Pictured are, front row from bottom to top: Program Coordinator Lynette Edgerton, HR/Payroll Specialist Selnatta Vereen, Budget Financial Management Analyst Carolina Simpson, Staff Assistant Jennifer Higgins, Administrative Secretary Barbara Pellizzari, and Network Administrator John Carbuccia.

From back row, bottom to top: Manager Clinical Placements Catherine Taylor, Staff Assistant Tina Moore, Data Manager Nina Hines, Graduate Placement Coordinator Izy Obi, Assistant Professor Jane Blood-Siegfried and Director of Academic Support Operations Debra Mattice.

The School of Nursing group will be supported by their team mascot, a green and blue bear.

Not pictured are Registrar Abbie McCaffity and IT & Administrative Support Specialist Kristy Chu.

Group Winner

School of Nursing, 14 group members

WE NEED A MAKEOVER! Everyone is busy these days and our group, a mixture of faculty and staff, are looking for strategies that will help us make improvements in our lives and be able to sustain them. After years of trying the Jell-O, Atkins, Weight Watcher's, Jenny Craig, ice cream, peanut butter, and grapefruit diets, to name a few, only to see the pounds creep back on, we are looking for a way to get it off and keep it off. Having a plan that becomes part of our lives instead of a way to lose 10 pounds this month would certainly help provide that sustainability.

We work at the Duke School of Nursing and KNOW all about appropriate nutrition and EXERCISE, we just don't do it! What we struggle with is putting healthy eating into practice. Our various jobs are busy and challenging and we frequently miss lunch or have a quick snack on the run. We are various ages with different life circumstances — so while some of us are leaving work for the second job with the children, others of us are empty nesters or single with other responsibilities — who may go home to a dinner of leftovers (cold from the refrigerator) or something quick we pick up on the road. Some of us are looking to lose 20 pounds and some much more, and some would like to learn what to do to avoid ever having to go on a diet. In other words, we need help getting things under control and having a workable plan to deal with eating so that we can make healthy choices along with an exercise plan to give us more (or some) energy to really LIVE our LIVES.

We believe having a built-in support group at work would certainly help us achieve and maintain our goals as well. We have several new folks in our group and this will be a great way to build team spirit across our departments (unlike our last morale booster which involved deep-fried Snickers bars at the State Fair — they were good, but didn't contribute to being healthy!!) So with Halloween and Thanksgiving behind us (and all their temptations) behind us and more food holidays ahead, we want to make a fresh start for the New Year. PLEASE, HELP US!