South Philly High Needs a Fitness Room!

My name is Michael McKeen, and I'm a physical education teacher and head football coach at South Philadelphia High School. I am asking you for your support to fund a new multi-use, all-inclusive fitness center for our students at Southern!

We plan to use this fitness center in many ways - giving students and staff a safe environment to exercise and improve their health. Here are just a few examples:

• Some students find it difficult to participate in team sports, which form the base of our physical education curriculum. We plan to provide personal fitness classes to these students as an alternative.
• The weight room for our athletic teams is located in a blocked-off portion of our building, and it's filled with unsafe and outdated equipment. The fitness center would offer a safe and accessible alternative.
• Our student population is nearly 1/3 special needs students. Our new equipment will be designed to accommodate the unique needs of these students - giving all of our kids the opportunity to exercise safely and form lifelong healthy habits.
• Our vision includes students and staff being able to use the facilities after the school day. We are losing our young people at an alarming rate to gun violence in the city. This fitness center would give our students a great reason to stay in our school building longer and out of harm's way.

Your gift today - in any amount - will help us purchase treadmills, recumbent bikes, weight-training equipment and a new, rubberized floor. Ultimately, our new fitness center will encourage more kids to be active, keep our kids safe and healthy, and improve our school's culture by giving the students and staff a great place to be proud of at Southern.

We are asking for your help in order to make our vision a reality. I thank you for your time and consideration!

*If we do not meet our fundraising goal, we will use these funds to support this or another vital need at our school!