Michelle Obama To Participate in Cartoon Network's 'Hall of Game Awards,' Airs 2/25

The First Lady of the United States, Mrs. Michelle Obama, will make a special taped appearance at Cartoon Network's upcoming Hall of Game Awards (HallofGame.com); it was announced today by Stuart Snyder, President/COO for Turner's Animation, Young Adults & Kids Media Group. As national spokesperson and co-founder of the Let's Move! initiative, Mrs. Obama will appear onscreen to announce a set of schools that have most successfully created healthier school environments through the promotion of nutrition and physical activity through the USDA HealthierUS School Challenge. The announcement comes this week as the First Lady also celebrates the one-year anniversary of Let's Move!

Hosted by skateboarding legend, Tony Hawk, Cartoon Network's Hall of Game Awards will air on Friday, Feb. 25, at 7 p.m. (ET/PT), and is the first-of-its kind sports and entertainment awards show for kids, honoring favorite sports stars and sports moments of the year.

"Along with honoring the nominees and winners of Cartoon Network's Hall of Game Awards, Mrs. Obama is participating so that she can personally acknowledge some other winners who definitely have game," said Snyder. "She will announce a set of winning schools that are playing a big role in reducing childhood obesity in their community. This special recognition goes hand in hand with our Move It Movement, created in partnership with the National Association for Sport and Physical Education's Let's Move! in Schools, empowering youth 6-14 to get more active in order to experience healthier lifestyles. Speaking on behalf of everyone at Cartoon Network and Turner Broadcasting, Mrs. Obama's appearance truly is an incredible honor and we are extremely grateful that she is participating."

Rebuilding their parish (county) schools from the ground up following Hurricane Katrina, the 25 Louisiana schools of St. Tammany Parish earned nearly half of the HealthierUS School Challenge Awards for outstanding work in providing healthy school meals and optimum exercise programs through ensuring regular physical education classes. The schools were lauded by Let's Move! for their remarkable work in creating quality lifestyle programs for all students, particularly commendable considering the unique obstacles they faced.

Created by the USDA and supported through the White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity, The HealthierUS School Challenge (HUSSC) is a voluntary initiative established in 2004 to recognize those schools participating in the National School Lunch Program that have created healthier school environments through promotion of nutrition and physical activity. In February 2010, First Lady Michelle Obama introduced Let's Move, incorporating the HealthierUS School Challenge into her campaign to raise a healthier generation of kids. At that time, monetary incentive awards became available for each HUSSC award level: Bronze, Silver, Gold and Gold Award of Distinction. To date, 1047 awards have been presented toward a goal of reaching 1250 schools by June 2011. Further information about how schools can get involved with the Let's Move! Campaign is also available at CartoonNetwork.com.

About Cartoon Network Hall of Game Awards

Cartoon Network Hall of Game Awards is a high-energy, off-the-wall, multi-platform experience that lets viewers vote and honor their favorite sports stars and sports moments of the year. It is created and produced in association with IMG Media, the production arm of global sports, entertainment and media company, IMG. Veteran, award-winning television and special events producers, Michael Dempsey and Steve Mayer serve as executive producers and The Sports Illustrated Group's SI KIDS franchise is the official media partner.

Cartoon Network recently announced several categories and nominees for the Hall of Game Awards (HallofGame.com). From the red carpet, to the never-before-seen stunts and surprises on stage, Cartoon Network Hall of Game Awards show will feature icons from television, film, music and sports, as kids experience an evening of humor and fun at the most raucous and biggest sports awards show ever presented on television.

Voting continues in seven of the categories on HallofGame.com where to date the site has already received over 29 million votes. Voting categories and their respective nominees include: "Most Awesome Mascot," sponsored by Pepperidge Farm(R) Flavor Blasted(R) Goldfish(R) crackers; "He's Got Game;" "She Got Game;" "That's How I Roll," sponsored by Kids Foot Locker; "Alti-dude;" "Dance Machine;" and "My Bad." Just launched this week, fans can also now cast votes for their favorite athletes on the all-new Hall of Game App. Free to download from the iTunes store, fans can also use the app to add their face to sports photos, customize pictures with Hall of Game graphics and share them with friends via Facebook and Twitter.

Cartoon Network (CartoonNetwork.com), currently seen in more than 99 million U.S. homes and 166 countries around the world, is Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.'s ad-supported cable service now available in HD offering the best in original, acquired and classic entertainment for youth and families. Nightly from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. (ET, PT), Cartoon Network shares its channel space with Adult Swim, a late-night destination showcasing original and acquired animated and live-action series for young adults 18-34.

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news, entertainment, animation and young adult media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.

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