Students Writing Poems Praising Exercise? Yes!
St. Paul Lutheran School Opens $13,000 Outdoor Fitness Center
Thanks to Project Fit Grant Awarded by Gottlieb Memorial Hospital
“You should go outside and play, to beat obesity today.” “If you have speed, You will be in the lead.” “With God as my witness, I will learn to exercise.” These poems written by some of the 200 classmates and their teachers at St. Paul Lutheran School in Melrose Park were read aloud as they cut the ribbon on a $13,000 Project Fit America (PFA) outdoor exercise center and healthy lifestyle curriculum for its pre-kindergarteners through eighth graders.
St Paul Lutheran is the 12th area school to win a competitive PFA grant provided by Gottlieb Memorial Hospital in Melrose Park. With the assistance of Benny The Bull, a group of St. Paul students demonstrated the proper way of navigating the seven-station exercise circuit, which includes a pole climb, horizontal ladder, parallel bars, vault bar, sit-up station, step test, and pull-up bar. The classroom component focuses on exercise, good nutrition, the dangers of cigarettes and drugs, and building self-esteem.
A feature attraction was the participation of octagenerian members of the hiking club belonged to by Sylvia Behrens, 94, a life-long member of St. Paul Lutheran. Behrens died last year and money bequeathed by her to the school was used to install the Project Fit equipment and renovate the school playground.
“Sylvia was an avid hiker all of her life and greatly valued physical fitness,” said Doug Grebasch, principal of St. Paul, of the benefactor who belonged to three hiking clubs. “She had just completed an extensive 10 mile hike the day she died and was making plans for another. This is a terrific living legacy to pass along to the children of her parish.”
Among the guest speakers at the dedication were Reed Sander of the Northern Illinois Lutheran Teachers Education; Gary Woll, trustee of Maywood; Arturo Mota, trustee of Melrose Park; and John Morgan, president of Gottlieb Memorial Hospital. “In the 12 years that Gottlieb has sponsored area schools with Project Fit grants, we have received positive scores documenting the steady improvement of the children’s fitness acumen,” said Morgan. “Gottlieb considers keeping our community healthy just as important as caring for them when they are ill.”
St. Paul received training on the use of the equipment and the component programs from a Project Fit coordinator in September. Since it was founded in 1990, Project Fit America, a non-profit corporation based near San Francisco has brought its fitness program to more than 400,000 students in 524 schools in 40 states.
Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, a non-profit, independent, community hospital founded in 1961, has more than 300 physicians and dentists on staff, approximately 1,200 employees and 200 volunteers. Gottlieb is one of the few area hospitals to receive Joint Commission accreditation. The 36-acre medical campus in Melrose Park, Ill, is home to the Midwest’s first medically based health & fitness center. Gottlieb Health & Fitness Center is a full-service facility offering innovative fitness programs, two pools, indoor Harvard running track, strength and weight training.Gottlieb is best known for:· Emergency care as a Level II Trauma Center· Comprehensive heart care, including open-heart surgery with outcomes among the best in the nation, and a new state-of-the-art catheterization lab· A cancer program, fully accredited by the American College of Surgeons’ (ACS) Commission on Cancer, and includes radiation and chemotherapy provided by our affiliate, the Marjorie G. Weinberg Cancer Care Center adjacent to the hospital.· Advanced neurosurgery and orthopedic surgery, using minimally invasive techniques.· Digital imaging technology with computerized assisted diagnosis for the early detection of breast cancer · Wound Care Center with hyperbaric chambers for the treatment of non-healing wounds.· Professional Office Building that is home to 100 physician offices as well as Eye and Hearing Centers and a retail pharmacy.More information, including the daily allergen count, can be found on Gottlieb’s website at www.gottliebhospital.org.
LOYOLA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SYSTEM
