Longview Public Schools’ efforts to encourage physical fitness and healthy eating among students and staff have resulted in multiple awards this fall.

A 2016 Let’s Move! Active Schools National Award—part of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move initiative—has been awarded to all of the elementary and middle schools, plus Mark Morris High School.

R.A. Long High School received the same recognition in 2015 and is eligible to apply again in 2017.

Additionally, Mark Morris High School is one of two Washington schools recognized with a 2016 National Healthy Schools Bronze Award by the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, an organization founded by the American Heart Association and the Clinton Foundation.

“I think our schools have really good supportive staff and administrators who let us promote these things in terms of healthy environments,” said Lisa Kloke, district physical education coordinator. “It takes a collaboration of the entire staff in a building to make these things possible for our kids.”

The Let’s Move! Active Schools National Award celebrates the commitment of schools to provide students with at least 60 minutes of physical activity before, during and after school each day. The Alliance for a Healthier Generation’s Healthy Schools Program is a national effort designed to combat childhood obesity by implementing healthy changes—from physical activities to increased access to drinking water.

“We say, ‘Here are some things you can do to help you live a healthier lifestyle,’ because eating healthy foods and exercising are going to make them feel better and help them go places in life,” Kloke said.