The grand défi

Le Lait and Québec en forme are proud to sponsor the School Tour. Just like the Grand défi Pierre Lavoie, both of these sponsors are committed to promoting healthy life habits among young people, through physical activity and healthy eating.

Since November 2008, the tour has been visiting elementary schools in the province to motivate young people to adopt a healthier lifestyle and to enter the friendly contest which takes place in May. The fourth edition of this tour follows the 2011-2012 school year calendar.

In order for students to experience something they would never forget, a spectacular caravan was designed. Dubbed the Vehicube, it is the nerve centre of the operation and a true playground for children.

The third generation of the Vehicube.

The new Vehicube consists of two components. The first is a 22.8-metre-long (75-foot) bus that was retrofitted specifically for the needs of nutrition workshop participants. The Eat Better workshop introduces young people to the basics of a healthy diet through a video game universe. It has touch screens, 3-D food, animated versions of Pierre as a chef and a cyclist, and a virtual grocery basket. The Eat Better workshop is adapted to children’s age groups. There is a workshop specifically designed for first- to third-grade students (6 to 9 years of age), and there is another one for fourth- to sixth-grade students (10 to 12 years of age).

The second component is a trailer that was specially designed for a bike workshop, hence the name “bike studio.” The “studio” includes 14 stationary bikes, each one featuring a high-tech screen that turns the exercise into a virtual race in which you make your character move forward on the screen.

The new Vehicube stands out not only for its structure, but also for technological improvements that make it even more exceptional. For example, special attention was given to its sound system to make the acoustics more enjoyable during the workshop. In addition, in the bike studio, a giant screen at the front and eight HD screens on the ceiling give it an even more realistic road-race atmosphere.

Children can take part in both the Get More Active and Eat Better workshops during each school visit.

VIEW THE TOUR'S ITINERARY AND SCHEDULE

The Vehicube will continue its tour this summer to motivate young people to maintain their healthy life habits, even while on vacation. It will visit day camps and major events in Quebec, such as popular festivals. Saputo is proud to support this aspect of the Grand défi, as promoting healthy life habits is an integral part of its own values.

This tour will take place over eight weeks, from the end of June to the end of August, and will propose the same Get More Active and Eat Better workshops that children already know.

The Sharpen Your Grey Matter contest is a fun challenge that Pierre Lavoie is issuing to young people throughout Québec and their families to expand their minds while having fun. To participate, young people must complete learning activities with their family, and they earn one grey matter cube for each 15-minute period. At the end of the month, the school with the most grey matter cubes in the province will be awarded with a Sharpen Your Grey Matter activity day with lots of games, presents and fun activities. Pierre Lavoie will also be in attendance!

Schools interested in participating can get more information and register at www.aiguisetamatieregrise.com. The contest runs from November 1 to 30, and registration is open until October 31, 2011. The first 500 schools to register will receive a bonus participation kit for each student, which includes a workbook, two pencils and a pencil sharpener with the contest’s colours.

Increase your chances to win the Grand Prize

By participating in the Sharpen Your Grey Matter contest, schools also increase their chance of winning the Get Up and Move contest at the end of the year, because grey matter cubes will be added to energy cubes to determine schools’ final totals, or GRAND DÉFI cubes.

The contest Get up and move

After following La Tournée le Lait and the events of the Grand défi Pierre Lavoie for a whole year, children can take part in a friendly contest at their school. All elementary schools across Quebec may enter. The contest is aimed at rewarding students who make the strongest commitment to becoming more physically active.

How to participate:

• Children and their families must do 15-minute sessions of physical activity (or energy cubes), 7 days a week for a month.
• Each session earns them one point. The more active they are, the more points they accumulate.
• These points are entered on the official website of the Grand défi Pierre Lavoie, LeveToietBouge.com, by physical education teachers or the person in charge. Parents are responsible for signing their children's report confirming the number of points to be approved by the person in charge at the school.

The average number of energy cubes per student is categorized as follows:

• Gold cube - 450 cubes per pupil
• Silver cube - 300 to 449 cubes per pupil
• Cubes bronze - 200 to 299 cubes per pupil

Children can have fun monitoring their school's progress on LeveToietBouge.com, comparing their performance with that of other schools in their region and encouraging one another to improve in order to win the grand prize. They can also view the Olympic Stadium fill up with energy cubes (one cube corresponds to one 15-minute session of physical activity). If a cube has a volume of one metre by one metre, a total of 1,866,000 energy cubes fit inside the Olympic Stadium. This clever operation was developed by the great mathematician and renowned sportsman Jean-Marie De Koninck. Look as children fill more than one up over the month of May!

The Grand défi is proud to announce that several groups such as childcare centres, secondary schools and businesses are now part of this great adventure. These entities can now use the platform offered by levetoietbouge.com to calculate their own cubes.

The Grand Prize

Thanks to Desjardins, students from the schools that have won the draw of the Sharpen your grey Matter! and Get Up and Move! contests will come together for a big celebration. The two-day event will be held in June. Games, a concert, a dinner and accommodation for the night will be organized for students. They will then return home with great memories.

The two-day event will be held in June, the same weekend as the 1,000-km event. Games, a concert, a dinner and accommodation for the night will be organized for students. The next day they will return home with great memories.

The elementary school in each administrative region in Québec (Bas-Saint-Laurent, Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, Capitale-Nationale, Mauricie, Estrie, Montréal, Outaouais, Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Côte-Nord, Nord-du-Québec, Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine, Chaudière-Appalaches, Laval, Lanaudière, Laurentides, Montérégie, Centre-du-Québec) with the most GRAND DÉFI* cubes accumulated will be eligible to win the Grand Prize, which will be drawn at random. The chances of winning the draw are determined by cube level: bronze (1 chance), silver (2 chances), gold (3 chances).

• Gold cube - 510 GRAND DÉFI cubes per student
  3 chances to win
• Silver cube - 360 to 509 GRAND DÉFI cubes per student
  2 chances to win
• Cubes bronze - 260 to 359 GRAND DÉFI cubes per student
  1 chance to win

*GRAND DÉFI cubes = average grey matter cubes per student + average energy cubes per student.

Final goal: GRAND DÉFI cubes

The grey matter cubes collected during the Sharpen Your Grey Matter challenge in November 2011 will be added to the energy cubes obtained during the May 2012 edition of the Get Up and Move contest to determine schools’ final totals or GRAND DÉFI cubes. As a result, by participating in the Sharpen Your Grey Matter contest, schools increase their chances of winning the Grand Prize.

The Grand Prize will coincide with the finale of the 1,000-km event, which will make for an even grander moment. The 1,000-km event is the "adult" component of the Grand défi Pierre Lavoie. It is a spectacular cycling marathon that brings together 900 cyclists who ride in relay behind Pierre Lavoie, who travels along the entire 60-hour circuit between Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean and Montréal.

The 1,000-km event is not merely an athletic feat. For Pierre Lavoie, this event is above all a forum to raise awareness among the community of the importance of changing our lifestyle habits to ensure our children's future.

All of the event's proceeds are donated to the GO Foundation to support medical research on orphan diseases and to fund projects that promote healthy life habits.