Wiggin Street Elementary School received a special visit from Ohio Lieutenant Governor and former Ohio State University football coach Jim Tressel, who led a spirited assembly to promote his new statewide health initiative, the Team Tressel Fitness Challenge.
The program, part of a statewide effort launched by Governor Mike DeWine, encourages students to build healthy habits through goal-setting and physical activity. More than 180,000 students in over 700 schools across Ohio have joined the challenge, which helps participants progress through Bronze, Silver, and Gold levels of achievement.
During his visit, Tressel celebrated the efforts of Wiggin Street’s 4th and 5th graders, who have been tracking their wellness goals in challenge workbooks. The assembly featured student volunteers leading exercise demonstrations to be shared on the Team Tressel Fitness Challenge YouTube channel.
Tressel, known for his motivational leadership, shared stories from his coaching career and encouraged students to pursue improvement through his motto, Macte Virtute — Latin for “Increase your excellence.” He highlighted the importance of learning through mistakes, pointing out that even the visiting Kenyon College student-athletes, who partner weekly with Wiggin Street students, occasionally got the answers wrong during the assembly.
“It was neat to have the Kenyon kids here because the students saw them taking part and saw they weren’t perfect,” Tressel said. “They didn’t answer every question right, and they didn’t do every balance right.”
The Kenyon College partnership allows student-athletes to mentor Wiggin Street students each week as part of a physical wellness collaboration. Several of them joined the assembly, leading exercises and interacting with the Lieutenant Governor.
Looking ahead, Tressel announced that the Winter Challenge—the next phase of the initiative—will begin in February. Based on feedback from educators statewide, the updated program will now include students in grades 3–8 and place greater emphasis on all areas of wellness.
Tressel said. “We wanted something that could meet the needs of every Ohioan.”
