Northern Michigan University's Department of Biology has introduced “Be Well in Weston," a program designed to make it easy to participate in fun physical and mental health activities on campus and promote well-being for faculty, staff and students.
"We think ‘Be Well in Weston' is a great way for students and employees in the biology department to work toward their own wellness in a way that allows them to fit activities into their day,” said Biology Department Head Jill Leonard. “We want to help make being healthy easier for folks. We also like it as a way to participate in the Okanagan Charter. Currently, we have an October Step Counting Challenge that even lets us combine the elements of human health and wellness with sustaining the environment, which are both a part of the Charter and definitely near and dear to biologists."
For every 10,000 steps, Weston plants a tree. The healthy exercise challenge uses the phone app Treecard to count steps. Its interactive design allows users to design their own island with the trees they earned. They can also redeem reward points for eco-friendly products or removing plastic from the ocean.
Students can put a tree sticker on the poster in Weston for each tree they plant. Some classes will engage in the challenge, and students can represent those courses on the tree stickers with one course number per tree.
Another October event is the Halloween Fun Craft on Tuesday, Oct. 24, from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Weston Atrium. Participants will paint a wooden pumpkin for a home decoration. The event is free and open to all until pumpkins run out.
For more information on the October tree challenge and events, visit https://nmu.edu/biology/be-well-weston.
The program started in September, with weekly scheduled activities participants can find on the department website and on the whiteboard on the second floor of Weston, near the wolf. It is advised that people view these for on-campus fun and participate as they like, but see their health providers for professional care.