Pure Performance in five area schools

SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS READY TO IMPLEMENT PURE PERFORMANCE IN FIVE AREA SCHOOLS

Billings, MT, January 31, 2014 – School administrators are always looking for the secret to success. On Tuesday, February 4th, principals and teachers from Skyview, Senior, West, Central and Huntley Project high schools will start to develop an action plan for implementing Pure Performance in each of their schools during an half-day workshop conducted at Billings Clinic. The mission statement of Pure Performance locally is: To inspire students to achieve their performance potential for life.

Pure Performance is a program developed by an Olympic athletic that taps into an individual’s motivation, but also addresses the concept of team and collective responsibility by illustrating the negative physical, psychological and physiological effects of drugs and alcohol, sleep deprivation and poor nutrition can have on the athlete.

According to John Underwood, founder of the program and CEO of the American Athletic Institute, “By placing a priority on the concepts of Pure Performance, there will be reduced injury, quicker recovery, better muscle development and gained training effect; in brief, this will produce better athletes, better performance and thus better teams. Off the field, benefits may include improvements academically, a decrease in disciplinary problems, criminal matters, accidents and deaths.”

Pure Performance began here in 2010 by the Substance Abuse Prevention Partnership administrated through United Way of Yellowstone County. Founding members include: Billings Clinic, West End Rotary, Billings Public Schools, Montana Crime Prevention Association, RiverStone Health, Huntley Project High School, Montana State University-Billings, Big Sky State Games, Olympic athletic Mike Burton and community volunteer James Mariska.

During the hands-on workshop Tuesday, each school team comprised of four to five people will have an opportunity to develop an action plan to inspire students to adopt this change in lifestyle. The no-cost training will be facilitated by Carlos Arce, Director of Organizational Development at Billings Clinic. According to Arce, “The training will provide a unique opportunity for school team members to interact with other schools already implementing the program.”

Kristin Lundgren, Director of Impact at United Way of Yellowstone County, said, “A key focus of Pure Performance in the coming year will be moving the program from just the athletic realm into the realm of other activities such as music or debate.”

For more information related to the Pure Performance program and how it is already being implemented locally, go to: www.pureperformanceyc.org

For more information on this story or additional story ideas pertaining to Pure Performance, contact: Gayle Whittenberg, director of development at United Way of Yellowstone County at 272-8503 or 698-9623.