In a time when students can’t physically be together in large groups, it’s more important than ever to find ways for them to connect and practice physical fitness. The 2020 Blue Zones Project Virtual Summit offered opportunities to do just that.
The third annual event—held virtually for the first time—encouraged students to participate in activities that keep them moving, promote healthy habits, and support their social-emotional learning needs. While previous summits have been well attended, the virtual format created greater opportunities to get involved—with almost 1,100 students from Fort Worth, Keller, Crowley and Eagle Mountain-Saginaw school districts as well as area private schools participating this year.
The summit kicked off with Blue Zones Project ambassadors and educators creating videos to engage students—either in physical education class at school or from their home computers. Students were then asked to complete a well-being task and an online survey related to what they’d learned. The videos showcased ways to enhance well-being in creative ways, using yoga, mindfulness, gratitude, gardening, music, and storytime activities for different ages.
One of the most popular videos include several culinary demonstrations by students from Fort Worth ISD’s Applied Learning Academy. Students showcased delicious plant-based cooking recipes, such as lentil nachos, healthy smoothies and caldo de pollo.
"The Blue Zones Project Student Summit was a fun and innovative way to bring health, wellness and physical activities to our students,” said Joe Gonzales, physical education and wellness coordinator at Fort Worth’s Sam Rosen Elementary School. “The remote learning aspect allowed our students to partake in a variety of activities at any time."
Brought to Fort Worth by Texas Health Resources, Blue Zones Project is a community well-being initiative that supports longer, better lives by working to make healthy choices easier throughout the community. More than 60 area schools have incorporated Blue Zones best practices on campus and have achieved or are working on Blue Zones approval.
The annual summit, launched in 2017, helps keep those concepts alive by encouraging students to incorporate Blue Zones principles—the habits of the world’s longest living people-- in their daily lives. The goal is to create healthy habits that will protect against disease and other long-term health risks.
"As a Blue Zones Approved campus, we take seriously our commitment to making healthy choices easy, and we’re really glad that our friends at Blue Zones Project worked to make this virtual summit available,” said Michelle B. Elam a physical education teacher at Waverly Park Elementary in Fort Worth. “The students really enjoyed the yoga sessions and the mindfulness activities, and we are looking forward to wearing our new t-shirts as part of the Blue Zones Club!”
Every student who participated in the summit received a Blue Zones Project T-shirt, and nine students were randomly selected for grand prizes of a family four-pack—with choices of bikes, scooters or skateboards—to promote movement and exercise. Applied Learning Academy and Keller-Harvel STEAM Academy were each awarded $1,000 worth of P.E. equipment for the most student participation.
Find It Online!
If you’ve ever wanted to create your own indoor home garden, learn a little yoga or make healthy lentil nachos, you’re in luck. Blue Zones Project’s Virtual Student Summit videos are now available to enjoy online, with options in English and Spanish. To watch, go to Blue Zones Project Fort Worth’s YouTube channel.