Baptist Health Paducah awards Project Fit America program to Central Elementary School in Marshall County
Central Elementary School in Draffenville will become the 16th school in the region to launch Project Fit America, a fitness program aimed at reducing childhood obesity, next month.
Central Elementary School in Draffenville will become the 16th school in the region to launch Project Fit America, a fitness program aimed at reducing childhood obesity, next month.
The school received a $16,500 grant from Baptist Health Paducah this fall to fund indoor and outdoor fitness equipment, teacher training and curriculum materials.
Central Elementary principal Malissa Smothers gave credit to former principal Tad Mott for seeking the funding for the program.
“I think it is very important for every child to embrace the athlete within them,” Mott said. “This equipment will allow our students the opportunity to explore the athletic capabilities that they all have. We are very thankful to Baptist Health Paducah for their generous donation.”
Baptist Health Paducah president Chris Roty said Project Fit America exemplifies the hospital’s focus on community education and disease prevention.
“Baptist Health is pleased to provide this fitness program to Central Elementary School and Marshall County,” he said. “We are excited to help another community of children, staff and families build good lifelong habits for healthy lifestyles.”
Schools in four counties have received the Baptist Health fitness grants over the past 11 years. Paducah’s McNabb Elementary and Graves County’s Central Elementary were awarded the program in 2007; Lone Oak Elementary, 2009; Concord Elementary, 2011; Clark Elementary, 2012; Benton Elementary, 2013; Calvert City Elementary and East Calloway Elementary, 2014; Morgan Elementary, Heath Elementary and Reidland Intermediate, 2015; Hendron-Lone Oak Elementary, 2016, and Graves County’s Symsonia, Lowes and Wingo elementary schools in 2017.
Project Fit America (PFA) PFA is a national nonprofit organization that creates sustainable and innovative broad based fitness programs in schools. PFA programming includes state-of-the-art outdoor fitness equipment specifically designed to address the deficit areas where children fail fitness tests; indoor fitness equipment; a dynamic curriculum with games, activities and challenges; on-site teacher training and in-class instruction on subjects such as smoking intervention, nutrition and understanding your body. PFA is in its 28th year of working with schools in more than 1,100 schools in over 300 cities in 46 states. Schools report increased motivation, participation and physical improvements in their students, along with parents and faculty becoming more involved in choosing fitness activities over sedentary lifestyle habits. For more information, visit http://www.projectfitamerica.org.