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American Alliance for Health (AAHPERD) Becomes SHAPE America

American Alliance for Health (AAHPERD) Becomes SHAPE America images: SHAPE AMERICA, FACEBOOK 

The American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD) has announced a name change to SHAPE America.

The American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD) announced that its members had approved changing the association's name from AAHPERD to the Society of Health and Physical Educators, or SHAPE America.

"We are now poised to move forward in creating a new chapter in our 128-year-old history with our new name, vision and mission," said President Gale Wiedow, interim dean of the College of Education at Dakota State University in Madison, South Dakota. "A new logo, tagline and brand for the organization, as well as a new website, will be introduced early in 2014."

"Having an acronym that actually says and means something helps to make our new name more memorable," Wiedow explained. "In addition, the verb shape means influence and communicates leadership and power. We want SHAPE America to have increased visibility and recognition among our primary audiences of physical and health educators as well as our secondary audiences ─ parents, principals, school administrators, policy makers, and the media. I am confident that our strong, memorable and simple new name will help us do just that."

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The organisation was founded in 1885 as the Association for the Advancement of Physical Education, and has changed its name seven times since. In 2013, the members voted to unify five national associations and a Research Consortium under the AAHPERD umbrella.

With almost 20,000 members, SHAPE America is the largest organisation of physical educators in the United States. It created the first National Standards for K-12 Physical Education, developed a public awareness campaign for Let's Move! Active Schools to increase students' physical activity in the school environment, and is one of the managing partners of the First Lady's Active Schools initiative. Among its other efforts, the organisation also started the Shape of the Nation Report, which evaluates the status of physical education across the country.

The organisation's partners include the President's Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition, The Cooper Institute, American Heart Association, and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation.

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