GREAT FALLS – Tennessee Titan Marc Mariani visited Mountain View Elementary in Great Falls, Montana this week to celebrate the school’s involvement in Fuel Up to Play 60 and success with the Fuel Up Cups fundraiser. The school earned a profit of $12,000 with the healthy fundraiser, which will further help support their Fuel Up to Play 60 efforts.
Mariani is a Montana native and player representative for Fuel Up to Play 60 in Tennessee and was excited to visit his home state and talk about the importance of a healthy lifestyle. Mariani’s visit was a surprise for students, who loved getting to hear from a local hero that made it to the NFL.
“I’m just like you, grew up in Montana, only a few miles from here. I went to an elementary school just like this. And I am here today, as proof that you can become whatever you dream to be. I was able to do it by setting goals, dreaming big, and making the right choices every single day,” said Mariani to the students.
Mariani talked to the students about the importance of good nutrition and even helped them get a few minutes of the day’s 60 minutes of physical activity in during the assembly. He told them about how drinking milk helped him heal from a broken leg in 2012 and how he helps the other guys on the team to eat healthy.
“I try and educate people all the time. I’m getting to be the old guy in the locker room. I think nutrition is the most important thing you can do to promote a healthy lifestyle.”
In addition to hearing about Mariani’s inspirational journey to the NFL, students learned about Montana dairy farming and the farmers’ understanding of how important it is for the kids in their communities to eat healthy foods and lead active lifestyles.
“Did you know there are forty dairy farm families in Montana? Those 40 families make almost 300 million pounds of milk each year – that’s a lot of milk huh?” shared Denise Zimmer, Western Dairy Association’s Montana Schools Consultant.
“It was such an inspiring day for everyone involved. Motivating students to be their best through nutrition and physical activity is what the Fuel Up to Play 60 program is all about and to have a local, successful star like Marc reaffirm that message to the students was outstanding,” said Nicole Croy, Western Dairy Association’s Director of School Health & Wellness.
Mountain View Elementary’s Fuel Up to Play 60 student team and the top sellers of the Fuel Up Cups got to meet with Mariani for photos and autographs after the assembly. This was one school assembly these students won’t soon forget.
To learn more about the importance of dairy in a healthy diet, visit www.westerndairyassociation.org.
