Tackle, throw, catch, repeat.
Students at Cedarcreek Elementary School participated in the Los Angeles Rams’ “Play 60 Field Day,” which according to a Rams’ news release, is designed to engage “K-5th grade students with the game of football in a non-competitive setting, while also promoting healthy eating habits and encouraging students to move their bodies for 60 minutes a day.”
Students and staff alike wore matching “Play 60” T-shirts while participating in various obstacle courses and drills, as well as making blue, white and yellow beaded bracelets with the Rams cheerleaders.
Merly Soni, who has been principal at Cedarcreek for three years, discussed reaching out to the Rams’ community outreach in order to make this event possible for the students.
“‘Play 60’ promotes a healthy lifestyle. ‘60’ comes from moving your body 60 minutes a day, as well as building good care for making healthy choices. This is our first year doing this,” Soni said. “Our focus as a school is we’re an ‘Edible Schoolyard’ school. Which means that we grow our own food in our garden and then we cook it, and that goes hand in hand with living a healthy lifestyle. Now we’re just adding the physical fitness component.”
The children interacted with cheerleaders and the mascot, Rampage, while working on various drills with the coaches.
“These are one-hour sessions, and we have a total of three sessions. So we broke the kids up by grade levels,” Soni said. “The staff is excited, as well. It’s fun. We have obstacle courses. They’re making bracelets, drinking lots of water. We have a photo booth, DJ, kid-friendly music.”
Soni contacted David Weingarten, senior manager in Community Impact and Engagement for the Rams, and coordinated logistics for the event.
“I have a student who is a kindergartener here, and [David is his uncle,] so I reached out, and voila, now we have this event. He told us what he needed as far as setup, and they did everything else,” Soni said. “I just want people to know that we are promoting a healthy lifestyle that students can implement as early on as elementary school and for the rest of their lives.”
Weingarten, on behalf of the Rams, discussed the importance of teaching healthy lifestyles early on.
“Play 60 Field Day showed kids how fun staying active can be through football. We’re proud to promote 60 minutes of daily exercise and a healthy lifestyle. Events like these make fitness fun and accessible for every child,” Weingarten wrote in an email to The Signal.
Third grader Jazmine Jiminez, 9, and second grader Lucas Aguilar-Nunez, 8, discussed how fun the event was.
“My favorite so far is when you hit the base and catch the football. The best part of playing with my friends,” Jiminez said. “Everything is easy. You just have to try your best.”
“I like throwing the ball. I think everybody’s just trying to get a good spiral,” Aguilar-Nunez said. “This is really fun.”
