On Thursday March 23, 300 fourth-grade students came out to play with the Lakers at the 8th Annual Lakers Fit for Life Health Fair, presented by City of Hope. It was an exciting afternoon of lessons in nutrition and fun exercise with the Laker Girls and Lakers players. The fair is the highlight of the Lakers Fit for Life initiative, which aims to educate the community and the youth about the importance of physical fitness and nutrition.
City of Hope kicked off the event with a presentation about the importance of eating healthy. Marisa Bowers, PhD, got the students fired up for the day, while discussing how to live a healthy lifestyle. Bowers is one of City of Hope’s Science Education Program Award Collaborative program coordinators who focuses on science education with students.
The students came from 10 different Los Angeles Schools as a part of the Playworks program. Playworks is an organization that encourages positive play in schools, where students can have fun in safe environments, become leaders and carry their positive playground experiences into the classroom.
After Bowers spoke, the Laker Girls jumped in and led a warmup for all of the students. After they loosened up, the kids were joined by more special guests, the Lakers players! Thomas Robinson, Metta World Peace, Tyler Ennis and David Nwaba led the students in various schoolyard games at different stations.
World Peace pitched to a group of kids playing kickball, while Ennis and Nwaba led teams of youngsters in a classic game of dodgeball. Thomas Robinson was “it” in a giant game of freeze tag! The students rotated from station to station and every student had a chance to play in each game and to compete with the Lakers players.
Each student received a Fit For Life bag with the Los Angeles Lakers t-shirt and a healthy lunch, consisting of turkey, lettuce and tomato sandwiches from Jersey Mike’s Subs and organic bananas, oranges and apples from Melissa’s Fruit.
At the end of an afternoon of fitness and fun, the students from Playworks received Lakers City of Hope gift bags and health and wellness tips to last a lifetime. Thanks to City of Hope, The Lakers and the kids from Playworks had a fun-filled day, one that will serve as a lifelong reminder of the importance of healthy lifestyles.