Meiners Oaks School in the Ojai Unified School District is the Gold Coast winner of the 2007 Governor's Challenge competition. A whopping 100 percent of the elementary students earned their school's title by exercising for 30 to 60 minutes a day, three days a week, beyond their regular gym classes, motivated by physical education teacher Melinda Cassidy. Their school is now vying with 10 others to win a new fitness center.
The real reward for the students is better health and experience achieving a group goal. Childhood obesity statistics are alarming, so when a program like this one succeeds, it is worth celebrating and duplicating.