West End Elementary School is celebrating a slam dunk victory after winning the Fast Break Challenge Step Competition sponsored by the State Health Benefit Plan, UnitedHealthcare, and Sharecare. Thanks to the dedication and teamwork of students, staff, and families, the school has earned a $150,000 outdoor basketball court, promoting health, wellness, and community spirit for years to come.
The four-month challenge, which started in February, saw different schools from around the state form teams with the goal of those teams getting the most steps.
Over the four-month time frame, West End steppers logged a huge amount with more than 40 team participants passing the 1 million step mark. Five team participants logged more than 2 million steps while one logged more than 3 million. Overall, the West End step team averaged more than 580,770 steps during the competition.
“I am very excited that it came to a conclusion. It’s been a great experience. My wife and I walked more over the last four months than we would have. It helped us get in better shape and lose some weight,” West End Principal Dr. Dennis Drummond says. “I really didn’t know what to expect. This was the first time for us competing in something like this. Obviously, we wanted to win, and from the very beginning, we encouraged everyone to go out and get some steps.”
That encouragement helped as the West End Team sprinted, or in this case, stepped its way to first place on the opening day of the challenge. Once they grabbed the lead, they held on tight for the duration of the contest behind strong efforts from lots of people.
“It was fun to see our team, school, and the whole RCS community come together. We had a lot of people from our school participate. But we also had lots of employees throughout RCS, including the central office, come out and get steps and help us win,” Drummond says.
Drummond also could be seen over the past few months reminding steppers to log in and update their steps and encouraging them with messages and texts to keep it up. All of that came to a head over the final weeks of the challenge. While West End held a big lead, Harmony Elementary School’s team kept chipping away at that lead.
“The last few weeks you could kind of see them on the leaderboard creeping up. That motivated us. Around 3 to 4 p.m. on that last day, they passed us for a time period,” Drummond says.
The last-minute leaderboard change prompted a call out to all West End team steppers to step it up over the final hours. The team did just that with some meeting at Ridge Ferry Park for a late afternoon steps session, while others logged steps whenever they could.
When the challenge ended, West End had retaken the top spot and earned the $150,000 check. The check will help West End construct an outdoor basketball court, giving the school’s students a place to get their own steps and activities in.
“I think it’s going to be huge. It’s another place where our kids can exercise, get healthy, get exposure to sports, and hopefully plant some seeds that will come to harvest when our students move on to middle and high school,” Drummond says. “It’s an outdoor basketball court. We are looking to see if it’s something we can cover. We are also hoping to be able to have pickleball or some other sports on that court as well.”
The school will host a ribbon cutting after the court is finished, and the West End team was celebrated last week when members of the State Health Benefit Plan came to the school to present the check and some extra prizes.
Brenda Vandermark was the top stepper with more than 3 million steps in four months, she along with Kitty Rians and Dr. Drummond were all presented with a $1,000 gift card for being the top three steppers in the challenge.
Along with that, 18 different team members received $250 gift cards during the challenge for their stepping efforts.
The following team members averaged more than 593,000 steps per member during the competition. They include: Brenda Vandermark, Kitty Rains, Dr. Dennis Drummond, Mark Winstead, Chad Cooper, Ashlee Golden, Jenny Bojo, Rena Drummond, Tiffany Abbott-Fuller, Nikki Huckaby, Noah Huckaby, Kathy Winstead, Seth Winstead, Sabrina Teems, Andie Lee, Sally Hagge-Bailey, Haley Cooper, Jim Alred, Christine Pilgrim, Penny Atkinson, TJ Watson, Lashonda Parker, Jackie Weed, Nicole Bentley, Dr. Eric L. Holland, Jessica Hewitt, Jocelyn Cisneros, Becky Sidwell, Rachel Carter, Jason Rucker, Maria Barajas, Gabby Fuller, Bryson Smith, Madison Skeen, Jennifer Guzman, Hannah Meeks, Maira Weitkamp, Austin DePratto, Bonnie Mitchell, Lisa Strack, Brant Amerman, Amy Reyes, Doria Cruz, Joseph House, Aubrie Baker, Penny Phillips, David Williams, Caroline Threadgill, Josephine DiMonda, Sarita Brock, Leah Anderson, Laura Bucio, and Misti Mobbs.
“It was amazing to have the SHBP come in with that huge check. What I’m most proud of is how everyone came together and did this for the kids,” Drummond says. “I think it’s going to be like Christmas morning when we get to do the ribbon cutting.”