When school is out for the summer, there’re no P.E. classes or sports activities and little opportunity for students to be physically fit — until now.

Starting Monday, Reeves Community Center in Mount Airy will roll out “Teen Fitness at 4,” a new program providing area youths ages 12 to 15 a way to either get or stay in shape, organizers say.

“Of course, the goal of this program is just to give the teens an opportunity for more activity,” said Darren Lewis, assistant director at the center.

Catrina Alexander, Reeves Community Center director, said “Teen Fitness at 4” was developed in response to a huge demand from parents for some type of summertime physical activity for “teens and tweens.”

Lewis said that while RCC has offered open gym sessions during summers in the past, it was thought that an organized slate of activities was needed for youths. The new program will operate on four days each week, Monday through Thursday, beginning at 4 p.m. each day. It will run from Monday until Aug. 14.

Monday sessions each week will be devoted to weightlifting, including various exercises using both free weights and Nautilus machines.

On Tuesdays, the focus will shift to cosmic cycling classes that combine glow-in-the-dark facilities with music and other techniques to make cycling-relating exercises fun.

Wednesdays will include more weightlifting, and on Thursdays the youths will participate in athletic events such as basketball, Walleyball, volleyball and more.

“This is an outstanding lineup for kids ages 12 to 15,” Alexander added, mentioning that it was devised by Bradley Key, the center’s health and wellness coordinator.

The schedule is attracting both members of school athletic teams who want to stay in shape during the summer layoff, as well as first-time participants in physical activities. “Some are looking at it as a weight-loss program and a way to get healthier, also,” said Lewis, who indicated that “Teen Fitness at 4” represents another local attempt to attack childhood obesity.

“It’s going to be a good mix of kids,” the center’s assistant director said in pointing to interest shown in the program so far by both boys and girls and those of varying fitness levels.

The new program is being provided at no additional cost to Reeves Community Center members; it will be included in teen or family passes.

“Teen Fitness at 4” also is open to non-members at a day-pass cost of $3 for city residents and $4 for those living outside Mount Airy.

More information is available from Reeves Community Center at 786-8313.

Contact Tom Joyce at tjoyce@mtairynews.com or at 719-1924.