VERB well on its way By Sarah Riley News-Chronicle If organizers have their way, VERB is here to stay. The initial splash made by the wellness campaign directed at "tweens" - preadolescents ages 9-13 - will continue to be a part of the lives of kids and their parents both locally and on a national scale. Green Bay is one of nine markets where the campaign was tested. It is a program of the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control that is aimed at making kids more active in their everyday lives. VERB refers to actions kids can take for exercise, like "bike" and "swim." "We want them to keep saying this. Verb. It's what you do," said Teri Parins, a local volunteer with the campaign. The VERB campaign is run locally through the Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce's Community Wellness Campaign, of which Parins is the chairwoman. Volunteers have gone into the schools and hosted an assembly at the Weidner Center last month to promote it, and there have been a barrage of radio and televion commercials for the multiracial campaign. "The kids are seeing the stuff, and they're getting involved," Parins said. "They need to become more active and become healthy adults as well." VERB is really sinking in with the target group, said Kirsten Meyer, senior vice president of the campaign's publicity group. About 65 percent of kids polled nationally recognized the slogan, she said. "They are seeing that it's different and exciting information. It's diffurent, it's fun," she said. "It actually exceeds what we were hoping for." The campaign was launched in nine cites of various sizes, but all of which had multicultural populations. Los Angeles, Washington and Kansas City were some of the other cities involved. The campaigns were similar in each of the targeted cities with radio and television ads, mall kiosks, billboards and in-school events. The campaign had a national aspect, too, with its Web sites and commercials reaching many markets. The campaign's next cities depends on the next federal budget, but researchers are studying what was successful in Green Bay so that future cities will receive the most effective methods. Locally, the campaign will continue when volunteers from the VERB campaign will bring booths and materials to events such as charity walks or wherever they're asked. The idea is to get the kids, whom Parins called a very influential and readily influenced group, to know the slogan and to introduce it to the rest of their family. "We don't want to start anything new; we want to tag it on," she said. Except for the time of volunteers, no local money is used on the campaign. The materials and events are sponsored by the CDC. FYI The next VERB event will be a Treasure Hunt on March 15 at Washington Commons. The hunt will include five teams of 10 "tweens" representing local organizations. The event kicks off at 11 a.m. with a pep rally hosted by DJs from WKSZ-FM 95.9 The Web site directed at kids is www.verbnow.com; the Web site for parents is www.verbparents.com.