Cartoon Network Announces 'National Recess Week' Sept. 18-22, Second Phase of Ongoing Rescuing Recess Campaign

    ATLANTA, Aug. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- 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
 http://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 http://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 http://www.GetAnimated.com .
     About Cartoon Network
     Cartoon Network ( http://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.
     Media Contacts:
     Lisa Brogan                             James Anderson
     Zeno for Rescuing Recess                Cartoon Network
     312-396-9760                            404-885-4205
     Lisa.Brogan@zenogroup.com               James.Anderson@turner.com
 
     Joe Swaney
     Cartoon Network
     404-885-0657
     Joe.Swaney@turner.com
 
 

SOURCE  Cartoon Network