As part of a pilot program, fourth-grade students from six Jefferson County public elementary schools (Brandeis, Carter, Layne, Lowe, Jeffersontown, and Wilkerson) are participating in the Kohl's Fun-tastic Fitness Program, a walking partnership between Jefferson County Public Schools, Kosair Children's Hospital and Kohl's department stores. Each participating student receives a pedometer and is challenged to log as many steps as possible. Using a special computer program, the students can upload the data to calculate how far they have walked, how far the class has walked and the total distance walked by all the students in the school.

The driving force is the incentives. Prizes such as footballs, moon hoppers, skip its, ribbon wands, and Frisbees are awarded at the end of each challenge to the student with the most steps in each class. The class that has the highest step average per school also wins a fun, healthy party. Those options include yogurt sundaes and Dance Dance Revolution. Larger prizes (Wii and Wii Fit, iPod Shuffle, and Zoo membership) are awarded at the end of the program to those with the highest overall steps.

Last year the program kick off was the Kohl's Fun Run held in Iroquois Park. Approximately 1000 kids and adults participated in the one mile run/walk event. This year, the Kohl's Fun Run will once again kick off the pedometer program but instead will be held in conjunction with Second Sunday Health Initiative on October 10 (still in Iroquois Park).

Second Sunday began in 2008 in Lexington under the auspices of UK's Extension Office. It is designed to be a 4-5 hours public event on the second Sunday of October each year and focuses on changing Kentuckians life styles to achieve a healthier population. Jefferson County joined with its inaugural event in 2009. Councilman Robin Engel continues to chair the committee which consists of representatives from JCPS, YMCA, UofL, Olmsted Parks Conservancy, and Metro Government including Public Works, Police, Fire and Rescue.

Also new this year will be the addition of a nutrition component. Students from the six participating schools will have the opportunity to win healthy class parties. Steering away from cupcakes, candy, and soda students will be shown that frozen yogurt and fresh fruit can be a very tasty alternative. In addition, we will provide education to the parents and staff regarding how to have a fun and healthy party. Students will also get a chance to periodically taste healthier snack options such as yogurt covered pretzels or whole wheat pasta.

A hands-on demonstration showing students the amount of sugar in certain foods will also be available to teachers. This 30-45 minute lesson teaches kids how to measure the amount of sugar in the foods they eat everyday. Students are then advised how to make healthier decisions when choosing foods and drinks.

In an attempt to get the parents involved as well, we will explore the idea of sending a newsletter home with participating students several times throughout the program. The newsletter would highlight the accomplishments of the winning classes and individual students. Every newsletter would also include a healthy, kid/family friendly recipe along with an activity to get the whole family moving and off the couch.