A Wellness Champion is a staff member with a commitment and passion to health that volunteers to serve as a school/department ambassador for the Employee Wellness Program. Wellness Champions receive recognition, incentive prizes, professional development, and are eligible for a $500 honorarium. They share information, engage friends and colleagues to participate in wellness programs and serve a key role as messengers and motivators for leading a healthy lifestyle. While the focus is to promote the health and well-being of district staff through education, behavior modification, guidance and support, the program also produces good role models for the students while supporting high student academic achievement.

• default_titleChoose Healthy Lifestyle Programs to Fit your Location Needs and Interests
• default_titleHelp Others to Understand Employee Wellness Programs and Benefits Available
• default_titleAssist Others through Leadership, Enthusiasm and Guidance to Get Started on Wellness Habits
• default_titleMonitor and Chart Progress on Wellness Activities to Measure Success
• default_titlePraise and Reward Program Success
• default_titleInnovate Creative Programs on Various Health Topics
• default_titleOrganize Fun Health Events and Promote Monthly Health Topics
• default_titleNominate More Wellness Champions and Establish Coordinated School Health Teams
• default_titleSolicit Feedback on the Wellness Program to Evaluate and Support Employee Wellness
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Wellness Champions are vital to the success of Employee Wellness and have several options to provide great wellness programs for their location. The goal is to have a representative at every school or department, and we are well on the way with 180 Wellness Champions. In September 2011, 116 Wellness Champions attended the annual Wellness Champion Kick-off. This fun football theme event provided Wellness Motivation, Healthy School Awards, and Best Practices for successful events. In January 2012, 50 Wellness Champions attended our Mid-Year Meeting featuring Wellness Rewards information and Wellness Champion networking. TrainU was utilized to provide wellness champion updates, program information, presentations, and resources to assist schools in promoting Nutrition & Weight Management, Know your Numbers, Stress Management, Physical Activity, Wellness Communications, Wellness Rewards and Other Special Events. Wellness Champions have an option to complete up to 5 programs to be eligible for a $100 stipend per program upon completion of a program evaluation.

Wellness Champions have been very successful in helping us to increase awareness of health risks and motivate employees to make positive health behavior changes. In FY 2011-2012, we had 245 programs completed with 14,529 participants supported by 180 Wellness Champions.

It takes a dedicated group of individuals to accomplish comprehensive programs that help our employees adopt a healthy lifestyle and improve their quality of life. With each year, we continue to make great strides in improving the health and well-being of our student and staff population and the community as a whole.

The following highlights some of their successful health and wellness program efforts. *These results represent information from schools that submitted program evaluations during the school year.

• Wellness Champions completed 36 program evaluations for Nutrition & Weight Management.
• 1,350 employees participated in various twelve-week weight-loss challenges in which 3,298 pounds were lost.
• Most popular Nutrition & Weight Management programs included: Lose and Win Challenge, Weight Watchers at Work, and Fresh Fruit Fridays.

Wellness Champions offer blood pressure screenings, promote preventive health screenings, health fairs, and wellness workshops, to promote healthy lifestyle behaviors. The goal is to encourage participants to prevent or control health risks.

• Know-your-Numbers program evaluations were completed by 39 Wellness Champions.
• 40 Blood Pressure cuffs were provided to Wellness Champions for 1,701 employee Blood Pressure screenings.
• Most popular Know-your-Numbers programs included: Blood Pressure Screenings, Onsite Health Kiosk, and Health Fairs.

• Wellness Champions completed 33 program evaluations for Stress Management programs.
• 1,961 Employees participated in various Stress Management activities.
• Most popular Stress Management programs included: Breathing Therapy, Massages, and Yoga Classes.

• Physical Activity program evaluations were completed by 43 Wellness Champions.
• 1,359 Employees participated in eight-week “Get Active” challenges which produced 44,033 miles walked.
• Top Physical Activity programs included: Running / Walking Clubs, Pedometer Programs, and Fitness Centers.

• 180 Wellness Champions communicated monthly wellness information, with 32 Wellness Champions actively documenting their marketing and promotion efforts.
• 3,065 Employees were touched by site specific Wellness Communications.
• Top Wellness Communication programs included: Monthly Emails, Bulletin Boards, and Wellness Newsletters.

Wellness Champions integrate employee wellness programs with student wellness programs such as Wellness Fairs, Health Education, Health Screenings, Classroom Challenges, Healthy School Programs, and more. Wellness Champions integrate employee wellness programs with student wellness programs such as Wellness Fairs, Health Education, Health Screenings, Classroom Challenges, Healthy School Programs, and more. The goal is to promote coordinated school health wellness initiatives.

• Other/Special Events program evaluations were completed by 32 Wellness Champions.
• Over 1,700 employees participated in Special Events.
• Special Events programs included: Wellness Fairs, Flu Shots Clinics, and Community Wellness Events.

Wellness Champions promote, communicate, and encourage participation in our new Wellness Rewards Program and Tobacco Surcharge by providing information to staff through email, flyers, bulletin boards, staff meetings, announcements, and more. The goal is to communicate guidelines supporting Wellness Rewards in order for employees to take an active role in their health and save money on insurance premiums for the following year.

• Wellness Rewards program evaluations were completed by 30 Wellness Champions.
• Over 2,886 employees received Wellness Rewards communications.
• Top Wellness Rewards programs included: Staff Presentations, Monthly Emails, and Bulletin Boards.

Our success could never be accomplished without the support, and encouragement,
and dedication of all Wellness Champions… THANK YOU!