Mrs. Illinois United States 2009 to be crowned May 10th!!!

I just want to remind the ILLINOIS, MISSOURI, OHIO and TENNESSEE ladies to contact Vanbros Associates to get involved with their premiere Pageant Directing year for Mrs. United States Prelims! -- Website: http://www.vanbros.com/unitedstates.html

One thing I’ve been BLESSED with from January 2008 – now is to serve my communities as Mrs. Illinois United States and act as an advocate for Illinois Children’s Health – with Congressman Bill Foster on National Health Insurance for kids in need (needed more now than ever), reforming the No Child Left Behind Act, and educating those families at risk in our community about healthy living for their bodies, minds, spirits and our earth. I guess you can say my ‘platform’ as Mrs. Illinois grew quite a bit with all the people I’ve met these last 13 months. ;-)

If you haven’t been in contact already with John Vanatta and the Vanbos crew, I highly suggest just talking with them about participating in the 2009 pageant this May. (I even have some extra packets in hand, or you can use their Internet forms) I am very impressed with their organization and attention to the pageant delegate, Illinois is lucky to have our new directors!

The 2009 pageant is a truly professional setup – very close to what I experienced on a national level (except we can share our overnight room with our husbands… tee hee) – I’m very much looking forward to meeting their delegates for 2009 at the Historic Dixon Theatre May 10th – and I hope I can meet some of you "Blog reading" ladies there too.

Welcome to 2009 for this Mrs. Illinois 2008

January was a Busy month. I received the "A-Okay" to kick-off Healthy Kids / Healthy Families 2009 with School District U-46 as part of my initial Pageant Platform. It's very exciting to have the opportunity to continue this program onward in 2009 - 2010, especially since there is SUCH a need in the community for Nutrition, Fitness and Obesity Prevention for our K - 8 kids.

January 28th I presented my "Healthy & Fit, it's the REAL DEAL" program with the aid of English and Spanish take-home materials from the Children's Health Fund. I was honored to have the assistance of Mr. Williams (Physical Education) at McKinley Elementary to futher reinforce those lessons that day. The kids started a 4 week regimen in February to Journal their daily Nutrition and Activity, set goals and monitor their healthy choices.

I'm proud to say.... In only 2 short weeks, many of our 5th graders have already reported increased energy from their healthier choices. Happiest note of all, I had a mother declare her son went from 156 to 151 in 2 weeks alone from his increase in activity - at age 10! Amazing and great, I'm so proud of their enthusiasm and hard work!

In February, I'll meet with Congressman Foster to speak more about the No Child Left Behind Act and the revision bill that will be in the house to increase Fitness and Nutritional funding for K-8 grades in our nations schools. Also, I was honored to be invited to the Inauguration Day activities in Washington, but alas could not attend because of work/family constraints - instead we got to party with the Fox Valley Politico's of Illinois in the same spot where then Senator Obama has stood many times while visiting Elgin! (See me above next to the two-dimensional real thing). tee hee

Don't forget the FIT KIDS BILL in 2009!!!!

I've been writting to Congress and the new Obama administration this morning about the FIT KIDS bill... Something I put BACK on my New Years Resolution list to ensure it's not forgotten in 2009.


The FIT Kids Act includes amendments to the No Child Left Behind Act that do the following:

• Provide information to parents and the public by requiring all schools, districts and states to report on students’ physical activity. In Title I Report Cards, adds elements that report on schools’ physical education programs and students’ physical activity. These measures include:
• Amount of time spent in required physical education as measured against the recommended national standard;
• Percentage of local educational agencies in the state that have a required age appropriate physical education curriculum;
• Percentage of elementary and secondary school physical education teachers who are state licensed or certified;
• Percentage of schools that have a School Health Council that meets monthly to promote a healthy school environment;
• Amount of physical space in each district that is used primarily for physical education and activity.
  Ensure that children get the support they need throughout their educational
  experience.
• Support professional development for teachers and principals to promote children’s healthy lifestyles and physical activity.
• Fund study to examine the impact of health and physical activity on student
  achievement and find effective ways to improve healthy living and physical activity for all children.

Here's links to get involved yourself in your state, etc. I encourage ALL married women, especially mothers to take up this issue and FIX was was originally broke for our children's health by the original No Child Left Behind act. ;-)

American Heart Association: http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3010851
Bill S.2173 Easy to read description: http://member.aahperd.org/advocacy/ldc_2008/FIT_descriptionS.pdf
Richard Simmons is Motivated: http://www.richardsimmons.com/j15/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=249&Itemid=99999

Dear Secretary of Education-Elect Arne Duncan,

On behalf of our nation's children, parents, and teachers, I, Mrs. Illinois United States 2008, am joining with Richard Simmons in respectfully asking that you help ensure that quality physical education is available for every American child. Specifically, I ask that you help include the FIT Kids Act (H.R. 3257 / S. 2173) in the eauthorization of No Child Left Behind.

Every child deserves to be fit, healthy, and ready to learn, especially in these difficult times. Please join the bipartisan coalition that is supporting this extremely important legislation in the 111th Congress.

Through my past year of work with U-46 in Elgin, IL… I can testify that our present generation of children may not live as long as their parents due to obesity and inactivity. We have our own 5th grade son who struggles with morbid obesity and diabetes and PE only 1 day per week for 30 minutes.

You have the power to prevent and change this. I urge you today to take our children’s health future into consideration as well as fixing the flawed “testing and rewards” program with No Child Left Behind n 2009.

Sincerely,

Laurie Faith Gibson-Aiello
Mrs. Illinois United States 2008
http://mrsillinois2008.blogspot.com/