By PATTY RAMUS
News Staff Writer
Alcona Community Schools faculty and students now have expanded exercise opportunities with the opening of the district's new fitness center located in Alcona High School.
During the fall of this year, the district's physical education teachers and coaching staff worked collaboratively with fitness trainers from Bay Athletic Club in Alpena to create a state-of-the-art fitness complex for students.
"The fitness center was created as part of our district-wide curriculum review. Our physical education and health curriculum areas were reviewed last year and the fitness center was created to meet our updated curriculum standards in both areas," said Superintendent Shawn Thornton. "Our fitness center also supports the district's efforts to focus on healthy lifelong activities for our students as identified through our curriculum revisions and the recommendations from our district healthy school action teams."
The center is approximately 2,100 square feet. The space was created by combining two rooms, a former weight room and the district's technology office space. A wall dividing the two areas was removed and the technology office moved to another room in the high school, Thornton said.
After the rooms were combined, improvements including painting the walls, installation of a sound system, wood flooring, a television and mirrors were added. The center's exercise equipment now includes two treadmills, an elipitical machine, three different stationary bicycles, stair-stepper, gravity training system, TRX suspension training equipment, medicine balls, speed and agility equipment, jump ropes, plyometric boxes, kettleball weights, BOSU balance trainers, exercise balls, resistance flat bands, slide boards, mini hurdles, yoga mats and weight lifting equipment.
"It excites me because of the sports I coach, I think it will benefit the athletes. I think we're going to see an overall difference in their performances," said Seth Coffing, Alcona Middle School social studies and physical education teacher and coach of junior varsity football, varsity baseball and varsity basketball. "Students who workout do better in school. They have more energy and feel good about themselves."
Business Manager Alan Shillair said the district had a $25,000 budget to create the center.
Currently the center is being used by high school students for weight training and seventh and eight grade students for weight technique training. In December the center will be open to staff and students before school and after school, Coffing said.
The center will open to the community on a trial basis from January to March 2009 Monday through Friday from 6-7:30 a.m. and Monday through Thursday from 3:30-5:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m. Locker room facilities with showers will be available for community use during only the morning hours. The monthly membership fees will cost $30 for adults with a $25 adult add-on spouse fee. The daily walk-in membership fees will cost $3 per visit.
"If there is community interest in the facility, our intent is to open the fitness center to the public as a local close-to-home resource for our community members to use on a regular basis. In order to do this on an expanded basis the fitness center will need to generate enough revenue through membership fees to be self-sustaining," Thornton said. "The community membership fee revenue will be used to pay or fitness center supervision during the hours it is open to the public and to repair, replace and maintain the equipment necessary to keep the fitness center properly equipped and state-of-the-art."
For more information about fitness center membership contact the district office at 736-6212.
Patty Ramus can be reached via e-mail at pramus@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5687.