On Dec. 13 students and their parents at Denny International Middle School had a chance to meet two Seahawks cheerleaders and learn cheer techniques, shoot some hoops with professional basketball player Rosell Ellis, and try out yoga and circuit training.

The event, Family Fitness Night, was put on by Communities in Schools of Seattle (CISS), a non-profit whose mission is to “champion the connection of needed resources with schools to help young people successfully learn, stay in school and prepare for life,” and sponsored by Seattle-Tacoma Subway (restaurants) and the Seattle Seahawks.

“The goal of Communities in Schools is basically to fill in the gaps,” said Makela Steward, who coordinated the fitness night for CISS. “We want to make sure students have all the resources they need to graduate from high school.”

Steward said Family Fitness Night fits that goal in promoting family engagement in student’s lives.

In addition to the fitness activities in the gym, the school cafeteria was set up with information booths for parents on group health, community health centers, Denny Wellness Center and the Department of Social and Health Services.

Basketball player Rosell Ellis is a former Washington state player of the year who played for Rainier Beach High School. He currently plays professionally in Australia, according to Steward.

The male students in the gym gravitated towards the 6ft, 6in Ellis while many of the females made there way over to Courtney and Shelly (they do not give out last names), Seahawks Sea Gal cheerleaders.

The cheerleaders showed students a few routines done by the Sea Gals on Sundays and answered any questions they had about cheering and leading a healthy lifestyle.

“I think it’s really important to stay fit,” Shelly said. “(The) NFL is involved in Play 60 and it’s really important to keep kids active and alert and taking care of themselves.”

Denny principal Jeff Clark said the school has a partnership with CISS and this event was one of many put on throughout the year.

“One of our goals is to supplement our curricular approach to health (with events like Family Fitness Night), so from a curriculum standpoint and a fitness standpoint we encourage lifelong health habits in kids,” Clark said.

“It’s part of a broader effort, of course we do things for all of our kids through both PE and health classes, and we are trying to involve the community anyway we can,” he added.

Subway gave away sandwiches and beanies in Seahawk colors.

According to a press release on the event distributed by Seattle-Tacoma Subway, data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey shows the, “percentage of overweight children and adolescents more than doubled from 1976 to 1999, with nearly 13 percent of children and adolescents reported to be seriously overweight. The rates in Washington State increased from 9 to 18 percent.”

“To address the issue, Seattle-Tacoma SUBWAY continues to partner with the Seattle Seahawks and Communities In Schools of Seattle, to provide fitness and health programming in Seattle schools. These three organizations have already teamed to reach more than 1,800 students and their family members to date this year.”