Teachers Versus Zombies

Have you recently noticed a teacher frenetically pacing around their classroom? Have you heard murmurs of zombies outside the faculty lounge? If you answered ‘yes’ to either of these questions, you may be wondering ‘what is happening at Paideia?’ Fear not – a zombie apocalypse is not imminent, but rather, you’ve witnessed some pretty competitive faculty and staff during our spring fitness challenge.

Starting in January, faculty and staff were invited to join a six-week step challenge. Unlike other walking challenges that simply count steps, this challenge required participants to download an app in which their steps were used to combat zombies. “I started walking to and from school during the challenge to support my team’s step count,” says Junior High modern language teacher Marianne Lamarche. “The habit I formed during those six weeks has changed how I get to school most days now! It even motivated me to run a 10k through the neighborhood one weekend.”

56 faculty and staff participated in the challenge with 98.2% surviving and the other 1.8% perishing to the Zombie Horde. Participants took a total of 26,151,653 steps, covered 13,075.8 miles, averaged 11,118.9 daily steps per user, synced enough exercise to generate 293,396 watts of power and slayed a total of 8,862 zombies. Not only did the challenge encourage healthy habits among faculty and staff, but also some healthy competition.  Many faculty and staff members competed on teams, combining their efforts for their shot at glory. The top three teams were Team “Baby Got Track” taking 1st place, Team “NATP” taking 2nd place and Team “Separated by Ponce” taking 3rd place.

Congratulations to all the faculty and staff who completed the 6-week walking challenge! Enjoy your bragging rights!

1st Place = Team "Baby Got Track" - Captain Elisa Herrera, Erin Asteghene, Emily Roberts, Theresa Watkins, Becca McCauley, Brooke Marty, Annie Perry, Rebecca Richter

2nd Place = Team "NATP" - Captain Jose Cordero 

3rd Place = Team "Separated by Ponce" - Captain Jennifer Swift, Eddy Hernandez, Lindsay Reid, Miranda Knowles, Che Calix, Rand Wise, Martin Aguilera, Marianne Lamarche, Wilson York, Libby Griffith