Berkeley County School District is excited to announce a new partnership with the YMCA of Greater Charleston that is geared toward all district employees.
To better serve the physical and mental wellbeing of those who work for BCSD, the YMCA has partnered with the school district to provide free memberships to BCSD employees. This includes school teachers and staff members, administrators, district office staff – everybody.
In celebration of this partnership, BCSD employees are invited to come out to the Cane Bay Family YMCA on Wednesday, Oct. 4 at 6 p.m. for the formal announcement of the partnership, and to activate their memberships and tour the Cane Bay facility.
Sedric Webber, Senior Vice President of Operations for the YMCA, said partnerships are a common trend among YMCAs and their local school districts – because they both serve youth. With that in mind, the YMCA wanted to figure out a way to be a blessing to BCSD, and vice versa.
“We know that school districts have a hard task of taking care of youth,” he said. “We wanted to make sure we were able to offer something as part of their wellness program.”
BCSD Superintendent Dr. Anthony Dixon said the district is excited to provide its employees an option for that could help provide some financial relief, while supporting mental and physical health.
“We’re showing our employees that we care, and that we are invested in their entire wellbeing, not just the work that they do,” Dixon said. “Having those affordable options for fitness and healthcare are very important to us.”
BCSD employees will have access to everything a normal YMCA membership would provide, including all the amenities offered at the YMCA. There are two YMCA locations under this association (BCSD employees will have access to both):
- The Cane Bay Family YMCA, located at 1655 Cane Bay Blvd. in Summerville
- The Berkeley County Family YMCA, located at 210 Rembert C Dennis Blvd. in Moncks Corner
Both locations boast a number of amenities for visitors to enjoy. The Cane Bay Family YMCA includes tennis courts, an eight-lane pool with a walk-in slope, assorted group exercise rooms, a workout machine area, a basketball court, a walking track, outdoor walking trails and more.
The Cane Bay Family YMCA is also connected to the Berkeley County Library system and thus has its own library where visitors can read and check out books.
“We want them to be able to come here and de-stress,” Webber said. “When they come here, they have the option to do more than just work out in the gym.”
To use their membership, all BCSD employees have to do is bring their district ID badge to present to the YMCA. Employees are encouraged to bring their ID to the Oct. 4 event to activate their membership.
Each membership is for individual adults; if a BCSD employee wants to add on family members, they have the option to pay to upgrade their membership.
If someone does choose to upgrade their membership, they will have access to a child watch program; this is a designated area where children 12 years and younger can be dropped off for up to two hours while their parent completes their workout.
Webber said the YMCA is very excited about this partnership.
“I’m feeling phenomenal,” he said. “This is a long time coming, and I’m glad it actually happened.”
Dixon said the district is enthusiastic about continuing to come up with innovative ways to support its employees.
“Every person that works in our system has value,” Dixon said. “It takes each person in the system to make that positive difference in the lives of our students.”