Campuses include high, middle and elementary schools.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: The Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) system has announced that they will be offering yoga to its students as a means of physical exercise. One high school in particular, Volcano Vista High School, has its own room dedicated to yoga and pilates, and will offer a full course on both disciplines to its students.
High schools won’t be the only ones with yoga classes. Middle schools, such as Eisenhower MS and Johnson MS, will have classes like “Yoga with Kermit the Frog,” while elementary schools like Arroyo Del Oso ES and Mission Avenue ES, will have classes where yoga-type breathing and body control exercises are taught.
Yoga has seen a resurgence of sorts in the US in recent years. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) estimate that there are around 21 million practitioners of yoga in the US, with several of them being high-profile celebrities who help to elevate yoga’s popularity.
Additionally, the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC has been showcasing an exhibition entitled “Yoga: The Art of Transformation,” which displays priceless works of art from India that are relevant to the birth and evolution of yoga. The exhibition is set to conclude its run later this month.
APS is the largest school district in the state of New Mexico and ranks 30th in size in the entire US. It teaches roughly 90,000 students across 140 schools, with around one-third of its students not speaking English natively, as several are originally from Mexico.
The city of Albuquerque and its schools are perhaps best known for their role in the rabidly popular AMC TV series “Breaking Bad,” which ended its phenomenally successful five-season run last year.
To contact the author, email to deepakchitnis@americanbazaaronline.com