escuela de las Americas Ramiro Nava rnava@mauc.org Randolph ISD Patricia Franklin cyclepat@satx.rr.com San Antonio ISD Roger Rodriguez RoRodriguez@saisd.net Shertz-Cibolo ISD Gary Wuest gwuest@scuc.txed.net South San Antonio ISD Margaret Aleman maleman@southsanisd.net Southside ISD Harrison Thrist Harrison.Thrist@southside.k12.tx.us Southwest ISD Victoria Gaeta vgaeta@swisd.net
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