Over 500 South Lake Tahoe Students Complete We Can! Program

Congratulations to the five hundred and sixty-seven 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 & Nutrition, is a 7-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 eight 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 K-Mart.

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 towards 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 7-week program and for encouraging and supporting another group of We Can! Alumni.

Leanne Wagoner
Community Outreach Coordinator, Barton Health