Jay Curtis

Staff throughout Park County School District 1 are getting in shape all for a pair of blue jeans.

District superintendent Jay Curtis enrolled in a program called Healthy Teacher that encourages educators to take care of their physical and mental health. The company will post weekly videos with tips as well as challenges for points. Teachers can also access nutritional recipes through the app. Building teams who won the most points per semester are allowed to wear blue jeans for a day.

Typically staff can pay to break dress code and wear jeans in the name of a charity.

“You would not believe the positivity that comes out of just getting to wear jeans,” Curtis said.

It’s not just about jeans — the overall winners in March will get to go home early on a professional development Friday after school is out.

Participating staff log onto the Healthy Teacher app to track when they have participated in an activity or workout, this then translates to points. It’s up to the staff member whether or not they join a building team or participate independently. Activities on the app can range from in and out of the gym workout plans to mental health activities like positive affirmations. Healthy Teacher also posts weekly videos with health and nutrition tips. 

According to Curtis, the company originally had reached out in “the midst of Covid” seeing that people were struggling in the classroom during the Covid pandemic Curtis decided to purchase the program and open it to all staff.

“I was looking at ways to get people healthy and active, because we know that mental health and physical health are inextricably tied,” Curtis said. 

He likened teachers staying healthy to putting on an oxygen mask on a plane. They can’t take care of students if they don’t take care of themselves too.

“I will say that I’m a big health person. I’ve always tried to lead a healthy life, I think if I’m held accountable for something, I will do it.,” middle school special education teacher Jodee Metzler said. “And I will say that since I’m kind of held accountable for this where I’m like, ‘OK, I’m getting points for this and it’s being published,’ then I’m more likely to do those workouts than if I just have to do it on my own.”

For middle school composition/literature teacher Justin Waterworth ,the biggest benefit of the program is that it helps him spend more time with his wife, who is also a teacher in the district.

“We push each other to complete the goals and tasks and have given more time to each other to work on our physical and mental health because of the program,” Waterworth said.

He has been participating in frequent walks using the step tracking portion of Healthy Teacher. He said this is a measurable goal that he can maintain during the busy seasons of the school year.

“My goal is to be fit enough to play with my kids and not get winded or sore because of it, so that is something that would push me to continue trying to live a more healthy lifestyle,” Waterworth said.