Introducing Fitness Club, Ms. Kehoe’s Project to Get Students Active

Looking to hit a good workout? Ms. Kehoe hosts Fitness Club every Wednesday after school, where she teaches students how to properly exercise. Ms. Kehoe guides students  through a warm-up, a workout, and then a cool down.

Fitness club didn’t come out of nowhere: Ms. Kehoe was inspired by the workouts she did for her Varsity Volleyball team this past season. “This year, twice, I’ve taken my team to my gym to do a workout,” she said, “and it kind of got my wheels spinning as to what we could do here, because the kids really liked it.” Instead of just opening the fitness center and letting students work out, which she says can be intimidating for people who don’t know how to start, Ms. Kehoe began Fitness Club as a way for students to learn how to work out and build fitness skills for the future. 

“I played three sports in high school and then after that kind of felt lost with how to be active,” she said. Although she had “a great phys ed experience,” she learned how to play sports like basketball and football, and “when you’re 23… you can’t play those sports on your own.”  

Looking for a fix for her exercise craving, Ms. Kehoe joined Planet Fitness, but was deterred by how much she didn’t know. She would only go “on the elliptical” because that’s all she felt comfortable with. “I was embarrassed to touch weights.”

Later, she joined a gym that had a coach, and began to feel more at home working out. “That’s where I kind of found my fitness niche, because someone could help me and teach me.” Through Fitness Club, Ms. Kehoe seeks to provide the same kind of guidance and support that she didn’t have at the beginning of her fitness journey.

In the end, working out became not only a hobby, but also a positive impact on her life and self-esteem. “It helped me be more confident and feel good about myself,” she said, reflecting on the role fitness plays in her life. “It’s a good hobby, and, obviously, it’s a healthy hobby to have.”

For Ms. Kehoe, it’s important that both athletes and non-athletes find their place in the fitness community. For the students that don’t play any sports, “it’s cool for them to learn about fitness, and learn about the fitness center, and feel comfortable going in there.” For athletes, though, Ms. Kehoe thinks that fitness “would be a very cool thing for [athletes] to start to take outside of their seasons seriously.” 

Fitness Club meets Wednesdays after school in the fitness center. See Ms. Kehoe for more details.