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BURLINGTON -- Middle schools across Alamance County are getting creative to get students active. They launched a fitness challenge at the beginning of the school year and they've seen some positive results.

“Each month you do each fitness and we did pacer tests, sit and reach and sit-up tests and the mile run,” said Turrentine Middle School eighth grader Dinaisya Harrison.

Teachers started the competition as a way to turn the focus on encouraging the group to do better.

“When you're doing it individually it's like people looking at you doing it and when you're doing it with a group, it's like no one really cares because we're all trying to get better together,” said seventh grader Shirley Cardenaz .

Students at each of the seven middle schools competed against each other, striving to be number one and teachers say that's giving them added motivation.

“Just finding a way to get them to do push ups, sit ups, curls or just even walk. Now we're getting to the point where we're testing them and getting better results," said PE teacher Kevin Wellman. "The motivation of it is student driven. They love it, they can't wait for the results and can't wait for what the results are and when we tell them they are excited.”

And he says they've seen some exciting results.

“We are getting to that point now that these kids are going to get healthier," said Wellman. "It's our job, my job, the parents job to try and push them a little bit more. You know at home practice, so we can get to that point."

Organizers say what's been really cool about this project is the community support. Alamance Regional Medical Center donated $12,000 worth of pedometers and heart rate monitors to each of the middle schools.

“I learned that if I really think I can do something, I can do it,” said sixth grader Ryan Kennedy.