Indianapolis middle school named one of USA’s healthiest schools
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH)-A Pike Township middle school has been named one of America’s healthiest schools by the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, founded by the American Heart Association.
Lincoln Middle School is the only Indiana school on the list of 323 schools.
The school incorporates physical wellness into its lesson plans and school clubs.
School leaders said dozens of kids join the Fit Club after school to work out in the school’s fitness center.
“You and your friends can hang out and work out with each other,” seventh-grader Sinae Brewster said.
Some of the same kids in the Fit Club are also in the school’s Garden Club. The club grows fruits and vegetables in a school garden and studies the food.
Plus, seventh-grader Jermiah Derry said the gardening helps him work on his muscles.
“They just needed my strength, you know what I’m saying?” Derry said. “So I just help pull out stuff. It’s fun.”
Assistant Principal Cynthia Perkins said the school sometimes donates the food to pantries, and sometimes the kids eat what they grow for lunch.
“It is very inclusive,” Perkins said. “Kids that don’t want to be in the reading club or a chess club or some of the other things we do, we always have a spot for them.”
Perkins said the district launched a wellness committee about five years ago after earning a federal grant. The district used the funds to open fitness centers and gardens in schools.