Elgin school among three statewide to win fitness center
With a new, state-of-the-art fitness center, Abbott Middle School in Elgin is on its way to becoming the healthiest school in the Elgin-area district.
"That is the goal," physical education teacher Chad Dahlman said.
The oldest middle school in the state - built in 1932 - is among three Illinois schools selected as a National Champion School for demonstrating new and innovative ways for promoting student physical activity and wellness. There were 240 Illinois elementary and middle schools that applied. The other two winning schools are in Rockford and Chicago.
Fitness icon Jake Steinfeld, chairman of the National Foundation for Governors' Fitness Councils, Elgin Area School District U-46 CEO Tony Sanders, Elgin Mayor David Kaptain and the Abbott school community inaugurated the fitness center Thursday.
The "Live Positively Fitness Center" is funded entirely through public/private partnerships with companies, such as Coca-Cola, Anthem Foundation and Nike, and does not rely on tax revenues or state funding, officials said.
Abbott received $100,000 worth of youth fitness equipment - a mix of stationary bikes and weight training machines - now housed in a roughly 1,700-square-foot storage area, formerly the school's wood shop, said Dahlman, who wrote the grant proposal.
The school's roughly 500 students will get to use the fitness center starting next week.
"Each (weight) machine you can do eight different exercises," Dahlman said. "There are no free weights. We also have interactive gaming - two Xbox One with Xbox Kinect. Every kid will get in there at least once (weekly). We're going to start off slow ... showing them the proper ways to use the machines."
The machines are designed so students can work out in pairs in 30-second to one-minute intervals before moving to the next station. "Every kid will kind of work out at their own pace," Dahlman said.
School officials are planning to open up the fitness center to the school community - Abbott parents and siblings of students - after school, and possibly grant access to the other seven U-46 middle schools.
Ultimately, officials want to get students working out with their parents. School employees also will be able to use the center throughout the school day promoting a healthy school culture, Dahlman said.
Abbott won the grant because of its efforts promoting healthy eating and programs to get students moving, such as a 5K running club - an eight-week program culminating with students participating in the Elgin Valley Fox Trot over Memorial Day weekend.
Every physical education class dedicates one day to fitness.
"We incorporate pedometers in our classes to track how much movement students are getting throughout the class period," Dahlman said.
The school has earned the highest level of recognition as part of Fuel Up to Play 60, an in-school nutrition and physical activity program launched by the National Dairy Council and the NFL in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
For the last two years, students in the environment club have maintained a garden where they grow vegetables, which students in the cooking club use to make healthy meals.
The school's cafeteria manager also conducts taste tests with students' help before adding new menu options.
"We've done that also to try to push healthy eating, healthy choices," Dahlman said.