Lynn’s Pickering kids to get kick out of fitness

LYNN – New England Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski is scheduled to lead a football mini-camp next Tuesday at Pickering Middle School to inaugurate the school’s new fitness facility.The National Football League Network selected Pickering in August to be one of four schools in the nation to receive fitness facility money. The School Department spent the $50,000 converting half the boys’ locker room into a weight training and cardio fitness room.Gostkowski will arrive at the school at 11 a.m. along with NFL Network host Scott Hanson and lead Pickering students in a pep rally, fitness tests and an on-field mini-camp.School health curriculum director Dennis Thompson learned in June that Lynn was in the running to receive NFL Network fitness money depending on the type of plans the schools could submit for improving middle-school fitness.Lynn won a finalist slot in the competition for the money in August and Network representatives toured Pickering, Breed and Marshall to evaluate fitness plans for each school.”They loved Breed’s plan but wanted to go to a building like Pickering that needed a little work. What hurt Marshall was the lack of a field. Pickering was the best of both worlds and they chose Pickering because (Principal) Bob Murphy’s and (Vice Principal) Kevin Rittershaus’ plan really stood out,” Thompson said.Contractors renovated the locker room in August and early September.”They were able to cut the room in half and refurbish the locker room. The equipment all arrived on Tuesday,” Thompson said.The city matched NFL Network’s investment in Pickering by outfitting the school gymnasium with new windows, lighting, a fresh coat of paint and refinished wood floor. Lynn Vocational Technical Institute’s old scoreboard now hangs in the Pickering gym.NFL Network’s support of school fitness programs is aimed at reversing increases in juvenile obesity and obesity-related diseases.