California-based Skillastics Inc. offers a series of popular fitness games for varying ages and skill levels and is marketed worldwide to schools, youth service organizations and recreation professionals.  The two organizations have decided to combine elements of their current product offerings to create a new series of robust products aimed at providing the education and recreation professional with an enhanced curriculum resource.

"This new alliance will allow us to merge the best elements of Skillastics with EPEC and create a whole new series of products to address the needs of our youth.  We are convinced that physically educated kids will lead to a healthier nation," said Dr. Glenna DeJong, EPEC's vice president of educational programs.  "EPEC activated with Skillastics will build upon the standards-based elements of the curriculum and add more physical activities to the curriculum, which will increase the MVPA (moderate to vigorous physical activity) during implementation.  Teaming up with Skillastics is a perfect match with our organization and will position us to better serve the physical education community."

The new series of EPEC activated with Skillastics products will be promoted by both organizations and available for sale exclusively through the EPEC organization, and will be ready for distribution for the beginning of the 2009 -2010 school year.  In addition to the new series of products, a staff development program to support implementation of the products will also be available.  Skillastics will continue to market its current line of fitness games and workshops, and EPEC will also continue to offer its health, wellness and related physical education and physical activity products.

"For some time we have been aware of the superior nature of EPEC as a standards-based curriculum and believe the combination of Skillastics activities with the EPEC curriculum will contribute to improving the physical education and wellness of our youth," said Sandy "Spin" Slade, president of Skillastics Inc.  "We are excited about this alliance and feel this will prove to be the foundation for even greater collaboration in the future."

In 2002, EPEC received the award for Excellence in Prevention Research and Research Translation in Chronic Disease from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  Research done in 2005 by the CDC reported that students who were taught with EPEC increased their skills in the measured motor skills over students taught using other curricula.  In addition, students taught with EPEC showed more knowledge of physical activity and greater motor-skill self-efficacy.

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