Meet the Sheltons

It has been a whirlwind year for the Shelton family. It all began with a lifelong dream. Derek Shelton and his wife Sara Shelton expanded on their passion for health and exercise by starting the Raising Alpha group in January 2016. Through this opportunity, Derek and Sara mentored youth in fitness and leadership. It was a family effort, as their children, 8-year-old Sonny, 11-year-old Alyssa, and 14-year-old Sheridan, also participated.

In May 2016, the duo accomplished another part of their dream. Jumping in head first, as Derek said, they opened a gym called “The District” with another partner. The gym became known for its nontraditional methods of family fitness, encouraging the importance of exercise for both adults and children.

Shortly after, the other partner involved went through a significant life event and suddenly pulled out of the business, leaving the Sheltons with a difficult decision. Derek says he and Sara considered whether they should close the business they worked so hard to build or continue on and overcome the obstacle.

As it turns out, the obstacle only fueled their ambition to work that much harder to ensure the District was a success for the Henderson community.

“We felt an undeniable pull to continue this on,” says Derek. “It goes far beyond just a passion or a hobby or just for fun. There’s something that’s pulling us to do this, compelling us to keep this going and that’s why we’re putting everything we’ve got into it.”

In addition, all personal trainers and class leaders remained at the District, including Hussen Abubeker.

“I really admire (the Sheltons) for how they handle things, how strong they are, and how they overcome all obstacles. As we say, we are one family. We are ready to face any struggle, and we can overcome it together,” says Abubeker.

The District has continued to offer a variety of classes, including boot(y) camp, fit hip hop, family yoga, and high intensity interval training (H.I.I.T) throughout the week.

In addition, the gym has continued to pride itself on the Raising Alpha group.

“What Raising Alpha means to us, is it’s not just the Alpha athlete, it’s the all-encompassing Alpha,” says Derek. “It’s the leader of the pack. It’s the person that leads the way and comforts the ones that are still behind them but encourages the rest of them to go forward.”

Derek says five to six children regularly participate in the group, including his own children.

“My two youngest children are savages,” says Derek. “Exercising is all they want to do. You don’t see them with an iPad or sitting in front of the television. I mean, we have those days, but as soon as they get off the bus and finish homework, they’re ready to go down to the District to exercise.”

Derek and Sara rotate leading the classes, which Derek says consists of “old school PE” (physical education) style exercises, including push-ups, sit-ups, jumping jacks, and squats. The exercises, Derek says, are not “kiddie exercises.”

“All of our workouts are very age specific,” says Derek. “It’s not ‘let’s play this song and do this dance to it’…I understand that has its place, but I think that we don’t give our kids enough credit of what they’re capable of.”

The “Alphas” as they are commonly known, don’t just exercise together, but they talk about different issues affecting them throughout their day.

“We talk about issues with respecting our parents, respecting our teachers. One kid saw their first fight at school, and we talked about that. I asked them ‘do you know why they fought?’ and ‘do you know why that is wrong?’… and those kinds of things,” says Derek.

Caleb Powell, an 11-year-old North Middle School student, says the Alpha group helps him relieve stress.

“It helps me with problems, and if I’m going through tough times, it helps me relieve stress,” says Caleb. “When I’m in stress, and I’m yelling, it takes that away because I get to yell and motivate others.”

Caleb’s mother, Missy Powell says she can see positive changes in her son since he started with the Alpha group.

“The leaders of the Alphas have really instilled in Caleb good sportsmanship and working as a team, not just on your own,” says Missy. “Caleb is competitive, but at the same time, I’m seeing him grow in supporting other teammates and truly having a heart.”

Though Caleb says he often finishes 5k races before other Alphas, he always goes back up the race after finishing to find other Alphas and motivate them to finish without stopping.

“I motivate others because it’s just in my heart,” says Caleb. “It just feels good making people feel better about themselves and to not stop and to give it everything they’ve got at the end. I just feel like (Raising Alphas) is just a whole group of teamwork and motivation, and it means a lot.”

Sara says her children, Caleb, and the other Alphas impact people from all ages.

“It’s not just the kids that get something out of it,” says Sara. “The adults come in there and see these kids, and they’re like ‘if they can do it, then I know I can do it.’ It’s such a positive atmosphere for everyone.”

Sara says she wants to see more families get more involved in their children’s well-being and realize they can start by joining the District family.

“We want this for every family,” says Sara. “These are our kids. Look at our world, and what a mess it is. To raise our kids in such an unsafe place, why not have a good start, like our facility? We’re trying to give them the values that they can take forward and change the chaos of what is going on around them. Just for them to know that there is always an alternative and they can create that.”