Rancho High School in Nevada started using CrossFit for P.E. in 2010, and the success of the program now has 10 other schools following suit.
Nevada has the third-lowest graduation rate in the United States, and to help change that, Rancho High School receives federal funding assistance due to Title I status. But it wasn’t until a P.E. teacher decided to bring CrossFit into her classroom that real change occurred.
A year prior to Michelle Van Buren’s first CrossFit P.E. class in 2010, the school’s graduation rate was at 50 percent. In the three years since, that number has gone up to 58 percent. The change has not gone unnoticed by parents, teachers, counselors and members of the community at Rancho High School.
In 2011, when the federal government awarded the high school US$1 million through the School Improvement Grant, some funds were allocated to the CrossFit program to help pay for training and equipment. Van Buren had already built a successful program with CrossFit, and administration saw a need for the affiliate to grow at the school.
Rancho CrossFit eventually became a fully functioning nonprofit affiliate equipped with a pull-up rig, barbells and plates.