Student’s contest success benefits entire school

Last year, Travis Kaufman was asked to do something few other first-graders are asked to do. He was to keep his biggest secret from his closest friends and classmates.

It wasn’t until a school assembly that Travis took the microphone and shared his surprise: He had won $5,000 for his school, Atlas Elementary, to spend to make playtime more fun.

Thanks to Travis’ winning entry, the Nickelodeon cable TV network awarded the prize money to Atlas to encourage active and healthy lifestyles.

It was part of the network’s “Let’s Just Play” campaign, which has granted more than $1 million to schools and clubs across the nation.

Winning entries, selected at random, must answer the question why their school needs more play. Travis said it gives you more energy, plus you can learn new games and make new friends.

Travis won the prize for his school out of more than 1 million entries. His schoolmates responded with the same sense of amazement that Travis felt.

“They were saying, ‘I can’t believe you won that,’ ” he said.

Travis got the idea to enter the contest from his physical education teacher, Todd Davis, who encouraged the whole student body to enter.

Travis, who was given the privilege of choosing how to spend the prize money, took several suggestions from his teacher.

He was a little disappointed the school couldn’t have a rock-climbing wall complete with safety harnesses, but he understood that because of the cost, it was out of reach. The next best choice was a bouldering wall, which took about a year to construct.

“Instead of going up, you go across,” Travis said.

The bouldering wall has concrete holds for hands and feet and floor mats for protection in a fall. The wall can be used for more than 150 games and educational activities, including spelling and math.

So far, maneuvering across the wall has been beyond Travis’ grasp. It’s not as easy as it looks and requires a lot of strength. He has made it halfway across – but has three more years to practice.

He says he thinks his sister, Ashley, will make it all the way before she graduates. She’s in kindergarten and will get more experience, he said.

Nickelodeon demonstrated a commitment to fitness by establishing a Worldwide Day of Play in 2004. The TV network went off the air for three hours for the first time in its 26-year history to encourage kids to turn off the television and get out and play.

That doesn’t seem to be a problem for Travis. He practices what the “Let’s Just Play” program preaches by spending much of his free time participating in basketball, baseball and other active sports.

Winning was a fun experience for Travis, and he says he plans to enter more contests.

“I was surprised and excited,” he said.