Schools
Spring-Ford teachers raise money, lose weight
A contest among district faculty raised $1,270 for the post-prom party. Participants lost a collective 732 pounds.
Spring-Ford Area School District employees have lost a collective 732 pounds over the last three months as part of a district-wide weight loss challenge that also doubled as a fundraiser for SNAP, the committee that organizes the high school's annual post-prom party.
To participate, employees agreed to donate $10 to SNAP, and then joined in a competition to see which building's employees could lose the most weight. The contest, which brought in $1,270 for SNAP, began Jan. 7th and ended March 25th. The buildings that lost the most weight by percentage are:
1. Oaks Elementary School, 7.05 percent weight loss
2. , 5.05 percent weight loss
3. , 4.74 percent weight loss
4., 4.69 percent weight loss
5. , 3.93 percent weight loss
6. , 3.02 percent weight loss
7. , 2.97 percent weight loss
8. , 2.77 percent weight loss
9. , 2.71 percent weight loss
10. District Office, 2.25 percent weight loss
Evans Elementary School nurse, Laura McNeil, organized the district-wide contest after having done the same contest in previous years at her building.
"Our theme was 'Your Loss is Our Student's Gain' and the purpose was two-fold - to raise money to support district efforts to keep kids safe on prom night, and to promote the health of our entire faculty and staff," said Mrs. McNeil, who is a certified school nurse.
Mrs. McNeil said that employees used a variety of different methods to stay motivated, such as training to perform in SNAP's Dancing with the Stars event, and encouraged one another along the way. School nurses kept their teams engaged by sending emails, token gifts, recipes and exercise tips to participants.
"It was really exciting to see so many people pull together and make a true effort to become healthier while also supporting a great cause," said Mrs. McNeil. "It's my hope that the people who lost weight will be encouraged to keep up with the exercise and healthy eating habits they have developed well after the competition has ended."
Patch thanks the Spring-Ford Area School District for this press release.
