Shown in the photo, North Babylon School District administrators and special guests John Starks, Dr. Robert Shire and Jill Zarin introduce seventh-grade students at Robert Moses Middle School to the “Healthy Steps to Albany” pilot program. Sixty seventh-grade students from North Babylon’s Robert Moses Middle School recently gathered in the school’s auditorium for a special kick-off program. These select students are part of a pilot program led by Albany’s First Lady, Michelle Paige Patterson, to encourage healthy habits in students.

Titled Healthy Steps to Albany, the program is a wellness initiative that encourages sixth, seventh and eighth graders to engage in physical activity and to make nutrition an important aspect of their lives. The statewide six-week fitness competition, which will officially begin in the spring of 2010, allows middle school classroom teams to log their activities online and track their steps collectively on a map of New York State. The top teams from each city will win a luncheon hosted by the Governor and the First Lady, along with a trip to a local organic farm.

“We, as parents, educators and community leaders, must promote healthy activity, eating and living so that our children can lead long, healthy and active lives,” explained First Lady Michelle Paige Patterson.

The Healthy Steps kick-off event at Robert Moses Middle School (RMMS) included a video message from the First Lady, along with plenty of giveaways and a raffle. Special guests included John Starks, New York Knick and NBA veteran to speak on physical fitness; Dr. Robert Shire, former New York Knick and nutritional speaker and Jill Zarin of TheReal Housewives of New York.

These select RMMS students are piloting the Healthy Steps program for five weeks with the Eastern Shore Chapter of the Links Challenge. If it proves successful, students from all grade levels at RMMS will participate in the statewide challenge in the spring.