Jake Steinfeld, chairman of the California Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness & Sports, will visit Franklin Elementary School in Santa Barbara on Tuesday to cut the ribbon on a new, state-of-the-art fitness facility.

Franklin Elementary School, 1111 E. Mason St., won the $100,000 prize, which was made possible by Anthem Blue Cross Foundation, by earning Elementary School of the Year honors in the 2010 Governor’s Challenge competition.

Rep. Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara, will be on hand Tuesday to welcome those in attendance at the 10 a.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony, also presented by the Diabetes Resource Center of Santa Barbara County. She will discuss the importance of tackling childhood obesity and steps the federal government has taken to address the epidemic.

The school was one of 2,400 schools across the state that participated in the 2010 Governor’s Challenge, a contest that encouraged more than 1.3 million Californians to engage in physical activity 30 to 60 minutes a day, at least three days a week for four weeks in the previous school year.

All 525 students from Franklin Elementary School signed up and completed the Governor’s Challenge last year, recording 98,584 active days.

All K-12 California schools are eligible to participate in the 2011 Governor’s Challenge Competition and vie for one of this year’s three grand prizes.

— Bill Bradley is a publicist.