Schools
Target Grant Helps Fund New Children's Fitness Center at South Elementary
PE teacher Patrick Houk awarded grants to purchase new fitness equipment.
District 47's South Elementary in Crystal Lake is one step closer to a children’s fitness center, thanks to the efforts of physical education teacher Patrick Houk and two $1,000 grants from Target.
After receiving $1,000 last spring from Target for the initial purchase of fitness equipment, Houk received a second $1,000 grant as part of the corporation’s $5 million give back program to schools to fund health and physical education equipment. In partnership with Donors Choose, Target funds school projects, from school gardens to yoga ball chairs, that help kids across the country live healthier, more active lives. To date the company has funded more than 7,000 projects, positively impacting the health of more than 760,000 students.
With the grant money from last year, Houk purchased a diverse range of fitness equipment, including a set of six medicine balls with a rack, six yoga mats, a push-up practice machine, four abdominal wheels for core work, a standing vertical jump assessment tower, a sit and reach flexibility box, and hand grip dynamometers.
The supplemental proposal called Children's Fitness Center 2.0 was awarded to Houk in September and enabled the purchase of a set of yoga mats, frisbee throwing games, Bosu balance and exercise balls, a Spikeball game to work on agility and hand-eye coordination, a full set of exercise dumbbells and rack, and balance beams.
“The addition of the exercise and fitness equipment means so much to the students at South,” noted Houk. “The students have absolutely loved getting the opportunity to use ‘big kid’ fitness equipment and have already started challenging themselves to do more of the exercises.”
Houk said he enjoys writing grant proposals for equipment because when they are awarded, the students are the real winners. “I hope that by obtaining the new fitness equipment and teaching students how to properly use it at a young age, our students will understand the importance of leading a health-enhancing lifestyle and will know how to continue on that path.”
