A charleston county school is taking fitness to a new level, and is using an innovative approach to help students learn and stay in shape.Northwood's Middle Schoolis News 2's Cool School of the Week. 

This year, the former Alice Birney Middle School has a new name, in a different facility, and has started the "ABLE" program, designed to help get students on the move. Principal Carol Bartlet says, "ABLE stands for Active Brain Learning Experiences. It has grown out of a desire to create a program that kids would be really engaged and motivated by, and it's also based on research that links health and fitness to better academic outcomes."

The school has two ABLE labs, rooms that allow teachers to create power points or interactive lessons to play on computers set up around the room, all while students get a cardio vascular workout." Physical Education teacher Meg Reilly says, "What research says about that is that as the heart rate is increasing, blood is flowing more quickly to the body, the brain is actually working at it's finest. Out students have a better chance of retaining information they've already learned ina typical classroom setting." Eighth grader Antwone Washington says, "I learn better when I'm moving and my brain flows better when I'm moving." Eighth graderMimi Walter says, "Considering how we were last year, we weren't very active at all. I don't have gym, I never had gym at this school. Now that this is here, it's really fun, because we get to be more active." Also in the classroom, students take quick brain breaks. Principal Bartlet says, "When the teachers used their movement in classrooms regularly, kids are more engaged in instruction. They come back to the task ready to learn. It is pretty cool. Why is my school cool? I think because we're committed to doing everything we need to and thinking outside the box to get kids motivated and engaged in learning, so they can achieve at higher levels." Eighth grade student Shakera Bolden says, "I think my school is cool because we get to do work and have fun at the same time."

School leaders say the goal is to have every student use the ABLE labs one to two times a week. The program is sponsored by Kids Fit.

Also, Northwoods Middle School is working to obtain partial magnet school status with a focus on health, fitness and leadership. Two other schools in Charleston county also have similar fitness programs, Mitchell Elementary and St. James Santee Elementary.

We want to hear about the good things that are going on at your school, send an email to omitchell@wcbd.com, and tell me all about it. Maybe your school will be the next "Cool School of the Week."