White House Honors Ten Citizens As Let's Move! Physical Activity "Champions of Change"

First Lady praises leaders from across the US who have created unique programs...
The White House on Thursday will welcome ten citizens who have been longtime leaders in bringing physical activity and nutrition programs to their communities, honoring them as Let's Move! "Champions of Change" during a visit to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Now in its third year, First Lady Michelle Obama's childhood obesity campaign has a renewed emphasis on getting children active, and the Champions have each created unique projects. (Above: Mrs. Obama during a Let's Move! event earlier this month in North Carolina)

"I’m so proud that leaders like these have found new and exciting ways to help our kids get up and moving," Mrs. Obama said.

The Champions of Change program was created as a part of President Obama’s Winning the Future initiative, and today's group is the first to be honored for community achievements in physical activity; chefs were honored last year. The honorees come from around the US, and have impacted the lives of thousands of children and youth with projects ranging from soccer, to using public lands for physical activity, to a program for differently abled athletes run by an Iraq war veteran. During their visit, the Champions will meet with policy advisors for a roundtable, and tour the White House.

"If we’re going to end our nation’s epidemic of childhood obesity, we need to make sure our kids get the physical activity and nutritious foods they need to grow up healthy and strong," Mrs. Obama said. "These leaders have done just that, and that’s what makes them true champions for their communities and our country.”

The White House is also encouraging schools to embrace physical activity, with Let's Move in School, a subcomponent of the campaign. Last week, Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives Sam Kass visited Boston, MA to speak at a "Let's Move in School Showcase," presented by the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. Kass was joined by sports icons Doug Flutie, a Heisman Trophy winner, and Carl Lewis, a nine-time Olympic gold medalist in track and field, as he met with representatives from area schools and students.

UPDATE: The video of the entire roundtable:



Below, from the White House, the list of Let's Move! Physical Activity Champions of Change, and their bios.

Let's Move! Physical Activity Champions of Change

1. Andre Ashley, Portland, OR
Ashley has been employed with Portland Parks & Recreation for the past 18 years and directing Sports Programs for more than a decade. In his role as Sports Management Supervisor, Andre works with the many users of Portland Parks & Recreation’s sports fields to ensure access for sports of all kinds and athletes of all ages. He oversees the city’s wide range of sports programming, which ranges from competitive league sports to casual leagues to individual recreation, and sports facilities.

2. Hector Avila, Houston, TX
Avila is the Program Coordinator for the Houston Parks and Recreation Department (HPARD) “Soccer for Success” program, an inner city soccer program that focuses on life skills development through sports. Funded by a grant from the US Soccer Foundation, the program offers over 1,000 low-income youth the opportunity to learn soccer and much more. Hector Avila knows the long term benefits this type of programming offers as he, too, benefited from a free soccer program that changed his life and career path.

At 16, a free HPARD program offered him the opportunity to learn soccer. When he was 18, the same HPARD soccer program offered him a job and a way to give back to his community. Today, Mr. Avila holds licenses from both the United States Soccer Federation and the South Texas Youth Soccer Association. For 14 years he has dedicated his life to working with inner city youth to teach them soccer, team work, life skills development and healthy and active lifestyles.

HPARD’s “Soccer for Success” program is a model for the benefits that sports can bring to the lives of young people. Hector Avila is an example of the way free athletic and academic programs can turn young lives in directions that benefit them and society as a whole.

3. Sarah Bucher, Toledo, OH
Bucher is the Director of Healthy Living at the YMCA and JCC of Greater Toledo, works to improve the nutrition and physical activity of employees and participants in companies, child care centers and YMCA programs. Sarah has helped increase the health and well-being of children in 27 child development centers by educating teachers, implementing a physical activity and nutrition curriculum, overseeing hydroponic gardens, and improving the quality of food being served.

In an effort to improve the overall health of the community, Sarah brought community leaders together to create lasting policy, systems and environmental changes at local and state levels. Through Sarah’s leadership, the YMCA and its community partners are continuing the fight against childhood obesity.

4. Robert Castaneda, Chicago, IL
Castaneda is the co-founder, along with his wife Amy, and executive director of Beyond the Ball, a sports-based youth and community development organization which uses the power of sport to change lives, give hope, reclaim space and develop a culture of opportunities for youth and families in Chicago. In 1998, gang members twice set the Castaneda’s house on fire in retaliation for reporting gang activity to the police. Instead of giving in to gang intimidation, Rob and Amy decided to stay in their house and have dedicated their lives to making their west side community of Little Village a peaceful place through sport and play.

Beyond the Ball now serves over 2,500 residents throughout the year, using sport to teach personal and social responsibility. In 2010, selected from over 400 organizations from 120 countries around the world, Beyond the Ball received a Beyond Sport “Most Courageous Use of Sport Award,” for Project Play, a program designed to reclaim public play spaces from gangs. Robert was also selected as a 2012 Chicago Community Trust Emerging Leader Fellow for his continued efforts to bring life back to his community, making it healthier physically and socially.

5. Cindy Coughlin, Springfield, MA
Coughlin is a physical education and health teacher at Alice B. Beal Elementary School in Springfield, Massachusetts. She has been working in the Springfield Public School system for 11 years and has been teaching for 17 years. Throughout her teaching career Cindy has worked to teach children the importance of exercise and healthy eating habits. Her hope is that children will take the lessons that they have learned about healthy lifestyles and use that knowledge to make changes that will last for a lifetime. In 2011 Cindy was named Massachusetts’ Program Advisor of the Year for Fuel Up To Play 60. She serves on the executive board for Massachusetts Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (MAHPERD). Cindy is member of the Schools Committee for the New England United States Tennis Association (USTA).

6. Cameron Hajialiakbar, Los Angles, CA
Hajialiakbar is the founder and president of the Coaching Corps chapter at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Coaching Corps trains, and places volunteer coaches into after-school programs serving girls and boys in low-income communities to bridge the ever-growing access gap between those that have and those that don’t have access to quality youth sports programming with trained and caring coaches. Cameron joined Coaching Corps as an AmeriCorps member in 2011 and his passion for direct service influenced him to expand the program into the greater Los Angeles area. Cameron is currently a third year student at UCLA where he is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in communication studies with plans to continue on to law school.

7. Richard Kozoll, MD, MPH, Cuba, NM
Kozoll has practiced family and preventive medicine in the small community of Cuba, New Mexico since 1975. An avid outdoors person, Richard has increasingly devoted his time to creating opportunities for an active outdoor lifestyle in his community through leadership of a Federal, State and local partnership, Step Into Cuba.

The program connects local people – especially youth – to surrounding public lands through trail development, community campaigns, point-of decision prompts, exercise prescriptions and referrals, social support and roadway pedestrian enhancements. Step Into Cuba was awarded the 2010 American Trails’ national Trails for Health award. His personal reward is observing his neighbors and patients improve their health through introduction of outdoor physical activity into their lives.

8. Kenny Owens, Washington, DC
Owens is a native of Washington, DC and a Woodrow Wilson Senior High School alumnus. Kenny is a graduate of Georgetown University, where he was a four-year starter on the men’s soccer team, including captain his senior year. Prior to DC SCORES, Kenny taught Sports and Society at SEED PCS in Southeast Washington and coached middle school basketball and soccer. Kenny holds a USSF ‘C’ Coaches License and a State Diploma from the NSCAA. Kenny joined DC SCORES in 2006 and is responsible for DC SCORES’ elementary and middle school soccer leagues as well as the training of DC SCORES’ soccer coaches.

9. Melissa Stockwell
Stockwell is an above the knee amputee from the war in Iraq and a World Champion Paratriathlete. In early 2011 she co-founded the dare2tri Paratriathlon club with two friends, Keri and Dan, with the goal of getting athletes with disabilities to the starting line of a triathlon. As avid triathletes, the 3 of them truly believed that these athletes would gain confidence that would carry over into all aspects of their life by challenging themselves in the sport of triathlon. Dare2tri currently serves over 85 athletes and 120 volunteers and runs by the motto that “One Inspires Many’ as they inspire anyone that they encounter.

The athletes, youth, adult and injured service members, are continually pushing the limits in what they are capable of and they look forward to seeing how many lives they can impact!

10. Shawanda Weems, Bronx, NY
For over ten years, Weems has been an English teacher at PS/MS 15 in the Bronx, New York, who, in collaboration with the Youth and Community Division of New York Road Runners, has established youth-running-for fitness programs, which serve more than 350 children in her school. Shawanda has seen firsthand the correlation between physical education and academic excellence and the tremendous positive impact of both on student lives.

Ms. Weems coaches a Young Runners team for 50 elementary and middle school students ages 10-16, a program that combines cross country with track, and leads a Mighty Milers program which services 300 elementary school students ages 5-9. Since 2004, her efforts before, after, and during the school day, including many weekends, have enabled her to bring students to special New York Road Runners running-related events. She is making the physical activity of running, along with the collateral component of goal-setting, a prominent element of her school’s culture and her students’ lives.

*Photo at top by Chuck Kennedy/White House. Mrs. Obama visited the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Tournament and 100th Anniversary celebration on March 2.