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Partnership with local YMCA

Fort Madison Community School District’s Partnership with local YMCA

 

The YMCA is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to put Christian principles into practice through programs that build healthy spirit, mind and body for all.

 

The Fort Madison Community School District has partnered with the YMCA since 2008. Our school district has teamed up with the Y to promote various programs and to ensure the full potential of our students in many ways. 

 

Ryan Wilson with the Fort Madison YMCA signed off on a 28E agreement for the StateWide Voluntary Preschool Program (SWVPP) in the spring of 2014, for the 2014-2015 school year.

 

“The last couple of years we have partnered with the school's Beyond the Bell program providing space for kids to come learn, swim, and utilize the gym for various activities. This partnership has allowed kids to become acclimated with the Y at a young age. We get them in our building with a preschool program and swim experience. Every year we see kids from our preschool program in our summer camp, swim lessons and various other programs we offer. From there they become members, workout in our facility and become lifelong friends of the Y,” says Ryan. 

 

 

Why partner with the Y?

 

“We are committed to strategic engagement with partners and donors who share our commitment to empowering young leaders and advancing equity for all while ensuring that Ys have the resources they need to engage their communities effectively toward these goals.”

 

  • Expansion of opportunities for our students

  • Opportunity to get students “out of the classroom” to learn about health & fitness

  • YMCA has lined up additional partnerships on Wednesday Early-Outs with other businesses like our local Community Health Center and Great River Health.  They have spoken to our students about mental wellbeing, meditation, food choices and healthy friendships. 

  • The YMCA staff has offered fitness classes for our students, basketball & high energy fitness.  Every Wednesday partnership has included time in the pool for students.  This balance between sports and kinesthetics has helped expand our kids’ understanding of what opportunities there are to keep their hearts healthy!  It is so good for them to learn good habits and ways to stay healthy.  

  • In the future, we are hoping to be able to offer swim lessons and water safety classes for our elementary students.  Many of our young students have not taken swimming lessons yet and do not know water safety basics.  We look forward to being able to help keep our community safe - especially since we live along a river! 

  • We partnered with Elliott Test Kitchen in our 2021-2022 school year, when we started our After School Programs.  We knew that they offered a very unique and effective program for Middle School students, and we wanted to eliminate barriers to make sure that our families knew that it was an option for them in our community.  This past year, we had a fall partnership while it was still Elliott Test Kitchen. 

  • This Spring as the Test Kitchen merged with the YMCA, we expanded our partnership to include the 3rd graders as well for a 6-week program mid-March through April.  This has given the 3rd-6th grade students that participate in the partnership the opportunity to not only learn about healthy eating and cooking but practice cooking and preparing those meals.  For families of 3rd graders, this gives them an introduction to this community program, Y Test Kitchen.  Students & their families may choose to enroll in the Y Test Kitchen programs, once their students are in at least 4th grade.