One of the most important decisions we make on any given day is how we fuel our bodies. It’s a choice we face three times a day, and its effects are profound. Our food choices affect more than just the family budget and schedule; what we eat affects the body, the brain, and how they perform. For schools, it’s critical that food options for students provide healthy options that fuel growing bodies and developing minds.

Never has the importance of proper athletic training for young people been so important. Increasingly, more and more youth are spending a large portion of their after-school hours engaged in organized sport and free play. According to research cited by Aspen Project Play, approximately 74-percent of young people ages 13-17 spend time participating in a team or individual sport, and children ages 6-18 spend more than 16 hours per week engaged in some form of sport, including practice and competition. These statistics demonstrate a great trend considering the many mental, social, and health benefits of engaging in sports and physical activity.

The President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition Science Board attests that by participating in sports, children have lower rates of anxiety and depression, increased overall quality of life, improved social skills, higher likelihood of college attendance, and a myriad of physiological benefits. By focusing on the individual needs of student-athletes, schools can help students develop at their best to reach peak performance.

While the number of students participating in organized sports may be on a downward trend, no doubt thanks in part to the increase of time spent in front of screens and devices, some high school athletics programs are seeing extremely high participation levels. Those particular teams happen to be led by female student-athletes. What is so significant about this trend? And, how are female-led teams leveling the playing field?

GUEST MPCS STUDENT AUTHOR

Last year, student-athletes at Mount Paran Christian School came together to build a set of core values for the athletic programs at the school. In essence, these five words and scriptures they represent have become what is now known as the MPC Way. Athletic Director, Coach Jordan, said "The MPC Way is what we believe are foundational characteristics to our success on and off the playing field or court. The MPC Way guides all decisions and actions of our athletic teams." MPC athletics has made a proactive effort to better explain the core values by highlighting a particular sport and a team who exemplifies each value.