Lincoln School Healthy Lifestyles Day - Pittsburgh

On Friday, October 2 we had the inaugural Kids Fitness Day school assembly in Pittsburgh at Lincoln K-8 School.   My father and I were joined by Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl  and Steelers Hall of Famer Lynn Swann.   It was quite a morning......

We had arrived in Pittsburgh late the night before, and it seemed like I had hardly laid down, when my Dad was shaking me awake at 5am.  "Son, get up, we need to get this standup sponsor decal stuck on the poster board."  I sleepily shook my head, and brewed some of the weak coffee from the budget Extended Stay motel we were staying south of Pittsburgh in West Mifflin.  "I'll do it after I take a shower," I said.   Well, I was surprised for a second time that morning, when I realized this motel was SO low budget they didn't even have shampoo.  Well, I suppose that is what happens when you aren't able to make your budget for an educational outreach charity ride due to lack of donations.  Denied by the massive health care insurance companies who claim they support grass root efforts to promote healthy lifestyles.  Whatever I thought, it's for the kids, and went ahead and used the soap as shampoo.

You know the fancy logo boards that they use on the red carpet for premieres and NASCAR races to feature sponsors?  Well I wanted to give some love to those who DID sponsor our efforts so we tried our best. One of the local labeling companies in Lancaster offered to print out a sticky sheet with the logos and we thought we could just attach this to poster board.  At 5:15 am my Pops and I attempted that, and well.....let's just say it was quite an endeavor.  We both worked up quite a sweat (no A/C in room) by the the time we finished and there were just a few wrinkles and air pockets.   But we tried!  

6 am we were out of our "suite" and in the big Penske rental truck, bikes in the back (and sponsor board) headed to Melon Park in Pittsburgh to meet our event coordinator, Randy Vulakovich, for the pre-event briefing.  Navigating through traffic was a nightmare, but made much easier thanks to an IPhone equipped with an innovative GPS program called EPIC TRACKER.  With Epic Tracker not only are we going to be able to give photo, audio, text and GPS coordinates throughout the ride, but on the screen it also provides an incredible map display of current location in real time.   This technology would turn out to be (almost) foolproof in helping us reach our destination that morning.  I say almost because at one point it directed us down a BUS lane into the BUS terminal and we got pulled over in that big PENSKE truck of ours by a Pittsburgh Police Officer.   No matter, it actually was the quickest route and the cop ended up escorting us to Melon Park after we told him that we were headed to meet the Mayor and talk to elementary school kids (and that we were STEELERS fans). 

The sky was threatening rain as we pulled into Melon Park and started to assemble the bikes for the Mayor and his entourage.  Eddy Jones from Pittsburgh Public Schools arrived to join us on our ride.  Eddy has spearheaded the program called "Pittsburgh Promise" which promises financing of college for every public school student in Pittsburgh.  Now THAT is commitment to education!  Lynn Swan arrived next in his truck and flashed his trademark smile.  Lynn is an incredible human being.  He helped the Steelers win 4 Super Bowl titles, and then went on to a successful broadcasting career, and helped inspire millions to live healthy lifestyles as Chairman of the Presidents Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.  It was an honor to have him with us for the assembly at Lincoln.  Mayor Luke Ravenstahl arrived a few minutes later, and if the readers don't know, the Mayor of Pittsburgh is unique in that he is the youngest Mayor of a major city at the age of 29.  

Three years my younger, Mayor Ravenstahl cares passionately about the health of his city.  Under his helm Pittsburgh has put in the first bike lanes ever on major streets, renovated the three rivers park area on the south side making it bike friendly, and appointed the first ever directors for pedestrian/biking, urban forestry, and health promotion.  I like this guy.  Plus, in all of the Healthy Youth for a Healthy Future events I have done

 over the past year, not ONCE has a Mayor ridden his bike with me.  

We unveiled the Sponsor Board that we sweated to put together at 5 am, and quickly took some photos in front of it, and then donned our Health Ride t-shirts, mounting our bikes, and started off toward Lincoln K-8 school.  Lynn led the way down the bike path.  We had beat the rain!   On the way the Mayor told me about how he officially changed his name to Luke Steelerstahl when the Steelers played the Baltimore Ravens last year.  I had quite a chuckle. 

I never know quite what to expect when I go into a Healthy Lifestyles assembly experience. EVERY school is different, and with Lincoln I definitely didn't know what to expect as I had received very little info beforehand.  The school organizer Janet had told our "on the ground" coordinator Randy that she had everything taken care of.  She was not kidding.   The moment Lynn, the Mayor, Eddy and I rode into the school parking lot, we heard cheers of "Fit For Life! Fit For Life!" coming from the entrance to the school, and that's when we saw the Lincoln Lions cheerleaders forming a perfect entrance for us.  

We were all smiles.  As we entered the school with our bikes,

 helmets still on, we met the Principal Dr. Regina Holley, and then my eyes grew wide and my smile even wider.  I looked down a long hallway lining the walls were hundreds of children, elementary school age, smiling and with their hands out to welcome us and give us a high-5!  I love it!  The energy, the excitement, it made me want to be back in elementary school again!  Don't you miss assemblies??!!  Click on this article.

The children orderly assembled in the gymnasium and we took a seat up on stage.  I was in a mild state of shock, as I was not expecting this degree of a welcome.  I looked toward my father and saw him looking out at the crowd of children and just beaming.  It had been a number of years since I had seen that look, and it made me feel happy.   

All the hard work over the past year he has put into this Health Ride and Kids Fitness Days and now it was actually coming to fruition.  He's the best leader I have ever known.   Driven by service to others.  Community.

The gymnasium was filled with so much excitement and energy, yet the children sat quietly and obediently.  I was impressed.    Signs of good leadership from the top, and I nodded to Principal Holley.    The assembly got under way with introductions by the Student Council leaders and comments from Mayor Ravenstahl on the bike trails around Pittsburgh.  When I was introduced

 I talked with the children about growing up in Pennsylvania, talked about how my father and I rode bikes together, asked the children if they had bikes, and encouraged them to go ask their loved ones to go biking with them.  I spoke about the Presidents Challenge program on physical fitness.  At this point I made the surprise introduction of Lynn Swann as he was the past Chairman for the President on this Council.  The students went wild!  

The major take home points I try make sink in when I do assemblies for Healthy Youth for a Healthy Future are 1) empowering them to understand that they have control of

 what they choose to eat, and drink, and how much activity they get each day, and can educate their parents on this 2) understanding what foods/drink are Whoa (not good for you), Slow (ok sometimes), and Go! (healthy) and 3) to get 60 minutes physical activity a day, and that getting that heart going, anyway you choose to move is the key.   

I convey these themes by asking the children to give examples of Whoa, Slow, and Go food/drinks.   We went through the typical examples for Whoa! foods like candy, cake, twinkies, chips, etc.  I asked the question about drinks trying to elicit the answer of soda.  When I asked one little boy he replied "Beer!"  "Whoa is right!" I said.  Wow, I had never heard that response before :) "Whoa Whoa no Beer, especially for you all."  Finally the soda answer came and I tried to reinforce how water is the best thing to drink, for sure, and I handed out some SmartWater to the kids.  

The physical activity portion of the assembly is always fun as I educate them on where their heart is located and have them try and feel their heartbeat.  When sitting down it is a slower beat and tough to feel.  After getting up and active, they have no problem feeling their heart beat, and this connects the type of heart beat they should be experiencing 60 minutes per day- cardio. 

The other component of activity is building strong bones, and muscles through self body resistance - pushups, situps, and pullups.    I had some volunteers do their best at pushups, jump roping, some did jumping jacks, and we all danced together as a group, even the teachers (and some of the media).   One thing that I simply have never mastered is the hula hoop.  I tried for the students and failed.  So I asked Hall of Famer Lynn Swann to show me. He came down of the stage and gave it his best and he failed.  Then we had a boy and girl show us up as they hula hooped time after time.  That's the lesson, if you try and fail, get up and try, try again.  It is better to have tried and failed, than to never have tried at all.  And with persistence you will succeed.  (NOTE: After a year of trying to Hula Hoop, I am still trying).  

The assembly wrapped up with a surprise, as the Principal awarded two brand new bikes to a boy and a girl selected by raffle from a group that had 80% school attendance.  

I liked this as it rewarded positive behavior by students.   I thanked the school leaders and gave Certificates of Leadership in Healthy Lifestyles to Lynn Swann, the Mayor, Principal Holley, and organizer Janet.  

It was an outstanding way to start the PA Health Ride and Kids Fitness Days.  420 miles of biking in the week ahead, and thousands of interactions with smiling children still to come across the great State of Pennsylvania.  

Just remember, "Whoa, Slow, Go" and 60 minutes per day.  

And to clarify, for adults I consider beer a "slow" (Sometimes option)...even with a Lincoln...