The Indianapolis Star – Gregg Doyel
“Thomas Campbell has no idea he’s exercising. As far as he knows, he’s sitting in Miss Sitzman’s first-grade class at Frederick Douglass School. As far as he knows, he’s learning. And he is. He’s sitting at his desk and he’s going over spelling words, but he’s not sitting on a chair. He’s sitting on one of those big bouncy balls you see in a gym, a stabilizing ball that strengthens your core. Thomas Campbell is working his abs, and he has no idea. “I like the ball,” he says, and he smiles, and that’s just one of the small victories at Frederick Douglass, also known as IPS School 19, also known as Super School. This is a school, and IPS is a school district, that could use some victories. Thanks to the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon, the wins are starting to pile up. Thomas Campbell is working his abs as he spells out f-i-s-h in Miss Sitzman’s class. Down the hall, fifth-grader Leshly Soto is walking on a mini-elliptical trainer – the kids call it a “moonwalker,” but you and I know it’s a cardio machine – as she reads a history lesson. Another fifth-grader, Alyssa Smith, is watching math facts on a projector screen and jumping on a mini-trampoline. The screen asks: What is 12 times 5?.”(more)