Happy New Year! The President’s Council team is excited about ringing in 2007 with many new initiatives slated for the year. First I’d like to thank the 350+ 50th Anniversary Partners for teaming up with us in 2006 to celebrate the 50-year milestone of PCPFS. We applaud and commend you all for the fantastic work you are doing at the grassroots, state, and national levels. We value collaboration, and we know that the only way we will make a dent in the national physical activity challenges that we are facing is to tackle the issues together. We look to you to continue your efforts to get America moving as we now start the next fifty years of promoting the benefits of regular physical activity, sports, fitness, and healthy living.

We are thrilled about Secretary Leavitt’s announcement that the Department of Health and Human Services is moving ahead with developing comprehensive, national Physical Activity Guidelines. The PCPFS will play a critical role in outreach and planning throughout the process. The report will be ready for release in the Fall of ’08. We feel that this is perhaps one of the most important undertakings in the history of the physical activity field. Our professional colleagues have expressed their enthusiasm and support of this monumental step, and we are pleased to be part of the process.

We have a strong, dedicated Council in place with Chairman John Burke and Vice-Chair Dot Richardson at the helm. Our new council members are extremely committed to our goals and action plan, and they are diligently working towards accomplishing the objectives we’ve set for youth, communities, the corporate arena, seniors, and public education/outreach. Please visit http://fitness.gov/about_bios.htm to read bios of all our members.

One of the issues the Council is focusing on is worksite health promotion. Employers that encourage, promote and offer opportunities for employees to adopt healthy habits, especially physical activity, enjoy higher productivity and cost savings. Starting right here at the federal workplace, the PCPFS is working with the Office of Personnel Management to challenge all federal employees to get active in 2007 through the HealthierFeds Physical Activity Challenge. We feel strongly that we need to start with ourselves and practice what we preach if we are encouraging the rest of America to follow suit!

As you're contemplating your New Year's resolutions and thinking about how to find a way to finally make them stick, consider taking small steps to change some behaviors that will be good for your mind and body. Enjoy the exhilaration that comes with trying new things and the joy that accompanies introducing friends and family to activities that could change and lengthen their lives. Our President’s Challenge Physical Activity and Fitness Awards Program offers over 100 activities that can be done to earn Presidential awards, including many winter sports. If you’ve never learned to enjoy the outdoors in winter, resolve that this year will be truly a “new” year—a year of new experiences and activities to add joy and well-being to your life.

Here's to your best year yet!

Melissa Johnson, M.S.
Executive Director