BOKS Build Our Kids' Success

At the Brown School they’ve instituted the BOKS program, or Build Our Kids’ Success, sponsored by the Reebok Foundation. They’ve also enlisted the YMCA to help encourage kids to eat better and exercise in the morning.

Hi BOKS Community! Welcome Spring with open arms and moving feet!  Enjoy BOKS April Buzz. Best wishes, The BOKS Team _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Need Funding? Here are two great opportunities Carol M. White Physical Education Program (PEP) Application deadline is April 12 PEP provides grants to LEAs and community-based organizations (CBOs) to initiate, expand, or enhance physical [...]

Reebok; Mushroom Council Announce New Commitments to the Childhood Obesity Fight at Partnership for a Healthier America Annual Summit Reebok’s $30 million, three-year commitment is aimed at increasing physical activity in kids; Mushroom Council will launch a marketing and school-based healthy eating campaign WASHINGTON – Today, during the second day of the Building a Healthier Future Summit, [...]

Today’s generation will be the first generation to have a lower life expectancy than their parents due to physical inactivity. In fewer than two generations, children’s physical activity levels have dropped by more than 32 percent, while child obesity rates have nearly tripled in the past 30 years. These statistics can’t be denied or ignored. [...]

Winchester, MA — Planks, squats, relay races, kickball. And don’t forget jumping jacks and crab-walk tag —which is, yes, crawling on the ground like a crab while playing tag. For little minds, nothing is better than running, jumping and playing. And all this before school even starts. This is BOKS — Building Our Kids’ Success [...]

This month at the Partnership for a Healthier American summit in Washington, DC., a subcommittee of the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition, presented findings from an examination of the best ways to help kids become more physically active: The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans Mid-Course Report: Strategies to Increase Physical Activity. Deborah Rohm [...]

Try a BOKS Burst at home, in the classroom or at the office!

BOKS will be hosting free trainings for anyone interested in the program.  Whether you just want to learn more or you are launching the program in the spring, come join us for this interactive training.  That’s right – wear your sneakers because you will be up and moving just like BOKS participants. Please register for the [...]

Teachers, parents, coaches and other school wellness “champions” who are ready to take a leadership role in bringing physical activity to their school are encouraged to apply for an ASAP Acceleration Grant.

BOKS welcomed 23 new schools to the community in January. Welcome BOKStars!!!

A group of Massachusetts moms created a new, non-profit, before-school physical activity program called Build Our Kids Success (BOKS). The program is backed by the Reebok Foundation and currently in more than 180 schools nationwide, including many Boston-area elementary schools. The moms read the book Spark, by Harvard Medical School professor Dr. John Ratey which states that “exercise is [...]

A two-year evaluation of BOKS has been conducted by the National Institute on Out-of-School Time at Wellesley College on the impacts of participation in the BOKS program in the Natick Public School District and the Boston Public School District.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Recap of 2012 BOKS helped over 6,700 kids get moving in the morning by the end of 2012 with its presence in 160 schools in 22 states,  BOKS trained over 500 new trainers and volunteers throughout 2012…let’s double that in 2013! The Trainer HUB was launched, providing BOKS trainers access to online [...]

Share BOKS’ Facebook posts as part of the “12 days of BOKS” for your chance to receive a little treat!

Check out this grant opportunity from General Mills: Champions for Healthy Kids, promoting healthy nutrition and fitness for kids.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012 from 4:00-8:00 PM

BOKS trained over 85 new BOKS trainers in September.

It’s that time of year again… Back-To-School! Are you ready?

Lack of exercise tops the list of the biggest concerns about kids’ health, according to a new survey of American adults.

Policymakers should realize the importance of phys-ed classes, researcher says

Visit us and be part of our community! Share your accomplishments, your “goose-bump” moments, and ask your questions.

UPDATES Reebok’s CMO, Matt O’Toole and 16-year-old son Garrett, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in June, flying a BOKS flag at the top and raising funds to sponsor a new BOKS school.  Thank you for all your support Matt and Garrett! Congratulations to Natick Public Schools BOKS program for receiving the ASAP grant from CO180! BREAKING NEWS [...]

“I just like it,” third-grader Ray Kraft said. “It’s a better thing to do in the morning.”

“Exercise is the single most powerful tool that we have to optimize the function of our brains.” – Dr. John Ratey

Eli Manning spoke about the importance of getting kids moving in the morning with BOKS on CNN and Live with Kelly! in addition to visiting a BOKS class at PS161 in Harlem, New York on May 16, 2012.

The BOKS Buzz is a monthly newsletter that provides the BOKS community with highlights of happenings with BOKS throughout the country, fun information, tips, and reminders.

Kids at D.C. schools are showing up before class for a chance to run, jump and play

Another article that promotes the theory behind BOKS. In this article, researchers from around the world provide evidence that exercise boosts brain activity and had a dramatic affect on people’s ability to learn.

State and local education professionals agree that keeping kids physically active is an important part of the school day.

But with limited space, staffing and finances – and an increasing number of academic requirements – it is becoming harder for schools to provide.

Teachers have long suspected it. Californians believe it. Researchers have proved it. And we, an educator and a physician, have joined together to spread the message: Increasing kids’ physical activity boosts academic achievement. A landmark study published last month in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine finally moved the activity/achievement link from sensible theory to scientific fact.

Spending more time being active may improve blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol and reduce waist circumference for children regardless of how much time they spend sedentary, a study finds.

New research that says physical activity improves academic performance in kids is causing teachers to shut down the computers and bring out the scooters.

The connection between exercise and good grades was discovered by a group of researchers in the Netherlands,