There are super powers inside every youth: physical prowess, speed, brain power. The 2009 Super-Power Summit brought out the super powers in Iowa’s youth. 41 teams of 6th to 8th grade students and adult advisors from 39 middle schools across the state learned how to eat healthier and engage in daily physical activity so they can unleash the super powers inside them.
Headlining the day-long summit was Charlie Wittmack, the only Iowan to climb to the top of Mount Everest. Wittmack described how a rigorous exercise program combined with eating healthy, nutritious foods enabled him to survive days without food and little oxygen to reach the summit of the tallest mountain on earth.
Jared Clauss, an academic all-American and an All Big Ten player at the University of Iowa who played four years in the National Football League amazed the student teams by showing them models of muscle and fat. Clauss shed 100 pounds since his playing days to pursue new challenges including scaling the tallest peaks in North and South America.
And Tim Dwight, a standout receiver and kick returner at both the University of Iowa and over a 10-year career in the NFL that included a 94-yard touchdown run in Super Bowl XXXIII explained how a nutritious diet and exercise helped him succeed against players who were as much as a foot taller and 100 pounds larger.
The summit participants also took to the skywalks of downtown Des Moines to deliver their messages of healthy nutrition and fitness to the public, passing out informational flyers, holding Jazzercise, hula hoop, jump rope and hopscotch demonstrations and by engaging passers-by with tests of strength and agility.
The activities were designed to engage the students to lead the way to activating wellness programs in their own schools. Each of the 41 student teams may apply for grants provided by the Midwest Dairy Council to cover costs of their school-based initiatives.
The second annual Super-Power Summit took place on Thursday, October 29 at the Polk County Convention Complex in Des Moines.
Sponsored By:
- Midwest Dairy Council
- Iowa Partners: Action for Healthy Kids
- Iowa State University Extension to Families and 4-H Youth Development
- Iowa Department of Education’s Team Nutrition Program