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Miranda Osbourn, a junior at Kansas, checks out the new Stair Master provided by the Cherokee Nation grant while Lauren Lankston, also a junior, looks on.

KANSAS – Kansas School recently opened a new fitness center, funded by a $145,787 grant from the Cherokee Nation. The grant is part of the Cherokee Nation’s $1 million commitment to prevent diabetes by increasing opportunities for physical activities in Cherokee communities.

“We are very excited about this project and we think that the community will also benefit from this new facility,” said Jim Burgess, superintendent of Kansas schools. “This wouldn’t be possible if not for the grant for the Cherokee Nation.”

Kansas schools took an old garage building and converted it into a fitness center with weight machines, treadmills, stationary bicycles and walking machines.

“I think it is great to allow our community to have such a nice facility,” said Cherokee Nation Tribal Council member Melvina Shotpouch.

“I’m very excited about what is going to happen in the future,” said Carolyn Shipley, federal programs director for Kansas public schools. “This facility makes this school more of a user friendly place for the community to utilize.”

The Cherokee Nation distributed the grant as a form of diabetes prevention among Native American people. Schools with a high number of Native American students were given top priority in the selection process.