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Truman Teacher Raising Money For School's First Yoga Class

By Kelly Bauer | April 12, 2017 12:50pm
 Truman Middle College students will be able to join a yoga class thanks to an English teacher.
Truman Middle College students will be able to join a yoga class thanks to an English teacher.
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Facebook/Truman Middle College High School

CHICAGO — A teacher at Truman Middle College is raising money for a yoga class, which would be the first of it kind at the alternative school.

Jack Murphy, an English teacher who's been at Truman for four years, has raised more than $400 for the class on GoFundMe but hopes to get $1,000. An instructor has agreed to teach the class for free, Murphy said, and the money raised on GoFundMe will cover materials like mats and yoga journals.

Truman serves nontraditional students who are 16 to 21 years old and have dropped out of other Chicago Public Schools for various reasons, Murphy said. The students are mostly black or Latino and come from low-income families. The school doesn't have physical education, art or music classes.

An unofficial survey showed about 75 percent of Truman's female students never exercise, Murphy said, while other students reported only sleeping four hours every night or being hungry all the time.

A yoga class can't "fix" those issues, Murphy said, but it can help students cope with stress and exercise.

“It’s not like this is going to be the magic cure for all their problems. It’s just a nice thing,” Murphy said. “And if anyone deserves a nice thing, it’s these kids.”

The idea for the class came when Murphy told his students stories about his own experiences in yoga. The kids would laugh or think he was "goofy" when he talked about struggling to balance or get into position, he said, but he could tell they were thinking, "That sounds kind of nice," he said.

Murphy started organizing the class and then told the students about it. Immediately, half of them were excited, he said. He's expecting the class to be able to serve 20 to 40 students, though it will be able to help even more if his GoFundMe campaign exceeds its $1,000 goal.

Students would be able to sign up to take the yoga class once a week during their final period of the day. The class won't be an "incentive," Murphy said, because he doesn't want students to think they have to "earn" exercise — instead, students will just be invited to sign up if they're interested.

Murphy said he hopes the students will be able to take what they learn in the class and "grow with it."

“Every kid has their story. No one’s there because it was their first choice,” Murphy said. “It’s a really eclectic mix [of] students. They all have profound needs, but they’re also very different.”

Supporters can donate to help the class get supplies online.