TAMIU Employees ‘In Step’ with Health; Walk Across Texas 53 Times in Challenge

Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) employees respond to challenges daily as they move The International U forward. 

But they found one challenge, “The 2017 Walk Across Texas,” truly worthy of getting “in step.”  Individually, and as teams, TAMIU employees logged 44,836 miles…walking across Texas over 53 times during the eight-week long challenge.

“Our employees love a challenge, and our University’s Wellness Program, HealthyU, hosts year-round opportunities for wellness participation:  from 5K walks and runs to yoga classes and volunteer and community service engagement events.  For this challenge, participants had to track daily and post weekly to keep their participation active, a minimum of five days each week,” explained Jessica Palacios, TAMIU’s Wellness Coordinator.

Employees had the option to join teams or participate as individuals.  Employees created 27 10-member teams, totaling 206 TAMIU employees, or 17% of TAMIU’s 1,193-member full-time employee force.

Individual results for the top three TAMIU teams easily exceeded 500 miles, with top walker Hannah Frey of The Walking Texans team scoring 639 miles. 

Top TAMIU Team Angels Can Walk posted over 3,000 miles.

 Walk Across Texas is managed by Texas A&M’s AgriLife Extension unit.  The free program is designed to help Texans establish the habit of regular activity and was first launched in 1996.  Thousands of Texans have participated since. Walking isn’t the only exercise that can be used to participate, and there are equivalencies for other types of physical activity from bicycling and gardening to swimming and more.

The Walk Across Texas accomplishment isn’t the only healthy challenge TAMIU employees undertook this summer.

TAMIU employees were part of a new health plan enrollment initiative, MyEvive, by The Texas A&M University System, which tested employees’ knowledge of the A&M Health Care Plan and benefits, and underscored the Plan’s commitment to healthy living through a dedicated app for smartphone and desktop.

Weekly online challenges required employees to login and test wits with a timed online exam.  By doing so, they joined in a healthy competition with some 26,000+ A&M System employees across the System’s 11 universities and seven agencies.

After the month-long challenge, TAMIU employees boosted the campus to second place in the System-wide competition, a first.

For additional information on TAMIU’s HealthyU Employee Wellness Program, contact Jessica Palacios, program coordinator, at jessica@tamiu.edu

For more about Walk Across Texas, visit:  http://walkacrosstexas.tamu.edu

University summer office hours are from 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. Mon-Thurs and from 8 a.m. – 12 noon on Fridays.

Total Challenge Miles Recorded:              44,836

Walked Across Texas:                                53.13 times

Individual Results:

Team Results: