More than $458,000 in Federal Funds for East Austin College Prep’s Project FIT to EXCEL Program
Dr. JoeGonzales, Superintendent of East Austin College Prep was pleased to hear news ofthe funding. "My experience over the last 50years as an educator confirms what research shows to be the significantrelationship between health-related fitness and academic achievement. At EastAustin College Prep we are always looking for ways to inspire our students tobecome more active and health conscious, and this grant will boost our school's physical education program andprovide the tools students need to lead healthierlives," he said.
The program is a comprehensive strategy toincrease physical activity school/community-wide:
o Daily classroom physicalactivity breaks;
o Organized after schoolphysical activity programs;
o Walking and bikingto/from school;
o Access to fitnessclub-type equipment at school;
o Gym in the morningbefore school begins;
o Intramural sport teams;
o Evening events forstudents to engage in physical activity; and
o Annual campus orcommunity events to heighten community awareness of physical activity andhealth.
The program will offerbefore/during school, evening, weekend and summer physical fitness activitiesand nutritional programs for students, parents and community citizens to develophealth-related fitness aptitudes, physical competence and positive attitudeabout physical activity to overall increase student learning. Much of theeducational work will be spearheaded by East Austin College Prep's team ofhighly-qualified P.E. Instructors and Facilitators, and occur during the scopeof the school and directly after. However, through partnerships with Boys andGirls Club, Capital Area Food Bank, and 360 Leadership and many otherorganizations, youth, parents, community residents will be afforded enhancedhealth, physical, nutritional activities and special extracurricular activities.
Through this project,students will gain increased knowledge and awareness on healthy living,exercise, physical fitness, behavior, attitude, responsibility, and making soundwell-being decisions. New high-tech equipment will be offered to not onlymotivate students and adults but also to engage them in new 21st centuryphysical fitness practices and exercises using hands on, innovative technology to increase motor skillsand physical activities that enhance development. Exercise will be made moreappealing and enjoyable via a variety of activities that are interactive and ageappropriate so that students are more likely to exercise regularly and formlifelong habits.
East AustinCollege Prep (www.eaprep.org)is a tuition-free Full Service Community School open to 6th, 7th and 8th graders living inEast Austin. The school will open to 9thgraders in 2012. The mission of East AustinCollege Prep is to inspirestudents to have clear college aspirations along with the academic skills andpassion to fulfill their dreams. As a model school that successfully preparesall students, regardless of economic background, for graduation and success incollege, East Austin College Prep stands apart with its extended school day,highly qualified instructors on-call until 9:00 pm each day, 3 week summersession, small culturally relevant classes with individualized instruction,intensive parental and community involvement program, and a college prepcurriculum based on award-winning model. Located at Southwest Key'sstate-of-the-art Centro de Familia, the school is the central component of theEast Austin Children's Promise (www.swkey.org/promise), a strategy toensure student success by providing comprehensive wraparound services to meetthe needs of the whole family and revitalize the surrounding neighborhood.
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