TF teachers make healthy choices for competition

It’s always a good idea to lead a healthy life and make good choices on what you eat or getting in some exercise now and then. Highschool P.E. teacher, Tenna Ferris found the motivation to get a team together and participate in the Shape Up Montana (SUM) annual competition. SUM is an interactive team competition that lasts for three months, beginning February 1 and ending May 1. SUM encourages Montanans to develop healthy physical activity and eating habits.

The SUM program invites teams of friends, family members, coworkers, and anyone else to compete against other teams across Montana. The top three teams received medals and special prizes. The awards are based on the teams who average the most miles that each person logs over three month competition. Other prizes are awarded during the competition for teams with the most participation, weekly challenge participation, and monthly reporting. The main goal of the program is personal achievement and becoming more active. During each week of the program, team members receive emails with motivational resources including physical activity videos and articles. This allows participants to make small, realistic lifestyle changes and stay on track.

Team captain, Trenna Ferris, had the idea to form a team to help motivate herself and others to stay active. She was joined by Rochelle Dickson, Chris Kelly, Penny Beckman, Sarah Naegeli, Sarah Stover, Darcy Farlan, Juanita Gambrel and Rich Ferris. Their team finished 26th out of 63 teams, with an average of 403.17 miles. Ferris tries to participate in SUM every year to stay motivated. She appreciates the team atmosphere and getting to share stories of motivation and personal journeys.

Since 2003, more than 75,000 participants throughout Montana have logged more than 14 million miles. Montana is ranked the 6th lowest state for obesity but 25.3% of the adult population falls under this category. SUM is hitting this problem head on to help get people motivated and keep them on track to lead healthy lives. If you are interested in getting involved with a team you can visit tshapeupmontana.org to get started.