Teachers take part in Rebel Challenge during quarantine

It started as a way for teachers to stay in shape and have a friendly competition in the spring semester at Vestavia Hills High School.

But after students and staff were sent home due to the outbreak of COVID-19 in mid-March, the Rebel Challenge became a way for teachers to stay connected to one another during the pandemic.

The challenge started at the high school as the project of a group of teachers in a districtwide leadership consortium, said Laura Casey, a teacher at the high school.

The idea for teachers to form teams and collect points through doing exercises and working out together was taken from a similar idea, “Walktober,” in Homewood City Schools, Casey said. Walktober is a districtwide competition aiming to improve the physical and mental health of participants.

Leaders sent a Google form to teachers at the high school, asking them to sign up if they were interested. After a signup period, teacher Jordan Singletary put them into teams.

“Remarkably, people showed up,” Singletary said. “We got really competitive.”

Teachers documented their exercise and receive points for the length of their exercise, how many steps they had taken and other factors. They also received extra points if they worked out with someone else.

The “Walk of Champions” was a popular workout. The idea was simple enough: walk the entire length of the high school, which is about half a mile.

“Kids really got into it,” Singletary said.

Students would ask teachers if they’d done their exercise during the day and would encourage them as they walked.

In February, the challenge ended, with plans to bring it back in the fall.

Then, in March, the coronavirus pandemic shut students and teachers out of their schools, with the school year wrapping up online.

Teachers, no longer able to step outside their classroom door and wave at their colleagues, desired to find ways to connect with one another in the age of social distancing, even virtually. They also wanted that extra motivation to get exercise.

“I was pushing my two kids in a stroller and I thought, ‘I wish I was getting points for this,’” Singletary said.

That led to the return of the Rebel Challenge. Teachers used Zoom or Google Hangouts to walk “together,” catching up and talking as they completed their exercise, getting extra points for not being alone.

Being able to get out of the house and talk with their colleagues as they lifted weights, went for a walk or run or whatever workout they chose, was a nice break from work, Singletary said.

“It’s an excuse to go walk by myself,” she said. “I’m sure I look crazy to my neighbors.”

Casey said doing the initial run in February helped make it possible to hold the challenge during the shutdown.

While weightlifting was a little bit harder to do over Zoom, many teachers rode bikes or lifted weights, teacher Stacy Pugh said.

The challenge was extended to other schools in the district, too. Singletary said one teacher at an elementary school used her dog as a weight while doing squats.

The exercise periods are meant to last 45 minutes, and some teachers even did Zoom yoga and trail runs.

Teachers at Pizitz Middle School narrowly won the quarantine challenge by two points over the high school teachers.

Pugh said the challenge helped her connect with other people, while Casey said it allowed teachers to get moving during the quarantine. But it also had other benefits.

“It’s a great stress reliever,” Casey said.

Plans are for the Rebel Challenge to return districtwide in October, Casey said.