by David Flint
A new well equipped fitness center is now open in Berlin Middle School-High School with a new and welcome approach according to Sandy Honsinger, the school’s Physical Education Director.
“The focus of the center is to get kids active and to promote healthy lifestyles,” Honsinger said. “To do that, our equipment is very user friendly, regardless of someone’s initial fitness level. It’s multi-purpose too, which is great because we have limited space, and it also includes health rate monitoring.”
“This fitness or wellness center is the result of a three year grant obtained through the Carol M. White Physical Education Program (PEP),” Honsinger noted, adding, “We share the
grant with the Troy City School District because although they’re urban and we’re rural, we have similar population income qualifications. The grant allows schools and other community-based organizations to initiate, expand or enhance physical education programs for students in kindergarten through twelfth grade with the goal of meeting state standards.”
“In our first year of the grant, we updated our basic equipment, Honsinger said. “During this our second year, we created the wellness center with a good variety of fitness based exercise equipment including weights, ellipticals, treadmills and
benches. We also have game bikes, which are exercise bikes connected to games that give a lot of incentive to people who are training or exercising, and a Smith weight training machine with a dual action pulley system which is important for strength building.”
Agreeing with Honsinger about the center, tenth-grader Skyler Finney, age 15, commented during a workout, “It’s awesome. It’s user friendly, and I love the game bikes.”
“Our goal is to have students engage in moderate to vigorous physical activity for 30 minutes per class,” Honsinger said. “High school students have this class two to three days a week, and
elementary students have physical education classes twice a week.”
The $1.4 million PEP grant – to be split about 50/50 over three years with the Troy School District – was announced by former Interim Schools Superintendent Charlotte Gregory in September 2009. Gregory said it was to be a school/community project not limited to students. The intention was to involve not only the District Wellness Committee and the PTOs but also the youth programs and senior clubs in the towns that make up the District. It was expected that the money would be used to set up fitness centers at multiple locations in the District. Current High School Principal Cathie Allain said that the community involvement piece is still in the works but details have not been worked out yet. As far as setting up one or more additional fitness rooms in the District, Allain said there are no definite plans for that yet but it remains a possibility perhaps in the third year of the grant.