[Newark, NJ] November 1, 2021 - Superintendent León and the Newark Board of Education are proud to announce that 24 schools within the district have been awarded a $2000 PE Grant by way of Reebok and their Build Our Kids Success initiative. The schools will receive funds totaling $48,000 to purchase equipment and incentives for their Physical Education program this school year. Build Our Kids Success, also known as BOKS serves as a physical activity program initiative designed to get kids active while establishing lifelong commitments to health and fitness. Their mission – to make physical activity and play a part of every child’s day.
Through the BOKS program, physical education educators are provided lesson plans, training, and the support needed to get kids moving for up to 45 minutes a day. By conducting research, BOKS was able to determine that 81% of adolescents do not participate in enough physical activity. As a nod to the continuous work that Newark Public Schools has been doing to further support the introduction of healthy living to students in grades PK – 8, the district has instilled these very values into one of the new schools, featured on the list – Michelle Obama Elementary School.
The elementary school, slated to grow a grade every year, just opened its doors this September with a focus on Community, Leadership, and Wellness. “We are ecstatic to introduce our youngest learners to transformative learning, deliberately focused on the knowledge and skills needed to help them grow into transformational leaders” stated Superintendent León.
The recipient schools of the grant are 22 elementary, one middle, and one specialized school spanned across the district with 9 schools in the East/Central Ward, 8 in the North Ward, 5 in the South/West Ward along with Science Park High Middle School, and NJ Regional Day School.
With much gratitude to Reeboks and their BOKS initiative, the district is very proud of this and aims to continuously support and instill the values of healthy living within our curriculum.