Burns High School has been recognized by the Aspen Institute as an exemplary and innovative high school for growing sports and physical activity participation. Burns was one of three finalists in the small rural school award category. 

The recognition is part of the Aspen Institute’s new initiative called Reimagining School Sports, which highlights the essential role that high schools play in preparing young people for life, along with the cognitive, educational, and health benefits that flow to students through physical activity. 

The goal of Reimagining School Sports is to make quality sport and physical activities accessible to all students by identifying strategies that administrators and other school leaders can adopt. The initiative is made possible by partnerships with Adidas/BOKS, The DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation, and Hospital for Special Surgery.

Burns has been recognized nationally in Sport for All, Play for Life: A Playbook to Develop Every Student Through Sports, a new Aspen Institute report about small rural schools. Highlighted in the report was the school’s creativity to rely on community support to fund sports. When Burns High School and the local elementary and middle schools were set to lose $213,000 from its budget for all extracurricular activities, a group was formed to raise donations that saved these activities. 

You can read the full report at as.pn/SmallRuralSchoolSports.

Eight reports for eight different school types were released in 2021. In 2022, Project Play will release a final report that will make systems-level recommendations that can drive progress across all school types. For more information, head to https://www.aspenprojectplay.org/reimagining-school-sports.