3 schools awarded fitness centers
Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary in the Little Rock School District, Lincoln Middle School in Lincoln and Tucker Elementary in Danville are winners of state-of-the-art fitness centers for their innovative ways of encouraging physical activity among their pupils.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Jake Steinfeld, chairman of the National Foundation for Governors’ Fitness Councils, recently announced the recipient schools.
The Live Positively Fitness Centers are valued at about $100,000 each and purchased with a mix of public and private sources. Each center includes strength-training equipment, cardio fitness equipment and interactive exercise games. The customized design, delivery and installation of the equipment in a school are part of the award, according to the foundation’s website.
The winning schools were selected in part based on their level of economic need, integration of physical wellness into the curriculum, creativity in offerings and community outreach, the foundation website states.
The new fitness centers in Arkansas schools will be dedicated at ribbon-cutting ceremonies later this year.
The National Foundation for Governors’ Fitness Councils plans to bring its program to all 50 states in the coming years.
Association names McClure president
Matt McClure, the chief learning and financial officer of Cross County School District in Cherry Valley and co-founder of Arkansas Tech University’s LEAD 21/Walton Leader Scholars program, is the new president of the 125,000-member Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development.
McClure, the Arkansas superintendent of the year in 2011, will serve a one-year term as head of the national organization of superintendents, principals, teachers and other education advocates who work toward excellence in teaching, learning and leading.
“[McClure] embodies the mission and vision of ASCD — notably our commitment to raising a generation of children who are healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged — and I am excited to collaborate with him throughout his tenure as we embark on new and ambitious initiatives,” Deb Delisle, the association’s executive director and chief executive officer, said in a news release.
LR offers reward in playground fires
The Little Rock School District is offering a $500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of individuals responsible for the recent playground fires at Franklin Elementary and Geyer Springs Gifted and Talented Academy.
The first fire was Friday at Franklin Elementary, 1701 S. Harrison St. The second was Sunday at Geyer Springs, 5240 Mabelvale Pike.
“Each case appears to have been arson,” Superintendent Baker Kurrus said Tuesday in announcing the reward. “These deliberate acts are senseless. The children at both of these schools are temporarily deprived of the opportunity to play on the equipment.”
Preliminary loss estimates are in the range of $225,000, Kurrus said, but he also said the damage is still being assessed.
Those with any information regarding the fires should call the fire marshal’s office at the Little Rock Fire Department at (501) 918-3710.
New school district puts up website
The new Jacksonville/ North Pulaski School District now has its own website: jnpsd.org.
The district, created in November by the Arkansas Board of Education, will remain for one more school year under the operation of the Pulaski County Special School District. Plans call for new district to operate on its own starting July 1, 2016.
The new website includes a listing and biographies of the interim School Board members, a biography of Superintendent Tony Wood and the agenda for the board’s latest meeting.