Chiles Elementary Students 'Play 60'

It was 's red meets Tampa Bay Buccaneers' red Friday as all 700-plus students met on the school’s playground to kick off the National Football League’s Play 60 event.

Play 60 is a partnership between participating schools, the NFL, the American Heart Association and the United Way. The program’s goal is to get kids in the habit of exercising or doing some other physical activity for an hour or more a day, as well as eat healthy food.

If the screaming, active red sea of K-5 students following along to Chiles coach Mark Bachman’s instructions was any indication, the exercise part should be no problem.

Against a giant banner, the students enthusiastically followed along with him, running in place for a few minutes before breaking into jumping jacks and doing other exercises. The students even made up some of their own, said fifth-grade student Ana Marques.

“It was a lot of fun” she said, adding they created maneuvers such as “Ashley’s Climb” and the “Jackhammer.”

The students plan to take the program home with them too. “I know I will be doing things with my parents, too, like riding bikes,” Ana added.

Chiles Principal Kim Pietsch said the students may also get an added benefit from participating in the program, too. “I thought this would be a great thing for us,” she said. “Not only does the program foster team spirit, but it may also financially help the school.”

Pietsch said their enrollment in the program qualified them for a possible $10,000 grant. When the program ends in October, Play 60 will announce the recipient of the grant, which will be given to the school whose idea the Tampa Bay Buccaneers like the most. Pietsch wrote on their application that if Chiles won, the school would use the money to buy basic exercise equipment for the students as well as help out their weekend food program.

“It will be used for balls, jump-rope, things like that,” she said. “And this won’t just be for our physical education program either; the equipment will be available to the classrooms as well for when the students go outside and play.” Money would also go to the school’s weekend food program for disadvantaged students it runs with .

Coach Bachman said he hopes the program gets the youth moving.

“Everyday in P.E. we will do about 25 minutes of exercise, and then I talk with them about things they can do outside of school, that it doesn’t have to be just exercise,” he said. “I tell them it can be swimming, biking, skateboarding, walking with their dog, things like that.”

Bachman also emphasised that this should be a family affair, assigning students to take or draw pictures of themselves doing things with their parents. He’s also taught the kids about 50 exercises they can do throughout the year, not just until October when the program ends.

Pietsch said there’s an added reward for winning, too. Not only will members of the Bucs visit the school for a special ceremony, but events like this allow all to participate in activities at Chiles.

“We’ve also had a (Tampa Bay) Rays day and other events that the whole community could participate in, and that’s what it’s all about,” she said.