The Radford High School “Wellness Challenge” is a step-based friendly competition among faculty that lasts for four weeks. Radford has held the challenge since 2016 and held it this year on Jan. 25.
“The challenge started in 2016, and Mr. Lau held it again in 2018. The goal was to have the challenge every other year. However, after COVID, we took a five year break.” Mrs. Balauro said. The goal of the challenge is to help Radford staff form the habit of exercising every day to encourage a healthy lifestyle.
There were six teams of six members each that participated this year: the Winnahz Union, Sole Sistahz, A-team, Ram Trotters, Rubbah Slippah Mafia, and Late to the Game. For the duration of this challenge, each week had a different objective that improved their health and offered opportunities for bonus points.
The first week’s challenge was Radford spots, a challenge where teachers had to take a photo in three different spots on Radford based on a few hints. The groups needed to submit all three photos of their group members at the hinted location to receive points. One of the hints were “Under this ‘Caution: Rams at Work’” sign (students brought this to the 1969 Basketball championship).
The second week’s challenge was the Fitness Workout. For this challenge, the groups needed to complete a set workout in 15 minutes. The workout consisted of five push ups, ten seal jacks, and ten drop squats with a floor touch. Half of the group members had to workout at a time, and they needed to complete at least three rounds in 15 minutes, doing more if possible. To receive bonus points, team captains could send in a video clip of the team working out.
The third week’s challenge was “Health Foods.” Captains had to snap a photo of their team eating a healthy meal and submit it to a form. To receive bonus points, teams could submit their entire team participating as opposed to only half.
The final challenge was the Lifestyle challenge. Teams had a choice to either go on a walk, hike, or run at their favorite place to snap a photo of them doing a peace sign. They also had the option to take a photo or video of the members participating in a fitness class or at their gym with peace signs. Bonus steps were given out to teams who submitted a photo that included all of their members.
By the end of the challenge, All of the teams had accumulated well over 150,000 steps in total. According to Mrs. Balauro, “There was actually a tie for first place with Fabulous Four and Rubbah Slippah with Rubbah winning the tie breaker…”
After everything, the 2026 Radford wellness challenge was a hit among faculty. “Thank you to all the staff members who participated, Mr. Lau for bringing me on to help, our Ram Shop (Ms. Tuitele and Ms. Trinitie Tiitii) for printing our Wellness shirts, and Mr. Sunday for being our sponsor,” said Mrs. Balauro.