Students from Wiscasset Elementary School are participating in the WinterKids Winter Games for the month of January. Students compete in a four-week series of outdoor physical activity and nutrition challenges designed to help them be active in the winter and learn healthy habits. Each school is encouraged to involve volunteers, parents, healthy eating and active living organizations in their community, and hold a winter carnival to close out the month’s events.

WinterKids selected two schools in each of Maine’s 16 counties to participate this year for a total of 8,000 students and 750 teachers. Schools compete for weekly points based on the total percentage of the student body that participates. Wiscasset Elementary School is one of the Lincoln County schools for 2019. Schools competing in the WinterKids Winter Games receive a toolkit full of resources and incentives to help students earn points, including the award-winning WinterKids Guide to Outdoor Active Learning- an easy to use resource to help kids move, learn, and explore outdoors while meeting education standards.

“We were thrilled to be selected to participate in the WinterKids Winter Games and represent Lincoln County and the town of Wiscasset,” said WES Principal Stacy White. “This is an exciting opportunity to showcase healthy behaviors with our students, and to work toward earning prizes for our school! We have a series of activities planned this month, including cross country skiing (courtesy of Midcoast Conservancy), nature walks, winterfest, and presentations from Chewonki and Farmer Lisa, from Morris Farm.”

Schools participating in the WinterKids Winter Games accrue points for cash prize awards: $5000 – Gold Medal School, $2,500 – Silver Medal School, and $1,500 – Bronze Medal School. There are honorable mentions and prizes for all participating schools.

For more information about WES’s involvement in the WinterKids Winter Games, please contact White at 207-882-7767 or email at swhite@wiscassetschools.org

For a complete list of participating schools or other questions, please visit www.winterkids.org

WinterKids is the nonprofit organization that helps children develop healthy lifelong habits through education and fun, outdoor winter activity. The organization delivers innovative outdoor programs for families, schools, and communities. WinterKids’ Major Community Sponsor is Hannaford. WinterKids’ Supporting Sponsors are Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Irving Oil, L.L.Bean and WEX. The WinterKids Winter Games is also supported by The Bingham Program, Emera Maine and MMG Insurance.