Steps for Schools
The health of Idaho’s children begins with community leaders setting examples and being role models.
But it doesn’t end there. The Blue Cross of Idaho Foundation for Health’s Steps for Schools gets Idaho’s lawmakers involved too! Steps for Schools challenges state legislators to walk as much as possible for one month during the legislative session.
Outfitted with Fitbits, each legislator’s steps are counted, and those steps earn cash to fund their schools’ walking programs or needed physical activity equipment. Legislators who average 10,000 steps per day in the month of February win $500 for playground or physical education equipment for the school of their choice.
The Steps for Schools challenge is a nice way to burn off some steam during the busy session, but it has a serious side too. Steps for Schools has four goals:
1. To help lawmakers think about childhood health issues in Idaho
2. To highlight our lawmakers as good role models for our children
3. To create a buzz about health issues within legislators’ districts
4. To promote childhood wellness throughout Idaho
The 2019 Steps for Schools Walking Challenge
See how Idaho’s lawmakers did last year!
Legislators did an amazing job during the 2019 Steps for Schools Walking Challenge! During the month of February, they walked a total of 17,192,345 steps – which is roughly 7,195 miles! They were wonderful ambassadors for health, both at the Capitol and in their communities.
The following elected officials averaged 10,000 daily steps and won $500 for their communities:
| Barbara Ehardt | Jim Woodward | Muffy Davis |
| Brandon Woolf | John Green | Neil Anderson |
| Bryan Zollinger | John Vander Woude | Paul Amador |
| Chad Christensen | Julianne Young | Priscilla Giddings |
| Chuck Winder | Kevin Andrus | Sage Dixon |
| Clark Kauffman | Lance Clow | Sally Toone |
| Dorothy Moon | Laurie Lickley | Scott Syme |
| Doug Ricks | Lawrence Wasden | Steve Harris |
| Heather Scott | Linda Wright-Hartgen | Steve Vick |
| Ilana Rubel | Marc Gibbs | Sue Chew |
| Janie Ward-Engelking | Mark Harris | Tammy Nichols |
| Jarom Wagoner | Maryanne Jordan | Terry Gestrin |
| Jason Monks | Mat Erpelding | Thyra Stevenson |
| Jerald Raymond | Melissa Wintrow | Tom Dayley |
| Jim Addis | Michelle Stennett | Tony Wisniewski |