To the community,

Congratulations to the 567 students from Lake Tahoe Unified School District who participated in Barton Health’s sixth annual We Can program. We Can, which stands for Ways to Enhance Children’s Activity and Nutrition, is a seven-week program designed for 4th- and 5th-graders that encourages healthy eating habits, activity, exercise, and overall wellness.

We Can is a national program that is implemented locally by Barton Health and the school district’s physical education teachers.

Each week students faced a new wellness challenge. Examples included drinking two 8-ounce glasses of water daily, exercising 30 to 60 minutes per a day, consuming less than two hours of television or video games each day, and avoiding soda and sugar-filled drinks. Each student that completed a challenge was awarded a raffle ticket. The raffle included “active” prizes, such as hula hoops, basketballs, soccer balls, razor scooters and the grand prize – a bicycle from Kmart.

We want to thank and acknowledge the community businesses that supported this year’s We Can program. Big 5 donated gift cards, the Kmart Cares program donated toward prizes, and both the Reno Aces and University of Nevada’s Wolf Pack provided game tickets. The Public Health Institute kindly supplied reusable water bottles for every participant.

A big kudos to the Lake Tahoe Unified School District’s physical education teachers for helping us implement this seven-week program and for encouraging and supporting another group of We Can alumni.

Leanne Wagoner, community outreach coordinator for Barton Health