The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

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October 22, 2009

Fitness center wants to team with school district

By Matt Snyder

MERCER AREA — Mercer Area School Board is weighing a proposal that would let students go to a Coolspring Township fitness center as an after-school program.

The school board has just begun to look at the program, which was pitched Monday night by Cool Springs Fitness Center spokesman Kenneth J. Ferrans Jr. Some version of the idea might be established as soon as the start of 2010.

What’s being offered is an hour to hour-and-a-half after-school program that might involve crafts or other activities, Ferrans said.

Much is tentative, but Cool Springs Fitness wants to know what the school needs to make the idea work – for instance, if a new field would need to be built, Ferrans said. In turn, Cool Springs Fitness wants to know whether the schools can bus kids to the center.

While it’s still in the early idea phase, Ferrans said they are modeling the program on a similar one by the YMCA in Grove City. Parents would probably pay a small day-care-type fee for the activities, he said, but reiterated that it’s too soon to know how that would work.

It may begin as a pilot program with certain grades, Ferrans said, but Cool Springs is interested in introducing it for all school-age children, from kindergarten through high school.

There isn’t a firm list of activities yet, but Ferrans said they are talking to coaches and the center could offer things like swimming, gymnastics, volleyball, crafts, or educational activities, if school officials would prefer.

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