Chatham County schools jump-start fitness

After exhausting a 2009 grant for faculty wellness programs, Chatham County Schools is getting creative with its fitness programs.

Some schools are turning to volunteer fitness instructors and group challenge programs to help keep their faculty fit ever since the grant funds they previously used dried up.

Originally created to encourage healthier lifestyles among faculty members, the School Health Advisory Council grant funded after-school exercise classes like strength training, aerobics and yoga, said Ellie Morris, school health liaison for the Chatham County Public Health Department.

Morris said the fitness programs aim to take down some of the barriers to exercise that busy faculty members face.

“The idea behind doing it at school is that the teachers are already there and they don’t have to pay for a gym membership, they don’t have to go anywhere,” she said.

Since the schools can no longer afford to pay instructors to teach after-school classes, the health department is seeking volunteers to help teach fitness classes once a week.

Morris, who teaches yoga for UNC Campus Recreation, recently sent out an e-mail to her fellow fitness instructors seeking a volunteer to teach at North Chatham School.

“There are a couple staff members in my office, including me, who do the classes, and we do them for free,” she said. “But we can’t do them that often because it’s not part of our job description.”

Morris said one teacher trained to become a Zumba instructor so she could bring the dance workout class to her school.

Other schools in Chatham County have been also started turning to the cost-friendly solution of fitness challenges.

The staff at Bonlee Elementary School is participating in the school’s Dragon Fit Challenge, a six-week program that includes different health challenges each week.

To participate, each faculty competitor contributed $5 to a pool that the winning team will split. The PTA then matched the money the teams raised.

In addition to exercising for 30 minutes and eating five servings of fruits and vegetables each day, participants complete weekly challenges like drinking 64 ounces of water a day, parking farther away than necessary and avoiding fast food.

Bonlee Data Manager Andrea Hough said participants are supposed to double up on challenges this week.

“I was going to do the ones that were easiest for me: no fast food and no eating late at night,” she said.

Bonlee ESL teacher Dana Hill said administrators, secretaries and teacher’s assistants have all been getting involved.

“It’s a real nurturing environment to be healthy in,” she said.

Hill admitted she hasn’t always been successful in the challenges, but the competition overall has improved her health.

“We were going a week without fast food,” she said. “I didn’t make it Saturday night, but I think it’s helped. I feel better.”

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