This summer, the Go KP Summer Games Physical Activity Team Challenge spurred a friendly competition among employees to get active and stay active and healthy all summer long. The challenge was designed to keep employees thriving with weekly bonus activities, daily images and Olympic-themed facts, and a chance to win exciting prizes. Teams across the KPMAS region engaged, and three of them did so well that they were among the National winners for the challenge! The Silver Spring All-Stars and the SonoStrutters tied for first place with 130 points, and Lean Mean KP Machine placed third nationally. Read more about them as well as the top three regional Summer Games Challenge teams below.
Silver Spring All-Stars
The Silver Spring All-Stars (see feature image above), with members Denise Ivory, Jo-Ann Brown, Laurent Boudias, Sasha Christian, and Sheila Marbury took the challenge as a great opportunity to increase their already regular exercise and motivate each other to do more. They leveraged the Go KP platform to check in with each other daily and post encouraging messages on their group page. Sasha said she got her points from working with her personal trainer and found a new love for cycling while doing the challenge. And she said working for KP helps keep her motivated by encouraging healthy living. “Working for a company like Kaiser Permanente has made it even easier to make those healthy choices because it is encouraged and supported by the organization, which isn’t always the case with most employers,” she said.
Team member Jo-Ann Brown found motivation from a Fitbit given to her by her daughter. “To date, I have consistently maintained my daily step goal,” she said. “Also, the competition helped me to lose a few pounds and maintain a healthy weight.”
Laurent Boudias said he works out almost every day and got most of his points from cardio, weight training, and walks. “Health is my motivation and what pushes me—add a fun challenge to it, and there you go, I worked out every day!”
Denise Ivory said her team motivated each other to move daily with walks during lunch, on breaks, and even after work. She maintained her momentum to get her daily step points through encouragement from co-workers, family, and friends.
SonoStrutters
The SonoStrutters, with members Coralia Molina, Jennifer Dunston, Kimberly Mayo, Nanc Greenfield, Shahnaz Arshed, and Susan Barry, tied the Silver Spring All-Stars for first place with 130 points.
Lean Mean KP Machine
Lean Mean KP Machine, with members Abby Chough, Robin Boltz, Chris Bechis, and Beth Audet, earned 128.12 points to place third nationally. Abby and Beth earned their activity points by taking at least 10,000 steps daily, and they enjoyed the bonus challenges to learn some new yoga and strength moves. Chris earned his points through cycling, hiking, and walking. Robin earned her points from early morning walks with her dogs and husband, along with yoga classes at Regional Office and daily challenges. They also utilized Go KP as a motivator: “The encouragement from teammates on Go KP was great; we shared pictures, asked and answered questions, made suggestions, and stayed connected.”
Regional Medal Winners:
We also would like to recognize our top three regional teams who received medals:
H.A.B. (Burke Medical Center)
Karen Wells
Erica Lewis
Shana Bellow
Nicole Lyte
Narda Saunders
Carol Blechl
Raquel Harrison
Beth Thomas
Bernard Mungin
Reaver Durham
The H.A.B. Team was an eclectic mix including a psychotherapist, an office manager, a mental health assistant, and front desk staff. “With such diversity, we felt we could generate different types of thinking patterns in hopes that we could reach our individual and group goals,” said Narda. “When developing our team, we were looking for people who were motivated to win and who wanted to be part of a team effort to make changes in themselves, as well as, others around them. As a team, we all wanted to win first place, move more and become healthy. We became so excited about this possibility when talking to one another.” The team also kept each other accountable with daily encouragement, walking during lunch, and reminder calls and texts to get those steps in!
UMOC Sharks
Sara Grothe
Sharon Stewart
Laronn Burton
Jacqueline Laldee
Ana Page
The BEST (Technical Services Center)
Gary Jouvelakas
Sharon Griffin
Edith Randall-McAllister
Sheila Millington
Kim Rich
Sondra McLeod
Dan Dunkers
Lawanda Britt
Christopher Hart
Charles Harriman
Rohit Mehra
Iris von Palubitzki
Congratulations to all of the KPMAS teams who accepted the Summer Games Challenge! Check out some photos from the teams below. We hope that you will continue to thrive into the cooler months and take part in our next challenge, Health for the Holidays, which kicks off November 1. Register now on Go KP at kp.org/gokp.
