I hope your semester is off to a great start, but let’s kick it up a notch with the return of our Virtual Exercise Classes! That’s right…our amazing wellness instructors will be back starting September 7th with virtual wellness classes available free to all ACC employees.
Check out the Fall schedule HERE to view and access these classes, and be sure to mark your calendar with your favorite classes to join! In fact, you can click HERE to add the shared Wellness Calendar to your Google Calendar for easy access to these classes and other wellness program offerings. Classes will start next week on Wednesday, September 7th! Click HERE for a description of classes and instructors.
Are you ready to get back to in-person classes? We will also be offering a couple in-person Yoga Sessions as a trial run for this semester (please note start and end dates for these classes may differ from the virtual classes):
MW Evening Yoga 5:15-6:15pm @ SAC (Room 1130) September 12th – October 19th
Friday Afternoon Yoga 1-2pm @ HLC (Gallery 4000) September 9th – October 21st
Be Sure to Sign Up…Space is Limited for these In-Person Classes. If these go well, we may look to add more soon.
Please be sure to Register HERE prior to attending any classes. While there is still no attendance requirement for the virtual classes, this form is required for participation in the fall semester classes. You may sign up for as many classes as you plan to attend. This form contains the official class waiver and provides us with a way to communicate important information regarding the classes throughout the semester.
Alternative Options: We hope to see you in a class soon, but if you don’t have time for a full class or can’t make it during the scheduled times, we’ve included some links below to work exercise and stretching into your daily routine. Perhaps you can do these during your 15-minute breaks each day!
Also….Did you know that Mindfulness has not only been proven to help people manage stress, but can also help to improve productivity, reduce blood pressure, improve sleep, decrease anxiety and depression, and improve immune function. Why not give it a try? Click HERE for some resources on Mindfulness including links to guided meditation and breathing activities. There are also several apps you can download with free daily practices.
As always, please feel free to reach out to Mauri Winters at [email protected] if you have any questions or concerns. We hope you will join us and take advantage of these great opportunities to add movement to your day! See you in class soon!
June is National Employee Wellness Month and Men’s Health Awareness Month, so ACC Human Resources and the Employee Wellness Program have some treats in store to celebrate with you and bring wellness to your campus.
On-site preventive check-ups:
Did you Know that approximately 50% of ERS health plan participants do not receive their annual preventive check-up each year. Most people wait until they develop symptoms to go to the doctor. That can be too late, so don’t wait and make an appointment today for one of these on-campus screenings! Click HERE for more details on what to expect and FAQs.
ACC has partnered with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX) and Catapult Health to bring on-site preventive check-ups to several ACC campuses. You are eligible to participate if:
You are an active employee enrolled in the *HealthSelect of Texas or Consumer Directed HealthSelect plan
Have NOT had a preventive screening completed in the last 12 months
Join the HR Benefits- Wellness team, Campus Wellness Champions and fellow campus colleagues for some fun games, connection and even some giveaways.
Date
Location
Time
Friday, June 3
HBC Lobby
10am-1pm
Tuesday, June 7
SAC 1130
10am-1pm
Wednesday, June 8
EVC 8500
10am-1pm
Thursday, June 9
NRG 2110
10am-1pm
Friday, June 10
CYP 1102
10am-12pm
SGC 1125
2pm-4pm
Tuesday, June 21
HYS 1209
10am-1pm
Thursday, June 23
RGC 1330
10am-1pm
Friday, June 24
EGN 1143
10am-12pm
We hope to see you on campus for one of these opportunities soon! For questions, please reach out to Mauri Winters at [email protected] or call 512-223-7577.
This year marked the 7th offering of the “Become an ACC Exercise Star” Challenge coordinated by the ACC Employee Wellness Program to promote increased activity among our employees. 368 ACC faculty and staff participated this spring, of which 240 employees completed the challenge by meeting the goal for their activity level. This is a completion rate of 65.2%, which is right on par with last year’s results and 7.4% more than the previous year!
The Challenge ran from January 31 through April 10, 2022…10 weeks of friendly competition between our 13 campus locations.
Together, employees logged a whopping 803,620 total minutes of exercise which equals 558 days of continuous exercise. That’s over a year and a half of exercise or approximately 40,181 miles walking at a brisk pace. That could get us around the world 1.6 times or one sixth of the way to the moon.
ACC President, Dr. Richard Rhodes, congratulated and presented awards for the Top Individual Stars and Most Active Campuses via a live Zoom virtual awards celebration on Thursday, May 12, 2022.
Thanks to everyone who participated in this year’s challenge and we look forward to seeing you again through other challenges throughout the year and back for more Exercise Stars in 2023.
Overall top “stars” for the ten-week challenge were:
May is Mental Health Awareness month. ACC HR & the Employee Wellness Program, in conjunction with the National Alliance on Mental Illness would like to remind you that you are NOT alone. NAMI reports that 1 in 20 U.S. adults experience a serious mental illness each year, but less than two-thirds get treatment. We have resources available to help!
We have compiled a list of Mental Health Resources HEREto highlight some of the options available to you.
Check out the webinars we’ve got coming up this month. Full details and descriptions, and links to register can be viewed HERE. We hope you will take advantage of these opportunities to prioritize your mental health.
Don’t forget…All BCBS HealthSelect of Texas participants also have access to medical and mental health virtual visits through Doctor on Demand and MDLIVE. Services through Doctor on Demand and MDLIVE currently continue to be covered at no cost to those enrolled in this coverage. This benefit is subject to change. For more information regarding this, call a BCBSTX Personal Health Assistant toll-free at (800) 252-8039 (TTY:711).
If you have any questions, you can also reach out to Mauri Winters at [email protected].
Happy New Year from
ACC Human Resources and the Employee Wellness Program! As we move into
2022 we hope you know how important your health and well-being are to us.
The New Year often brings with it feelings of hope and opportunities for
change, so we would like to highlight some of the wellness initiatives
that we have coming up for you in the new year!
Wellness Webinars: In the spirit of change, we have
two webinars coming up in January to will help us to reflect on our values and
put together a road map for success in the coming year:
You can find out more about these and keep up
with all the new and recorded webinars that we offer throughout the year
at theNEW Wellness Webinars Google Site HERE!
ACC Virtual Exercise
Classes: Virtual
Exercise Classes will continue online for the spring semester and will start on
January 18th. The new schedule will come out soon and registration
details will be provided at that time, so keep your eye out for more
information to come. We hope you will take advantage of these free
classes available to all ACC employees and their families.
Exercise Stars &
Get Fit Texas Challenges:
Yes…that’s
right! It’s almost time for the ACC Exercise Stars Challenge 2022, so be
sure to save the date!! This highly anticipated friendly competition
between the ACC campuses is set to begin January 31st, and will run through
April 10th. This challenge is designed for ALL LEVELS to encourage you to
increase your activity level and get movin’! Are you ready to become an
Exercise STAR? All it takes is 15 minutes a day to reach the goal
and earn a cool wellness prize! Adding movement to your day can
really make a difference on your overall health, and that is already a big WIN
in itself. But if that’s not enough…this year we will have a new
incentive, as one star will win a $50 Visa Giftcard (donated by A+
Federal credit union)!! Be on the lookout for the flyer and
registration link coming soon!
Want to extend this
challenge and get a jump start on your exercise goals? You can also join
the Get Fit Texas Challenge, a 10-week, statewide exercise
initiative, which takes place from January 10 to March 20, 2022. This
challenge is separate from the Exercise Stars challenge, but it
overlaps and allows us to take the competition (friendly of course) to a larger
scale against other employees from state agencies and higher education
institutions across the state. This challengeis
a great opportunity to get started on your goals for the year, make physical
activity a priority, and start building a habit. Also, you can
earn bonus Exercise Stars minutes for completing this challenge as well.
By registering for
the Get Fit Texas Challenge, you will also receive exclusive access to
additional free virtual fitness classes and mindfulness check-ins coordinated
through a collaborative of state agencies (DSHS, OAG, DPS, TxDOT, ERS, and BCBS)
to support your physical activity throughout the challenge period, including:
All of these virtual wellness initiatives provide a great way to
connect, learn and move toward a shared goal of health and well-being. Be
sure to take advantage of these and make your health and self-care a priority
in the new year!
On Friday, April 26th, ACC hosted the inaugural Employee Wellness-Fest 2019!
Nearly 200 employees came together to celebrate wellness across the district with field day games, exercise demos, health and wellness information tables, and even a new campus competition, the Campus Wellness Cup. Smiling faces were seen throughout the Eastview courtyard as employees were able to get in some physical wellness, engage with their peers from the different campuses and strengthen those bonds between colleagues.
Dr. Richard Rhodes presented the Exercise Stars awards as a part of the event recognizing the top 3 overall individuals from each fitness level, as well as the top 3 Campuses with the most minutes. Wellness Champions from each ACC campus helped put this event together and the Eastview Campus staff worked especially hard to prepare for the big day! Finally, 19 vendors from both the college and the community came out for the event to provide information regarding services related to employee wellness. Several of these vendors, as well as many other local businesses provided wonderful prizes to be won as well.
Congratulations to the Eastview Campus for taking home the first ever ACC Campus Wellness Cup!
Which campus will be ready to capture this honor next year and take home this fantastic trophy at the Wellness-Fest 2020? Yes…we are looking forward to the opportunity to repeat this event again next year, and hope you will be sure to join us again then!
Here are a few pictures from the event, but you can view all pictures in the Photo Gallery!
