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From an automotive shop to a wellness gym

'It’s something we’ve been discussing and planning for a while'
20210121 chippewa wellness gym
Photo courtesy Facebook.

Chippewa secondary school is getting a bit of a facelift.

The school just recently opened a brand new "Wellness Gym" that was used to be a automotive shop in the tech wing of the Near North District secondary school on the north end of North Bay.  

"It’s something we’ve been discussing and planning for a while," said Ian Lawson, athletic director at Chippewa Secondary School 

"We had a written proposal that we shared with stakeholders, and we worked to get the plan into action."

Lawson says fitness training, and fitness based physical education courses is an area of growth, and more students are electing to enrol in fitness courses at Chippewa.

"While our triple gym, and large field space is an excellent home for much of our physical education programming, we knew a larger and more modern space would serve our students well. Looking around the building, the old metal fabrication shop seemed the right fit for a renovation into a fitness room," he said. 

Lawson believes the Wellness Room itself is a wonderful teaching space. It is 2400 sq/ft, with high ceilings, and beautiful natural lighting.

He says the project was a great idea since the room had not been used for a number of years up until now. 

"In fact, the entire tech wing at Chippewa is expanding and is offering a number of new programming pathways for our students," said Lawson. 

"At this time, all five of our shops in the tech wing (automotive, welding, construction, intermediate STEM, and the Wellness Room), plus the industrial kitchen are active teaching spaces. All together, these changes have added new life and opportunity to this wing of the school."

He says they are looking forward to putting it to good use once COVID-19 subsides. 

"We are looking forward to post-COVID-19 times when we can get the room working for more students (social distance and cohort protocol currently limits the access to the space)," said Lawson. 


Chris Dawson

About the Author: Chris Dawson

Chris Dawson has been with BayToday.ca since 2004. He has provided up-to-the-minute sports coverage and has become a key member of the BayToday news team.
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