Aspen Ridge School receives water filtration, bottle station from Delta Dental Foundation and MESSA

ISHPEMING — The installation of a new water filtration and bottle filling station has found its way to Aspen Ridge School. This new addition was recently announced by the Delta Dental Foundation and MESSA as part of the Rethink Your Drink: Water’s Cool at School program. The goal of the program is to increase healthy lifestyles among children and adults.

One healthy lifestyle change is to decrease sugary drinks and highlight the benefits of drinking water.

“Just to be able to see that our kids are drinking more water and helping them to stay healthy and more active is just really amazing,” explained Jennifer Young, Teacher and Health organizer at Aspen Ridge School. “It is not just going to benefit the kids that are here now because it is going to benefit kids for years to come.”

Delta Dental Foundation and MESSA also gave all the students and faculty reusable water bottles to help continue promoting healthy living. The students have also been working on staying healthy in other ways that involve outdoor activities, and giving themselves a break from electronics.

“I would say instead of being on your phone all day it would probably be better for you to maybe go cross country skiing or snowshoeing,” said Matthew Ostola, Student at Aspen Ridge School. “Or participating in walking club or even building a snow man are things you can do as well.”

According to the Mining Journal, the Rethink Your Drink campaign has been in the process of replacing water fountains in 88 schools across the State of Michigan.