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PE teacher Lisa Sergis wins American Heart Association grants for fitness and mobile cooking unit
Summary
At an RSU 12 school board meeting, PE teacher Lisa Sergis described two American Heart Association grants that supplied fitness equipment and a new mobile cooking unit to run four weeks of hands-on healthy-cooking lessons for middle-school students beginning in late winter.
Lisa Sergis, the physical education and health teacher at P�o, told the RSU 12 board that she used American Heart Association Kids Heart Challenge grants to supply classroom and kitchen equipment intended to boost student health and hands-on food skills. "The objective was to give kids the opportunity to prep, cook, serve and sample healthy food options," Sergis said during the board’s meeting.
Sergis said the district previously used a $2,400 grant to buy a mobile personal-fitness unit — folding exercise bikes, lightweight stationary benches, agility ladders and portable carts — that teachers could roll out in half of the gym. After meeting the Kids Heart Challenge participation goals, Sergis said the school recently secured funding for a mobile cooking unit, permitting up to $2,500 in equipment purchases. The kit includes mixers, a multi-function countertop oven, blenders, aprons and mobile storage carts, she said.
Sergis outlined a four-week pilot for grades 5–8 that starts at the end of February and runs into March. Each class will cook the same menu in rotating small groups; planned sessions include a smoothie lesson, an appetizer and salsa, an oven-based vegetable soup and biscuits, and a carrot cake. Rosanna from the district will help with menus and ingredient coordination, and Holly Morgan from special education has used the equipment in small-group lessons, Sergis said.
Sergis described the grant’s eligibility rules: schools open the application only after meeting participation thresholds for the Kids Heart Challenge (about 50% student sign-ups) and other rubric items, and the program provides a limited grant window each year. She told the board that meeting the program’s goals previously yielded $650 in free PE equipment from a supplier (US Games).
Board members asked logistical questions about storage and setup; Sergis said the folding bikes and carts make daily setup feasible and that staff may sign equipment out when needed. The board did not take formal action on the presentation; Sergis sought to inform members about the program and its classroom use.
The district plans to run the four-week unit as a supplement to PE and health instruction and to share pictures and implementation notes with the board as the pilot proceeds.
