FARGO - Ben Franklin Middle School in Fargo and South Elementary School in West Fargo are two of five schools in southeast North Dakota and northwest Minnesota that were awarded $500 grants by McDonald's restaurants for health and physical education programming.
The goal of the program, known as the McDonald's Balanced, Active Lifestyles Academic Award, is to encourage teachers to create educational programs that demonstrate an original approach to enhancing students' physical fitness, nutrition awareness and health education, according to a McDonald's release.
The winning program at Ben Franklin is "Healthy Food Cart and Fitness Fun Days," led by sixth-grade teacher Alison Hoeg. Students who participated in after-school programs got discounts on healthy food.
The winning program at South Elementary is "Runners and Readers," led by teachers Kris Lindemann and Heath Rydell. The program gradually helped runners build up endurance to run the Fargo Marathon Youth Run.
