Yellowknife — July 24, 2024
Health and Social Services Minister Lesa Semmler announced today that three Northwest Territories schools will share a total of $5,100 for winning the 2023-2024 Drop the Pop campaign.
Chief Sunrise Education Centre on the Kátł’odeeche First Nation Reserve, Diamond Jenness Secondary School in Hay River, and Charles Tetcho School in Sambaa K’e will each be awarded $1,700 for their efforts in promoting healthy drink choices.
The goal of the Drop the Pop campaign is to recognize NWT schools that encourage students, families, schools, and communities to:
- Choose healthy drinks, especially water
- Embrace a diverse range of nutritious foods from local harvests and stores
- Foster lasting healthy eating and drinking habits for long-term wellbeing
This year's winners have demonstrated innovative and effective ways to influence others to make healthy food and drink choices in their daily lives.
Highlights from this year’s winners include:
- Chief Sunrise Education Centre creating interactive healthy eating displays for children and parents, including branded items, posters, and banners with reminders to choose healthy food and drinks.
- Diamond Jenness Secondary School creating awareness posters and researching the sugar content of various drinks. They also found and tested two low-sugar muffin recipes and held a taste-test contest to put their peers to the test.
- Charles Tetcho School held a “Rethink Your Drink” campaign to raise awareness of sugar levels in many beverages. They also held a “hidden sugar demonstration” to show the volume of sugar added to many drinks while teaching younger students how to read food labels to determine such contents.
Quote
“Congratulations to all the students who participated in this year’s Drop the Pop campaign. The creativity you have shown this year will help influence the people around you to make healthier lifestyle and beverage choices.”
- Lesa Semmler, Minister of Health and Social Services
Quick Facts
- This is the 18th year of the NWT’s Drop the Pop campaign.
- Sugary drinks contribute to obesity-related chronic diseases like Type 2 diabetes.
Related Links
For media requests, please contact:
Andrew Wind
Manager, Communications
Department of Health and Social Services
Government of the Northwest Territories
Andrew_Wind@gov.nt.ca
(867) 767-9052 ext. 49034