Sunnyside Middle School

Sunnyside Middle School is a comprehensive 5th and 6th grade public school serving 1,000 students in the Lafayette School Corporation in Lafayette, Indiana.  Students at Sunnyside enjoy a 44 minute physical education class on an every-other-day basis throughout the school year.   Sunnyside students are served by 3.25 full-time PE teachers. 

In 2008 the Lafayette School Corporation, in partnership with nearby Purdue University, was awarded the federal Carol M. White Physical Education Program grant.  The LSC-Purdue grant application targeted students in grades 5-8.  Utilizing grant monies, Sunnyside teachers have created a fitness based curriculum model which also incorporates sport education.  PEP Grant monies enabled Sunnyside to create a state of the art fitness center with aerobic machines such as treadmills, arc trainers and interactive computer-based stationary bicycles and resistance equipment built specifically to fit the bodies of 5th and 6th grade students.  The PEP grant also enabled Sunnyside to purchase a 40 X 12 foot traversing wall, a scooter-based fitness game called Sharbade and a 50 unit wall mounted resistance band exercise system called Functional Fitness.  Participants' body mass index data is calculated and students are assessed regularly using Fitnessgram testing.  Heart rate monitors were purchased to encourage students to stay in their target heart rate zone while working out. 

As a result of the hard work of our teaching staff and the resources provided by PEP, students at Sunnyside are engaged in a physical education experience which provides for prolonged periods of heart rate raising, increased fitness levels, as well as personal and social responsibility activities.  Students are having fun and learning the value of an active lifestyle at Sunnyside!