Stoughton YMCA Pairing up with Canton High for Fitness Programs

It is fun to go to the YMCA, but for Canton High School students and staff, the Stoughton branch of the Y goes to them.

Through a new program with the and Canton High School, fitness staff from the YMCA are teaching classes at . The Y staff also staffed the high school's fitness center this year.

Starting in March, the partnership offered two group fitness classes at Canton High— a circuit training class to high school students and a Zumba Gold class to senior citizens and members of the Canton Council on Aging. The group classes were free to students and COA members.

“This is the first time our branch has really collaborated with the high school,” Serah Selmon, the assistant executive director of the Stoughton YMCA, said. “As a new Y, we are always looking for more opportunities.”

Selmon said spreading health and wellness to the community is part of the YMCA’s mission. “Our goals is always to serve the community,” she said. “This kind of relationship is a wonderful thing.”

The Zumba Gold class was the most popular, said Derek Paiva, the fitness coordinator of the Stoughton YMCA. Up to 22 seniors filled the fitness center on a Wednesday afternoon for Zumba, he noted.

Canton Public Schools Wellness Coordinator Peter Boucher said the program came about after the school received a Blue Hills Community Health Net Association Number 20 grant. With the $3,500 grant, CHS was able to start the program with the YMCA.

After slowly rolling out the program, Boucher said the school hopes to continue the program in the fall.

The grant “does run out this spring and we are searching for grants and monies for this (coming school) year,” Boucher said.

“Right now, with the economic atmosphere, we just don’t have the money for afternoon programming (at the fitness center,)” he said. “We need some sort of grant or sponsorship.”

The Stoughton YMCA serves nearly 9,000 residents from Stoughton, Canton, Sharon, Holbrook, Avon, Braintree and Randolph, according to Selmon.

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The Stoughton YMCA is offering a summer camp program for children ages three to 15, which begins June 27. The branch has a large, outdoor pool that members can pay to use for the summer. For more information on summer camp programs, pool registration and Y programs, click here.

To watch a series of Fitness Tutorials on Stoughton Patch with Stoughton Y trainers Ben Mattson and Sandy Joyce, click .