Most of the time, you can find Jessica Buchanan’s 1st Block class behind a desk, learning about nutrition and learning the essentials of how to implement healthy eating into their individual day.

So what exactly are they learning when they  strap on a pair of boxing gloves and hit the heavy bags for a 30 minute class instead?

Jessica Buchanan, nutrition and wellness teacher, has always tried to have her students learn the most in her nutrition and wellness. With a TITLE Boxing Club just down the street from Maize South, she took it is as a creative venue not only to get a workout, but to show them a new form of exercise they maybe wouldn’t try on their own.

“During Nutrition and Wellness class, one of our standards is to study physical exercise. We do as much around the school as possible,” said Buchanan. “By going together, on a field trip, they get to meet the staff and see the people who go to the classes at work!”

According to the TITLE Boxing Club website, they are the first fitness club that focuses on empowering people by giving them boxing workouts to everyone, “no matter the age, body type, weight or ability, engaging the body, mind, and spirit.”

“We are going to get a unique workout from people who are really good at boxing,” said Kylie Rudkin, sophomore. “I am excited to go to learn how to box!”

Buchanan tries to get her students out of the classroom and in the community as much as she can to not only teach them about nutrition and wellness, but to also have them experience healthy activities behind the lectures and classroom lessons.

Senior Bailey Forsythe had been waiting for weeks to get a sweat in, hit the TITLE Boxing Club facility and learn some useful techniques on self defense.

“I can’t wait to go to TITLE,” Bailey Forsythe, senior, said. “We are going to learn how to box and properly use self defense to protect ourselves.”

To take a monthly class can get very costly, ranging anywhere around $60 to $80, but it also depends on the which gym you attend in Wichita and if it is a membership or just for a few times. For a one-time cost, Buchanan’s class was able to attend for just $10 per student.

“The cost was only for the hand wraps, which are required for safety under their gloves, was only $7 for each student,” said Buchanan. “Since they can accommodate our 30 students, they are a really good place to go to yearly.”

The sport of boxing has been around for over a full century, but TITLE Boxing first opened in 2008 by a former, professional fighter – Danny Campbell. From starting out in Kansas, the boxing gym now has more than 160 locations in 22 states and three countries.

“I think after going to this class I will  want to continue learning,” said Forsythe. “It is a good life skill to have and good workout but it is also something you may need now-a-days.”