Healthy Steps to Albany Contest Rules

Eleven middle schools in Harlem are participating in this contest. Classrooms compete against each other to see which class can collectively walk the number of steps it takes to walk from New York City to Albany. Each classroom will compete together as a group against all of the other classes in their grade at all eleven participating middle schools.

There will be one 6th grade class, one 7th grade class, and one 8th grade class that will be deemed the winner of this contest. The class in each grade that collectively walks 4 million steps first will be determined the winner. Students are encouraged to find creative ways to add more steps to their school day.

The Healthy Steps to Albany Contest will begin on Wednesday, March 19th, 2008.

The Healthy Steps to Albany Contest will end on Friday, May 2nd, 2008.

1. Pedometers are not to be removed from the school premises, therefore the only steps that count are the steps that are taken during the school day.

2. Students must label their pedometers when they receive it on the first day of the contest to ensure that each student is accountable for their own pedometer.

3. Pedometers must be attached to the waist and can not be shaken or thrown.

4. All pedometers must be returned at the end of each day.

5. At the end of each school day all participating students will record the number that is visible on their pedometer into the Healthy Steps to Albany spreadsheet in their classroom.

6. In the morning when the students retrieve their pedometers they need to ensure that their pedometer is set to zero.

7. On Fridays by 4:00pm, the classrooms’ weekly totals need to be delivered to the schools’ designated Healthy Steps to Albany teacher representative. The contest representative will then fax the tracking form to Urban Tech at (212) 528-7355.

8. By Monday morning at 9:00am the school contest representative would have received the last week’s data from Urban Tech. The school contest representative will have the information posted outside their office by 12noon so students can keep track of their class’ progress.

9. The first 6th, 7th, and 8th grade class that reaches 4 million steps by Friday, May 2nd, 2008 will be deemed the winner.

PRIZES
The three winning classes will win a trip to the Governor’s Mansion. They will enjoy a healthy lunch with the Governor and the First Ladyof New York in the Mansion dining room. The winning classes will also be bused to Hawthorne Valley Farm, an organic/ biodynamic farm in Harlemville, New York, to learn about healthy food production. Lastly, the Mets have invited all of the winners to a game at Shea Stadium.

Questions / Problems:
Contact mbathelmy@urbantech.org or (212) 528-7350.