Pinelake Christian School Athletic Director Pam Varner said "outdoor fitness equipment" was a better name for the playground equipment recently installed on the Flowood campus.

"We've learned it's just not playground equipment," Varner said.

As part of the BlueCross & BlueShield's mission to make kids healthier, and its Mississippi foundation gave a $25,000 grant to the school, funding new equipment.

The school held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday to show local community members the school's newest addition.

"This is a very special day for us," the school's elementary principal Leann Weathersby said.

Similar grants have already been awarded to 120 schools in the state, including 19 in Rankin County, BlueCross Mississippi Foundation Director Wade Overstreet said.

Overstreet said BlueCross values the importance of the health of students.

"There's an obvious correlation between student health and student academic performance," Overstreet said. "They're healthier and happier students.

"We're not where we want to be on the list. There's no where else as much as Mississippi making sure you have a healthy future."

The playground equipment includes pull-up bars, a horizontal ladder and other equipment that provides rigorous exercises for the students, Varner said.

"We've learned quickly that we have to practice," she said. "Everyone works at their own pace."

The equipment and curriculum comes from Project Fit America, a "national public charity organized for the sole purpose of donating to schools, grades K-12, cardiovascular health and fitness programming," said a Pinelake news release.

Pinelake will serve as a regional model school, and the children's improvements will be tracked for two years, the release said.

October is also Walk to School Month, and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention site recommends children to participate in an hour of physical activity each day.