Hemlock takes on Childhood Obesity

Hemlock Public School District is fortunate to have great families and wonderful community support.  The district is continually focused on student safety, achievement, and overall positive school experience. The district knows that inactivity among school age children is at an epidemic level.

Our state and region have some of the highest rates of obesity. Over the last 30 years, obesity rates have more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents. Here in Michigan, about 32% of youth between the ages of 0 and 17 are overweight or obese, which is above the national average.

Hemlock Public School District is working to ensure that students have no excuse to be inactive. The district is developing an indoor field house that would help get school-aged children more active and more engaged year-round.  A field house would provide an indoor area for students to participate in activities year-round and help us keep students healthy, engaged in the community, and safe.

Board President Matt Wesener said, “We often talk about taking a wholistic approach in considering the services available for our kids.  The overall health and wellness of all the kids in our district is something we are working hard to address and we believe this is another positive step.”

We are fortunate to have a large donation of over $400k by a generous family as matching funds, but we need to raise more dollars and in-kind work to make this vision a reality. If you or someone you know might be interested in making a tax-deductible donation to either or both of these projects, please contact central office at (989)642-5282 or email wamack@hemlockps.com today.