Smoky Mountain High School has used a $1.5 million grant from the Carol M. White Physical Education Program to create a state-of-the-art fitness center and enhanced teacher training to encourage students to become fit for life.

The PEP grant was secured through a partnership between Jackson and Macon county schools. The grant will serve 17 schools across the two counties, funding three major projects over the next three years. Steve Jones, Jackson County’s assistant school superintendent, is project director for the grant and SMHS women’s basketball coach Cindi Simmons is grant manager.

One of the primary goals of the program is to meet the fitness needs of all students — especially those who don’t participate in school athletics — and to increase awareness of the benefits of being fit for life.

“The official PEP Grant Fitness Center mission is to motivate students to participate in a regular lifelong personal fitness program and encourage the development of stronger nutrition and fitness behaviors,” Simmons said.

Simmons noted that the fitness equipment in SMHS’s new fitness center was the same as equipment found in most adult fitness centers today.

“This means our students will feel comfortable continuing this kind of health program after they graduate from Smoky Mountain,” she said.

SMHS students began using the new equipment last spring as an extension of their regular physical education classes. This year “Fitness for Life” and “Aerobics” classes are offered as electives by Smoky Mountain’s physical education department. Approximately 50 percent of SMHS’s 756 student are enrolled in some aspect of the school’s Healthful Living curriculum.

To encourage even wider use, the fitness center is open before and after school hours. There are also plans for a school-wide fitness club that will include students, faculty and staff.

The program is designed to increase the number of students meeting state standards for health and physical education but more importantly, according to Simmons, “We want all of our students to live long, healthy lives, and we hope these new programs will help them do just that, not just while they’re in school, but throughout their lives. We are very grateful to have the support of the PEP grant which is helping us provide these wonderful opportunities to our students.”

Simmons said that the SMHS administration has been very supportive of the projects.

“The teachers have done a tremendous job motivating their students and carrying out the goals of the grant.”