Virtual ribbon cut for SeDoMoCha DON’T QUIT! Fitness Center

Several weeks after the ceremonial ribbon cutting for a state-of-the-art $100,000 DON’T QUIT! Fitness Center at the SeDoMoCha School, the event at the Dover-Foxcroft institution, along with those at Deer Isle-Stonington Elementary School and Gorham Middle School, was shared with the world during an Oct. 27 virtual presentation.

The former SeDoMoCha School technology classroom will not just be an exercise space with resources the school previously lacked, but will help students find success in school and sports and in their lives.

Gov. Janet Mills, chairperson of the National Foundation for Governors’ Fitness Councils, fitness personality/actor Jake Steinfeld and students and staff from the three schools celebrated the unveiling of their new $100,000 fitness centers, which were gifted to them earlier this year following a competition from the National Foundation for Governors’ Fitness Councils DON’T QUIT! Campaign. 

The three were selected as the state’s most outstanding schools for demonstrating leadership in getting and keeping their students fit.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the NFGFC opted to celebrate by holding a virtual ribbon-cutting tour where each school received a DON’T QUIT! Kit that included shirts, face masks and ceremonial scissors. Mills has also signed a proclamation declaring October as “DON’T QUIT! Fitness Month” encouraging families and communities to make physical activity and healthy eating part of children’s daily lives.

“I wholeheartedly congratulate the students at Deer Isle-Stonington Elementary, Gorham Middle and SeDoMoCha on winning these state-of-the-art fitness centers, which will help them stay healthy and strong,” Mills said. “Academics and fitness go hand-in-hand, and I am so grateful to Jake and the National Foundation for Governors’ Fitness Councils for bringing this opportunity to Maine and helping Maine kids. Always remember, DON’T QUIT! Stay Fit!”

“I’ve always believed in the power of exercise and that real change needs to start with our kids,” Steinfeld said. “Deer Isle-Stonington Elementary School, Gorham Middle School and SeDoMoCha School share that same philosophy and because of their efforts, each school was gifted a new state of the art DON’T QUIT! Fitness Center. They are now on their way to helping me achieve my vision of building a nation of the fittest, healthiest kids in the world. Congratulations to the schools and a big thank you to Gov. Mills for welcoming us into the great state of Maine.”

“We are excited to be able to offer this resource for our students and our staff and our community,” Principal Adam Gudroe said. “We can build it into our fitness programming that we already have here at SeDoMoCha. Being able to just create a fitness program and have this as a resource and a facility to use is going to be amazing.”

Every year since 2012, the National Foundation for Governors’ Fitness Councils gifts 12 DON’T QUIT! Fitness Centers to four states. The NFGFC’s DON’T QUIT! program has rolled out in more than 40 states and has delivered nearly 500 DON’T QUIT! Fitness Centers.

In 2021 the program is delivering fitness centers to Maine, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Mississippi. Steinfeld and governors join forces at the winning schools to cut the ribbon on their newly installed fitness center.

Each $100,000 fitness center is financed through public/private partnerships with companies like The Coca-Cola Company, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation, Wheels Up and Nike, and does not rely on taxpayer dollars or state funding. Fitness in Motion provides all the fitness equipment, which is manufactured right here in the United States. The foundation’s goal is to build a nation of the fittest, healthiest kids in the world.

The full video is on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNtNsxmv5Zs.