Danny Cepeda had to tap into his Spidey Sense to master the new rock climbing wall at Cass Junior High.

Danny, a seventh-grader, is one of Cass’ 350 students learning the nuts and bolts of the rock climbing wall. Like his fellow classmates, Danny said the rock climbing unit is his favorite.

“I have never done that good on the wall before so it’s an accomplishment for me to make it to the top,” Danny said.

Funding for the $11,000 project came from the Cass School District 63 Foundation for Excellence grant. After installation last spring only eighth-grade students climbed the wall until it was operational for gym classes this school year.

“I was really excited when I found out we were going to get the wall and it was kind of shocking because we lost the referendum,” Danny said. “I’m glad they’re still thinking about the kids.”

During gym classes physical education teachers Michelle Breyne and Aaron Pembroke show students the ropes in climbing lessons including traversing, team building and trust, said Cass Junior High Principal Paul Bleuher.

“Kids like extreme sports and the X Games and they like to do more things outside of the norm and this is one of those things,” Bleuher said. “It’s a new kind of P.E.”

Though Danny said it’s not as hard as it looks, practice is helping the students perfect their quality of climbing.

“I think it’s great that our school can provide something that is so much fun for us,” said Melissa Zurawski, a seventh grader.

Future plans for the wall include working core curriculum subjects into climbing activities. One idea, said Breyne, is to stick flash cards with Spanish terms on the wall as another way to get students familiar with them as they climb.

Along with the wall, other new additions to the school are the 27 pieces of fitness equipment the school received from Life Time Fitness, offering different alternatives to getting students physically fit said Breyne.

“Not everyone excels at the same thing so this gives students a chance to do something different and the kids are getting more exercise,” she said. “With the wall I have already seen more maturity and respect from the kids.”