Cartoon Network Announces �National Recess Week� Sept. 18-22, Second Phase of Ongoing Rescuing Recess Campaign
Back to School Week-long Celebration Inspires Kids, Parents and Teachers to Support and/or Save Recess
ATLANTA, August 2, 2006 - On the heels of nationwide attention for the successful first phase of its Rescuing Recess campaign, Cartoon Network today announced the inaugural �National Recess Week,� Sept. 18-22, in partnership with leading child advocacy groups including the National Parent Teacher Association (PTA), the National Education Association (NEA), Hands on Network and the National Association for Sport & Physical Education (NASPE) as the next initiative within the multi-year program. The goal of National Recess Week is to kick off the school year by encouraging schools to support and celebrate recess, invite parents and the community to participate in local recess rallies, and to empower parents, kids and teachers to enhance and/or save recess in their schools. Launched in March as part of Cartoon Network�s GET ANIMATED healthy lifestyles program, Rescuing Recess is a campaign that champions the benefits and importance of daily recess for kids and works to protect and revitalize it in schools across the country.
�National Recess Week� will include a number of elements that spotlight the significance of recess including a national media campaign rolling out on Aug. 14, a kick-off celebration event on Sept. 18 in New York City, providing community recess monitor volunteer information, and distributing 10,000 free Rescuing Recess kits to participating schools for use throughout the school year. During �National Recess Week,� schools across the country also will be encouraged to host on-site recess rallies to raise awareness for the issue. The week will culminate on Sept. 22 with the 7 p.m. airing of an all-new episode of Cartoon Network�s hit original animated series Codename: Kids Next Door, entitled �Operation: R.E.C.E.S.S.�
In preparation for �National Recess Week,� parents and community members will be able to sign up their elementary school at www.RescuingRecess.com beginning Aug. 14 to receive a free Rescuing Recess kit and information about starting a local volunteer recess monitor program. Each kit will contain a variety of activity ideas, games and playground equipment such as red rubber balls, street chalk, whistles and jump ropes, plus instructions and suggestions on how to hold a recess rally during National Recess Week. Recess monitors will be shown ways to implement indoor and outdoor recess activities. Rescuing Recess kits will be available to requesting schools while supplies last.
�To ensure that recess remains a part of every child�s school day, we need to help schools develop a strong network of local volunteer recess monitors and to support them with great recess equipment�this program provides schools with both,� said Jim Samples, executive vice president and general manager of Cartoon Network. ��National Recess Week� is a multi-faceted celebration that will empower and inspire students, teachers and community members nationwide to rally around the importance of daily recess throughout the year. And the recess rallies will give everyone a chance to interact in a fun and purposeful way.�
Child and Health Advocacy Groups Support Value of Daily Recess
Experts agree that playtime can be just as vital as classroom time to a child�s social, emotional and educational development. Yet in some schools around the country, children are not getting the chance to enjoy free time for energy rejuvenation, a needed break from intense studies and an opportunity simply to play with their friends. The goal of Rescuing Recess, part of Cartoon Network�s GET ANIMATED program, is to recognize unstructured break time as an essential element of the school day and to connect educators, parents and kids as advocates to either keep and enhance existing recess or bring it back as part of the daily school curriculum.
Rescuing Recess was developed with direction from an esteemed advisory board of leaders and policymakers in children�s health and education, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National PTA, NEA, NASPE, the President�s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, Hands on Network, New Leaders for New Schools, HealthMPowers, Sportime and the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP). To date, Cartoon Network has pledged more than $1.3 million to help save recess through Rescuing Recess, which includes the initial letter-writing campaign this spring (which inspired more than 100,000 hand-written letters from kids to their state education policy makers), resources for recruiting volunteer recess monitors, recess kits that will be distributed to elementary schools around the country, research, and on-air public service announcements.
Codename: Kids Next Door Presents �Operation: R.E.C.E.S.S.� as Inspirational Television Special for Kids
As culmination to the �National Recess Week� celebration, Cartoon Network has enlisted one of its most popular original series, Codename: Kids Next Door, to present an all-new animated episode aimed at spotlighting and supporting recess for kids in all schools across the country on Friday, Sept. 22, at 7 p.m. Entitled �Operation R.E.C.E.S.S.� (Recreation Ended �Cuz Enemies Savor Salad), the five kid stars face a new enemy who wants to take recess from them. Gallagher Elementary School�s Principal Sauerbraten discovers a reserve of salad oil under the school�s playground. He devises a plan to turn recess into a hard-labor camp in order to produce and market the delicious oil. �Numbuh One,� the kids� group leader, learns of the plot and moves to strike back�but will Lizzie, a spoiled �perfect child� and an admitted recess hater, stand in his way?
In addition to the 7 p.m. premiere, Codename: Kids Next Door will encore the brand new �Operation R.E.C.E.S.S.� episode at 10 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 22.
More Than 100,000 Hand-Written Letters from U.S. Kids Urge School Boards to Save or Protect Recess
On June 26, Cartoon Network traveled to Phoenix, AZ for the PTA National Convention to award $310,000 in grants to participating local PTA units in 49 States, the Virgin Islands and the overseas Department of Defense Schools. The grants were awarded to winning PTA chapters as part of Rescuing Recess�s initial phase to solicit more than 100,000 hand-written letters from children across the U.S. urging school officials to keep recess a part of their daily school experience.
At its official launch in Washington, D.C. in March, Rescuing Recess encouraged kids to log-on to www.RescuingRecess.com to learn ways to make recess even more fun and healthy, and presented the letter-writing campaign as an opportunity to share their views with their local board of education while also helping to raise money for their schools.
About GET ANIMATED
GET ANIMATED is a Cartoon Network campaign that inspires and empowers kids to get active, get healthy and get involved. Launched in February 2005, the program provides on-air, online, print and off-channel programs to teach children the value of a healthy lifestyle that includes regular exercise, good eating and helping others. Featuring the network�s roster of popular cartoon characters, GET ANIMATED currently includes multiple animated PSAs, a mobile tour and community programs. For more information, please visit www.GetAnimated.com.
About Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (CartoonNetwork.com), currently seen in 89 million U.S. homes and 160 countries around the world, is Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.�s ad-supported cable service offering the best in original, acquired and classic animated entertainment for kids and families. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, is a major producer of news and entertainment product around the world and the leading provider of programming for the basic cable industry.
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