Coronado High School – The International Baccalaureate student teamed with the Braden Aboud Memorial Foundation to launch the B Fit/B Hydrated program at Aoy to teach students the importance of drinking water and encourage them to drink more H2O.
Now the Aoy kids happily finish several bottles of water, earning Dojo award points from their P.E. coaches and getting in a few more bathroom breaks during the school day.
“This is an awesome project,” said Aoy coach Adrian Flores. “A lot of kids don’t like to drink water, but now they have a goal of drinking water. We’ve taught them that it helps their brain, the features of water and what it does for them.”
Sias created the program as part of her Girl Scout Gold Award Project, which is similar to the Boy Scout’s Eagle Scout rank. It is the highest honor a Girl Scout can earn and requires at least 80 hours of service dedicated towards a sustainable project.
“I’ve always enjoyed drinking water more than soda or other sugary drinks – which are OK to drink in moderation – and I thought it would be beneficial to encourage other kids to drink more water,” Sias said.
The IB student teamed up with the Aboud Foundation and got Aoy Elementary involved last month. The program also is offered at a school in a neighboring district. Sias hopes to expand it to four campuses by the end of the school year. She’s created presentations for students on the benefits of water and even made a little sheet for students to color in the number of bottles they drink each day.
“B Fit/B Hydrated provides each student at participating elementary schools with a reusable water bottle and a sheet to track their water intake with,” Sias said. “The program is led by the schools’ amazing P.E. coaches who show their students the informational material I made and encourage them to keep up with their hydration. The students that fully complete the program are provided with an upgraded, more durable water bottle.”
The Braden Aboud Memorial Foundation hopes to continue B Fit/B Hydrated and make it one of their permanent projects.
“It has been a delight working with Rebecca on this project,” said Daniela Sandoval, foundation manager. “We are so impressed with her ingenuity and resourcefulness. She constructed B Fit/B Hydrated in a way that perfectly fits our mission of improving El Paso kids’ wellbeing with very little help or guidance from anyone.”
At Aoy, the students run around with their Braden Aboud bottles, regularly filling them up and marking off their progress – even on weekends.
“You have a lot of energy drinks and sports drinks. You don’t realize how much water you are not drinking,” Flores said. “This program opens your eyes. It made me realize that I need to drink more water, too.”
Sias, who also is a Scouts BSA, knew the importance of hydration and hopes the students in the B Fit/B Hydrated program become more accustomed to drinking water and make it their beverage of choice.
“I think learning the correct way to hydrate, especially at a young age, is incredibly important because it begins the development of a positive habit,” Sias said. “Understanding hydration’s benefits, such as how it gives the body more energy, and improves brain processing capabilities is so important for people of all ages to know, especially school-age children.”
The foundation is raising funds to support the B Fit/B Hydrated program and expand it to other schools by selling water bottles online here.
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