Grants help local school promote community health

GWINN — Education and health are two core values that communities strive to achieve. One school in Marquette County is taking steps to unite the two.

Gwinn Area Community Schools recently received two eight thousand dollar ‘Partnership to Improve Community Health’ grants via the Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians. The grants will allow the school to purchase exercise and health-related equipment for both K.I. Sawyer Elementary and the Middle and High School.

“The goal is to promote physical fitness and physical activity, lifetime physical activity opportunities, and nutrition,” said Anthony Filizetti, Director of Finance and Human Resources at the school.

Equipment ranging from exercise bikes to portable disc golf goals will be available to not only the schools, but to the community at large.

“If the YMCA wants to try and do a snowshoe event, and they know we have thirty pairs of snowshoes that they could borrow, as a school, that would be something that we could do for the community,” Filizetti added.

The grants also allowed Gwinn to install new ADA-compliant water stations where students can fill up water bottles to stay hydrated throughout the day.