Walk Across Texas Basics

Agent Only Information

Methods/Steps

Evaluation

Supplemental Activities

Time Line

Choose Start & Finish Dates

Getting Started

Obtaining Forms

Make Recruitment Packet

Eight People Make a Team

Team Names

Password for Data Entry

Data Entry

Protecting Participant Privacy On-line

Create E-mail& Mail Groups

Recruit Groups/Sites in Urban Areas

Recruitment in Rural Counties

Site Manager/Coordinator

Site Manager/Coordinator Duties

Captains

Captain's Duties

Team Members Instructions

Train Site Managers & Captains

Train County Office Staff

Checking on County, Site, School Progress

Kick-Off/Sign-Up

Mapping Site Progress Across Texas

What Counts/Equivalency Measures

Weight Loss

Walk Across Texas in Schools

Don't Give Up Now Activity

Motivation--Prizes, Incentives, Awards

Celebration & Awards Activity

Phone Follow-Up Survey

Continuing to Walk After Walk Across Texas

Walk Across Texas is now entirely on the Web (participants: http://walkacrosstexas.tamu.edu). The printed manual is out-of-date and should be discarded. The basic structure of WAT is the same. However, there is one big change -- all mileage can be entered by team captains on the new web site for participants http://walkacrosstexas.tamu.edu. This same site has all the necessary forms along with information people need to participate, enter their mileage, and find out how their team ranks compared to other teams in their group. The new site also includes a separate place for school teams.

Please make sure the Internet address is entered as http://walkacrosstexas.tamu.edu because if www is added to the address, it will not work! Whenever someone tells you they cannot enter the new site, check the address they are using.

Walk Across Texas has helped agents reach many audiences never before reached with Extension programs. New agents find this program helps them quickly meet large groups of people in their new county.

While we ask you to keep the basic structure of Walk Across Texas, you may make adaptations in many areas to make it fit your target population. For example, you may choose to have one large advisory board and/or one at each site. You may choose to have team captains enter all data or ask team captains to send the information to you so you or your staff and/or volunteers can enter the data each week.

Walk Across Texas Basics

• Teams of eight people walk 8 weeks
• Specific start and finish dates
• One person from the team must agree to be the captain
• Captains or their designate enter all team members' mileage each week by Sunday evening
• Site managers at larger sites help manage implementation by working with captains and team members
• Team members can e-mail, phone, or FAX their mileage to team captain or designated person to enter the mileage on the website
• Starts with a Kick-Off activity
• Around 4th week, may have a Don't Give Up Now activity
• Concludes with a Celebration activity
• Certificates of completion for participants

Suggestions for Plan of Work
Please note: Walk Across Texas is not an outcome. The outcome is increased physical activity. Walk Across Texas is a banner program that can help your county participants increase their physical activity.

Annual Goal
(Number of WAT participants you expect) of (total number of residents in your county) in (your county name) will increase their physical activity by walking, running, or bike riding while participating in Walk Across Texas.

Example: 800 of 10,000 Sandstone county residents will increase their physical activity by walking, running or bike riding while participating in Walk Across Texas.

Annual Evaluation Plan for Outcome Program
Type of evidence to be collected on this program
Change in practice/application

For each type of evidence selected, these outcome indicators (specific desired outcomes) will measure program results
Participant's INCREASED activity level after Walk Across Texas determined by comparing activity level in week one to activity level in week 8.

Information will come from these sources
Participants

Using data collection methods
Before/after design
Individual assessment

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Agent Only Information
Click this link to check your County's Demographic Data, Overall Averages, and other items restricted to Agents. You will login using the same information as to this site.

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Methods/Steps
For your plan of work, you may use these to describe what you plan to do each month. You may add or subtract or modify as necessary to fit the needs of your target population.

• Site visits to worksites, schools, churches, etc. to obtain task force members and organize teams
• Office visits and telephone calls, personal letters
• Demonstrations of proper walking technique at Kick-Off
• Ceremony (See Health Breaks or Youth Series)
• Demonstration and training on web-based data entry for site managers and captains
• Health Breaks Workshop Series
• Weight Loss Workshop Series
• Youth Workshop Series
• Meeting to train site managers, and/or captains and/or volunteer educators (leader training)
• Newsletters (See Health Breaks, Weight Loss Series) -- this may be an e-mail newsletter
• Media articles (See Health Breaks, Weight Loss Series, Marketing and Media Relations Guide)
• "Don't Give Up Now," a motivational seminar/activity around 4th week
• Data analysis
• Recognition Ceremony with guest speaker focusing on continuation strategies during week
• Interpretation of results to participants, officials, etc.
• Planning for next time: evaluation of program implementation, determining changes, planning to do call backs in 6 months to see how many people are still walking, recruiting new audiences, planning new activities such as developing walking trails with mileage markers, etc.
• Implementing call backs to see how many people are still walking
• Analyzing results of call backs
• Interpreting results of call backs
  

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Evaluation
Evaluation plan includes all of these ways you can measure success:

• You will be able to note how many people started and finished WAT by comparing number of Individual Registrations and those turning in week 8 mileage.
• Individual Registration form assesses pre-WAT activity level.
• Walk Across Texas Wrap-Up assesses post WAT activity level.
• Captain's Log lists each person's walking/running/riding mileage each week -- place to record weight loss is there, too, if needed.
• Web site http://walkacrosstexas.tamu.edu will give you the miles walked and number of participants.
• Participant characteristics can be obtained from Individual Registration form.
• In addition to activity level, WAT Wrap-Up might give information on other outcomes such as group support helped motivate participants to continue.
• Web site http://walkacrosstexas.tamu.edu will give results of a paired t-test comparing week one mileage for an individual and week 8 if your county has a sufficient number of participants who turned in mileage for both week one and week eight.
• Success Stories can be collected by captain's, too, to add to outcome data; see http://walkacrosstexas.tamu.edu to enter Success Stories.
• Six month phone follow-up survey to determine number of people still walking.

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Supplemental Activities Programs
Some agents offer supplemental activities programs during Walk Across Texas. This is not a requirement, however. Three sets of materials were developed for Walk Across Texas, including:

• Health Breaks
• Weight Loss Series
• Youth Health Breaks

Most agents who have used Health Breaks and the Weight Loss Series mail or e-mail one Health Break or one lesson from the Weight Loss Series to participants. The Youth Series has a variety of lessons directed at youth groups such as 4-H or school classes.

Some agents have created newsletters using information from HealthHints. You can cut and paste from the web site to adapt the information to your particular target audience.

Another possibility is to use nutrition programs aimed at helping participants learn ways to reduce fat in their diets and control portion sizes. Some agents have done cooking demonstrations or demonstrated ways to modify favorite recipes to be healthier.

Another idea is to train captains or others to provide one of the series or do cooking demonstrations. These people can be counted as volunteer educators.

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Time Line
WAT may be implemented during any two months each year depending on your usual weather conditions or community activities. Planning will begin at least three months prior to planned implementation.

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Choose Start and Finish Dates
Set the start and finish dates. You may choose whatever dates work best in your county.

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Getting Started
Several months (at least 2-3 months) before you want to start Walk Across Texas, identify groups/sites to target for participation such as worksites, churches, schools, neighborhoods, clubs, etc. Identify a key person to meet with to ask their group to participate. A key person at a worksite might be a wellness coordinator, director of occupational health, human resource director, or anyone interested in serving in this capacity, etc. Site managers should have access to the Internet and be familiar with both the Internet and e-mail.

At schools, start with an interested teacher or school nurse who will then talk to the principal; in some cases, you may want to start with an administrator such as a principal who will then ask the appropriate person to assist you. In some churches, you might contact the parish nurse, activities or youth minister or the minister in some cases. The person identified as your contact often becomes your site manager.

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Obtaining Forms
You may download copies of all necessary forms or you may still order all forms from Publication and Supply Distribution (FAX: 979-862-1566; PHONE: 979-845-6571) using a D-1 form. Everyone (agents and participants) can download forms from the website, too.

The forms you will need are:

• Brochure (MKT 3131)
• Team Registration Form (MKT 3131-F)
• Individual Registration Form (MKT 3131-A)
• Individual Mileage Log (MKT 3131-B)
• Team Captain's Mileage Log (MKT 3131–D)
• Walk Across Texas Wrap-Up (MKT 3131-C)

You may obtain the sign-up/cover letter by clicking here. This form is not available from Publication and Supply Distribution. It is in PDF format, but it will allow you to enter the information you need to make it fit your target population.

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Make Recruitment Packets
Make recruitment packets including a sign-up/cover letter, brochure (MKT-3131), and Team Registration Form (MKT-3131-F). Take these packets to meet with potential site managers. Take a set of sample forms with you in case they want to see the forms.

Estimate the number of teams and take a few more packets when you have Kick-Off. Many people wait until Kick-Off to sign-up. Some agents choose to use Kick-Off as their major sign-up event.

Participants can download additional copies of the forms for the Captain's Packet from http://walkacrosstexas.tamu.edu too.

Team Captain's Packet: This packet will be given to each team captain by either the agent or site manager. There are six different things in this packet. Numbers of each items are noted below. Captains will provide team members with letter and forms or tell them how to download the needed items. A captain's team packet consists of the following items:

1. Cover/sign-up letter (You can edit this for your county even though it is in PDF format. Click on the link to load the PDF in your browser. Press the tab key on the keyboard to move through the entry fields.)
   
   
2. Team Registration Form (One for Team Captain who will complete these and e-mail, FAX or send this to agent; encourage e-mailing the list because this will mean you can cut and paste rather than entering hundreds of these addresses.)
   
   
3. Captain's Log (One for Team Captain who will write down mileage from individuals when they notify captain of their weekly mileage; some captains may elect not to use this and just enter the mileage as they receive it at http://walkacrosstexas.tamu.edu)
   
   
4. Individual Registration Form (Eight: One for captain and one for each member; everyone must complete this including the signature box; team members complete and turn these in to their team captain who will then enter the data into http://walkacrosstexas.tamu.edu)
   
   
5. Individual Mileage Log (Eight: One for captain and one for each member; captain and team members write their daily miles on this form; they send/call their total miles for the week to captain who will enter each team members' mileage for the week on http://walkacrosstexas.tamu.edu; members keep these and do not submit them to anyone.)
   
   
6. Wrap-Up (Eight: One for captain and one for each member; team members complete these and return them to captain who enters these on http://walkacrosstexas.tamu.edu website.)
   
   

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Eight People Make a Team
One person on each team will be the captain. All captains should have access to e-mail and the Internet (captains may give this responsibility to someone else; for example, teachers may give this responsibility to a student). The seven team members give their mileage to their captain by Friday each week so the captain can enter the mileage on http://walkacrosstexas.tamu.edu. Only captains, or someone they ask to do this for them, may enter the mileage and pounds lost each week for everyone on the team, including their own mileage.

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Team Names
Each team needs to come up with a team name. This will be required to enter data on http://walkacrosstexas.tamu.edu.

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Password for Data Entry
Team captains need a password easily remembered so they can gain entry to enter data each week. Passwords must be one of a kind in each county. If a captain or his designate try to enter a password already in use, he will be asked to choose another one.

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Data Entry
All data entry should be done by team captains or their designate. No data will be sent to College Station for analysis. No paper forms ever have to come back to the county office for data entry. Data entered into http://walkacrosstexas.tamu.edu will be instantly analyzed for you. You will be able to track enrollment, demographics, progress and even get the results of a paired t-test to determine if there is a significant increase in miles walked between week one and eight.

What data should be entered? Enter data from Individual Registration Forms first (Note: Captains must use the Captain Registration form on-line at http://walkacrosstexas.tamu.edu to enter their data first. They will need to have their password ready when they enter their own data. Once they have entered their own information on-line, they can go on to enter the information from the Individual Registration Forms from their seven team members.

If you have teams unable to enter their own data on-line, you may choose to have them turn in their information to your office for entry on the site. If this is a large amount of data, you may want to train volunteers to enter the data rather than having your staff do this.

Team captains, or the person they designate to enter data, must complete the Team Captain Registration form on the website before any other entry can be made. Captains must have a password they can remember because every time they want to enter data, they will be asked for this password. Passwords must be one of a kind in each county. If a captain or her designate try to enter a password already in use, she will be asked to choose another one.

Team members send their total mileage to their team captain. They can use whatever mechanism they wish to accomplish this: e-mail, FAX, phone. Team captains use their password to enter each individual's mileage in the Captain's Mileage log on http://walkacrosstexas.tamu.edu.

Ask captains to enter their team mileage data by Sunday evening each week.

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Protecting Participant Privacy On-line
As you will note, no personal information such as complete names, addresses, phone numbers or e-mail addresses will be entered on-line. To further protect privacy, only first names of team members will be entered. This is why the Team Registration Form information is so important if you want to establish communication with participants in your county.

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Create E-mail and Mail Groups
Use your Team Registration Forms to develop your e-mail or mail group during Walk Across Texas. Having a quick way to notify participants of changes or other things you want them to know will be invaluable. You may also use these mail lists to send educational materials, fact sheets, etc. such as those in the Weight Loss Series or Health Breaks. You may also cut and paste from HealthHints newsletter on the FCS web site into your own newsletter to participants.

Have site coordinators collect Team Registration Forms from all captains, and then FAX or mail completed Team Registration Forms to your county office. Use these to make e-mail and/or mail groups for Health Breaks, Weight Loss Series or Youth Series. Please note: If you have the Team Registration forms FAX'ed or mailed to you, either you, someone in your office, or a volunteer will have to enter each of the e-mail addresses or make mailing labels.

Depending on site capabilities, you might have each captain e-mail the contact information from the Team Registration Forms to you. This would save you from entering all of the addresses. Even if you do end up entering all of this information in your office, it is well worth the effort because you will have an e-mail group that you can contact not only during Walk Across Texas, but other times of the year. No personal address information will be entered on the web site -- only team participants' first names will be used for identification purposes.

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Recruit Groups/Sites in Urban Areas
Recruit groups/sites such as a hospital system or county, city or bank employees, churches, schools (students and employees), etc. The best way to find and recruit family groups is at churches. Each site (worksite, churches, schools, etc.) can have their own Kick-Off, compete with other teams within their company, church, school, etc., enter their mileage, and view their team progress, and compare their team progress to other teams in their group.

Recruiting large groups is better than trying to recruit from the general population using media. Management is much easier.

Visit key people at your selected sites to invite each of your selected groups/sites to participate. Come prepared with several recruitment packets to leave at each site. Note the http://walkacrosstexas.tamu.edu site on the packets as a source of additional forms, if needed.

When the site agrees to participate, ask for a designated person to be the site manager. If you train the site manager well, he/she will be able to answer most captain and team member questions. The site manager will be the person to contact you and will be your point of contact for the duration of Walk Across Texas. Depending on the number of sites you are recruiting, you may also have frequent contact with captains too. You will have infrequent contact with individual team members.

When working with intact groups such as churches, worksites, schools, etc., each site could be a mini-Walk Across Texas. Teams sign up, Kick-Off, Don't Give Up Now, and Celebration activities all occur at each site. Site managers may have committees at the site to help with the different activities or they may choose to keep all of the activities very simple with little or no fanfare whatsoever.

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Recruitment in Rural Counties
If you are in a less populated county, you may choose to do a combination of recruiting larger groups like county or school employees as well as the general population. You may invite people from the entire community using local media.

You may choose to have a planning committee with members from all of the groups you want to participate and/or from key community organizations such as your parks and recreation department. The committee can plan dates and locations for the Kick-Off, Don't Give Up Now and Celebration activities. You may chair the committee or your committee may elect someone else to be the chair. However, if you are not the chair, it is important to note that Walk Across Texas is a copyrighted Texas Cooperative Extension program -- collaborators cannot own the program. Collaborating agencies and others who sponsor any part of the implementation process can be listed as partners.

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Site Manager/Coordinator
When recruiting larger worksites, churches, schools, clubs, etc., find someone who will be the site manager/coordinator. Site managers might be the company or organization wellness coordinator or just someone who wants to help with the implementation process of Walk Across Texas. Come to your first meeting with a Recruitment Packet ready to give the site manager.

Train your site managers to answer questions about Walk Across Texas, enter data, post mileage results for the entire group, work with agent and site captains to organize and do the Kick-Off, Don't Give Up Now (done about 4th week to encourage people to keep walking), and Recognition activities.

Site managers/coordinators are the primary person who will contact you regarding any issue or concern during Walk Across Texas.

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Site Managers/Coordinators Duties
Here is a list of tasks site managers/coordinators need to do. These are found on http://walkacrosstexas.tamu.edu.

1. Set a start date for Walk Across Texas at your company, church, school, etc.
   
   
2. Market program to potential participants at your company, church, school, etc. using methods appropriate for your group.
   
   
3. Sign up captains. Process will vary with each group. May choose to sign up captains at a Kick-Off event. Captains will sign-up seven team members.
   
   
4. Organize a group to plan a Kick-Off event. Let your county Extension agent know when the event is scheduled including time and place.
   
   
5. Answer questions about Walk Across Texas throughout eight weeks. Site managers/coordinators are the person to contact the county Extension agent regarding any issue or concern during Walk Across Texas.
   
   
6. Post weekly team mileage results each Monday for the entire group using methods appropriate for your group such as a newsletter, bulletin boards, or a road map in an area where everyone can check it (get a Texas Road map from the Texas Department of Transportation in Austin).
   
   
7. Organize a group to plan a Don't Give Up Now activity to be done about the 4th week to encourage people to keep walking. Let your county Extension agent know when the event is scheduled including time and place.
   
   
8. Organize a group to plan a Wrap-Up or Celebration activity for your group. Let your county Extension agent know when the event is scheduled including time and place.

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Captains
Team captains enter all data on http://walkacrosstexas.tamu.edu including Individual Registration Forms, Wrap-Up and weekly mileage on the Captain's Mileage Log. Captains must have access to a computer with Internet and e-mail access. If the captain cannot do this, she/he may designate someone else to enter data for the team. If no one on a team is able to access http://walkacrosstexas.tamu.edu, the captain may send the information to you by FAXing, e-mailing or sending it so you or your staff or volunteers can enter their team data. Almost all public libraries have Internet access to enter the data.

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Captain's Duties
Here is a list of tasks team captains need to do. These are found on http://walkacrosstexas.tamu.edu.

1. List your name and the names of the seven team members along with contact information on the Team Registration Form. E-mail the names and contact information for your team members from the Team Registration Form to your county Extension agent -- she needs participants' first and last names, e-mail, phone number, and address if possible. Only first names will be used to enter your team members' mileage on the web site -- no personal information will be posted on the web site. County Extension agents will use this information to communicate with you and your team members.
   
   
2. Give the following forms to each of your team members to complete:
   
   
   • Individual Registration Form (Team members return this to you before Walk Across Texas starts.)
     
     
   • Individual Mileage Log (Team members write their daily miles on this; they send their total miles for the week to you, the captain, each week; they never turn this log in to anyone.)
     
     
   • Wrap-Up (Team members complete when Walk Across Texas is over and turn this in to you to enter on the website.)
     
     
3. Before Walk Across Texas starts, ask your team members to complete the Individual Registration Form and turn it in to you.
   
   
4. You or your designate must complete the Team Captain Registration form on the website before any other entry can be made. Click here to complete the Team Captain Registration form. Make sure you remember your User ID so you can enter your team's mileage each week.
   
   
5. Click here to register your team using the information from their Individual Registration Forms.
   
   
6. Once Walk Across Texas starts, you or your designate, will go to the website by Sunday night each week and enter team members' mileage on the Captains' Mileage Log. Encourage team members to get their weekly mileage totals to you by Friday or Saturday each week so you can enter their mileage by Sunday each week. Click here to enter your team's mileage on the Captains' Mileage Log.

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Team Members' Instructions
Here is a list of tasks team members need to do. These are found on http://walkacrosstexas.tamu.edu.

1. Your team captain will give you these forms to complete:
   
   
   • Individual Registration Form
   • Individual Mileage Log
   • Wrap-Up
     
     
2. Complete the Individual Registration Form right away and return it to your team captain.
   
   
3. Record your mileage and pounds lost (if you are trying to lose weight) on the Individual Mileage Log.
   
   
4. Call, e-mail, FAX your total mileage to your captain by Friday or Saturday each week.
   
   
5. When Walk Across Texas is over, complete the Wrap-Up and return it to your team captain to enter on the website.

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Train Site Managers and Captains
Provide a training for site managers and those captains who can come too. Site managers and captains are volunteers -- if they are well trained, they can field a lot of questions during start-up. For large sites, you can make an appointment to go to the site and explain the program process as well as demonstrate how to enter data at the website to the site manager and captains. You could also choose to do this training at the Kick-Off event at the site. In smaller counties, you may want to have a workshop for your Kick-Off event which includes this information as well as how to walk safely, choose walking shoes, calibrate pedometers, determine mileage by driving the route, identify safe walking places, etc.

To make sure you cover everything, you may use the cover letter/sign-up letter. To train them in how to enter data, fill in the data sheets with information and then show them how to enter it on http://walkacrosstexas.tamu.edu To prevent confusion, name the demonstration team "Practice" so we can delete these later.

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Train Your County Office Staff
Train your county office staff so they can answer many of the questions about Walk Across Texas. One way to help staff understand Walk Across Texas is to get a team going in the office. Once they have done it, staff are much better able to answer questions. Have a workshop to teach staff how to register their teams on-line and enter their mileage. If you can manage it, starting the staff at least a week or two before Walk Across Texas starts in your community could help them answer questions much more effectively.

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Checking on County, Site, School Progress
The Walk Across Texas website can give everyone up-to-date information on a team's progress. Visit http://walkacrosstexas.tamu.edu to see:

• your team mileage or your team pounds lost totals.
• a summary of miles walked or a summary of pounds lost for all teams in your county.
• a summary of miles walked or a summary of pounds lost for your group (school, company, etc.).
• a map to compare your team's progress to the leading team at your site or in your county. You will see two lines -- one will be the leader and the other will be your team. The lines will continue if your team reaches the border so you can also see how far the teams have walked to come back.

Sometimes, depending on the size of a county, company, church or school, a Texas road map may be used to track mileage for the top 10 teams each week. The road map may be kept in a central place where participants can regularly check the progress of their team. The site manager/coordinator can download all of the team totals for their company, school, etc. group and post the top 10 teams on the map (more than 10 gets really hard to do, but you can do as many as you want) or note in some other way for your group of participants to see; for example, you could post a list or table showing rank and miles walked.

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Kick-Off/Sign-Up
Kick-Off has two basic goals: To get more people signed up and to acquaint them with the process of Walk Across Texas.

Work with site manager to set a date and time to have the Kick-Off at each large worksite, school, church, or other group in urban areas. A site manager may be a wellness coordinator or anyone who will volunteer to coordinate Walk Across Texas at their location. Pick different dates to start each large site so you can be available for any last minute questions.

Ask the designated site manager at each location to notify all departments and/or employees about the opportunity to participate in Walk Across Texas -- this may be done by e-mail, or other ways such as internal newsletters and bulletin boards, the site manager thinks appropriate for the selected site.

Kick-Off may be as simple as identifying a specific time and location at the site where people can come to pick up a Captain's Packet to form their team. The Captain's packet will include a Team Registration Form, Captain's Log, 8 Individual Mileage Logs and 8 Wrap-Ups. Participants can download these forms from http://walkacrosstexas.tamu.edu.

Some sites may want to have a Kick-Off with activities, food, and a speaker. Some sites may want to have instructional sessions on topics such as stretching, cool-down activities, buying shoes, avoiding heat exhaustion, pedestrian safety, etc.

Some may want to walk the first mile together. For this type of Kick-Off, you will need to help identify a place where people can walk this first mile. Walking the first mile can be made more fun if you have mile markers along the way saying how far you have come. To do this, use a Texas map to find a route across the state. Using the mileage information on the map, identify cities along the way to the opposite Texas border you might see if a person really walked across Texas. Each mile marker would identify a city and say, "Welcome to _____. You have walked ____ miles." The last marker would say, "Congratulations! You have walked across Texas." (Thanks to Lupe Landeros, CEA-FCS and her Brazos county advisory team for this idea.)

In less populated counties, agents may choose to have one big Kick-Off event at a centrally located place such as a centrally located park. Or, you may choose to have a combination of Kick-Off approaches -- one big Kick-Off and then a few smaller ones at larger sites within the county.

Here is a list of planning activities for Kick-Off:

1. Select a special starting place for Kick-Off activity like a local mall, famous bridge, a community center, or courthouse -- need a place that is easy to get to for most people and a place where a lot of people would be anyway like a mall on Saturday.
   
   
2. Select a place for the Kick-Off activity that will allow people to start walking; the mileage walked for Kick-Off can be added to their first day mileage total.
   
   
3. Decide on date and time -- schedule the Kick-Off event about 1 week before the official start date of Walk Across Texas -- media coverage of this event results in more people wanting to sign up.
   
   
4. Decide who will make contact to secure place for Kick-Off.
   
   
5. Do you need permits or police escorts because a street or highway is involved?
   
   
6. Plan for bad weather and alternate date.
   
   
7. Identify specifically who will help with this event.
   
   
8. Plan to have a place/booth where people can sign up and obtain brochures, Team Registration Forms, and Captain's packets.
   
   
9. Invite media to attend.
   
   
10. Identify someone to take pictures of people starting on their Walk Across Texas.

Other Kick-Off suggestions:

• Avoid making screening activities a part of the kickoff event.
  
  
  • Screenings involving blood work such as blood glucose or cholesterol require the presence of a clinical agency to do these procedures and handle the blood samples properly; even offering free blood pressure screening requires a clinical agency.
    
    
  • Blood work and blood pressure require planning for abnormal results including where will these people be referred and who will be available to counsel them.
    
    
  • Blood work for cholesterol most likely would not be returned for at least a week; returning results to people might be difficult; even mailing abnormal results requires a phone number the person receiving the results could call for advice, counseling, and referral.
    
    
• Caution!!! Avoid doing any tests for flexibility, stamina, and strength -- too many liability problems if someone gets hurt.
  
  
• Kick-Off activities could include:
  
  
  • Demonstrations of how to get started safely and walk to reduce possibility of injury
  • Pedestrian safety for walkers and runners
  • Bicycle safety for those riding outside
  • Demonstrations of warm up stretches
  • How to choose the right shoe
  • Demonstrations of how to determine target heart rate
  • Avoiding heat exhaustion and heat stroke by drinking adequate amounts water
  • Protecting against sunburn
  • Demonstrations of how to calibrate and use pedometers and determine mileage by driving the route
  • Showing Walk Across Texas map and telling where it will be posted and when results will be posted weekly
  • Showing participants what winning teams will win
  • Merchants could be there to sell shoes, pedometers, music tapes to use when walking, T-shirts for teams -- great way to get local merchants to support Walk Across Texas; could have drawings for free shoes, etc. or coupons

These are just ideas -- you may do whatever you want to kickoff Walk Across Texas.

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Mapping Site Progress Across Texas
Showing the progress of teams across Texas will vary depending on the size of the site and how much time the site coordinator wants to devote to this activity.

One option to track progress is to compare one team's progress to the leading team on http://walkacrosstexas.tamu.edu. Two lines will be generated, allowing participants to compare their team's mileage to the leader in site or county.

Other groups may want to see team progress on an actual map posted somewhere allowing participants to see how their team is doing. To do this, get a regular Texas Road Map from the Texas Department of Transportation or any other source. Use a highlighter to mark a route from East to West Texas borders; some groups have chosen to walk from the northern border of the Panhandle to Padre Island, instead. However, you choose to walk, from east to west or north to south, make sure your mileage is at least 820 miles (it is OK to be more).

If you are going to post team mileage progress on an actual map, make a team symbol for each team. Make a map key showing which symbol represents each team. For example, if you wish to have a tennis shoe represent each team, make a list of each team name and give each one a number; the Road Toads might be number one and the Road Hogs might be team 2. Tennis shoe 1 on the map would show how far the Road Toads have walked while tennis shoe 2 would show how far the Road Hogs walked.

Trying to map mileage for 20 or more teams on the same map can be a difficult task. Some sites choose to show only the top ten teams each week and then just list the total mileage for the other teams. Other sites choose to try to identify all of the teams with a symbol and show where each team is on the map–a large number of teams may make this impossible. Someone must convert the mileage of each team shown on the map to scale.

Other groups may choose to simply make a table listing teams and mileage in descending order each week. The http://walkacrosstexas.tamu.edu website will print this for sites or counties.

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What Counts/Equivalency Measures
While most people walk, other activities may be counted. Activities done at a moderate level for 20 minutes in a row that make you breathe hard and sweat may be counted as one mile. Two ten-minute sessions done at a moderate level, may be counted as one mile. Activities done at a brisk level for 15 minutes in a row that make you breathe hard and sweat may be counted as one mile. Bikers get 1 mile credit for every 2 miles they ride their bike.

During Walk Across Texas, team members may participate in Fun Runs, etc. for charitable organizations, and count those miles towards their total for the week in Walk Across Texas. Weight lifting and other resistance activities should not be counted. Passive exercise machines that only tone muscles should not be counted either. Click here for other mileage equivalents.

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Weight Loss
If your team wants to try losing weight while doing Walk Across Texas, team members should turn in the number of pounds lost to their team captain along with their mileage. Pounds lost can be entered on the web site at the same time captains enter mileage each week.

Teams wishing to lose weight as well as increase physical activity may benefit from the Weight Loss Series. You may e-mail or mail teams wanting to lose weight a lesson each week of Walk Across Texas. Click here for Weight Loss Series.

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Walk Across Texas in Schools

1. The students in a class are a team. Teachers do not register individual students -- they register the class as a team. Each school class will be a team. Classes compete within their school to see which one walks from the East to the West Texas border and which team walks the farthest during the eight weeks. Sometimes, schools compete with other schools within their district. However you choose to do Walk Across Texas, it is a great way to increase students' physical activity level.
   
   
2. Teachers set aside time each day to walk with students or, they find parent volunteers to do this. Many schools like to walk right after lunch, but any time is fine.
   
   
3. Schools often choose to have a map of Texas in a place where students can check to see how far their team has walked compared to other teams in the school. A volunteer can download all the mileage totals on Monday each week, and show the ranking of the teams on the maps. Another option is to announce the ranking or to place the ranking on a bulletin board. Texas is about 800+ miles across, depending on where you choose to start and finish. Once a team reaches the other side of the state, they should turn around and head back the other way because the team walking the most miles during the eight weeks is recognized too.
   
   
4. Just as with the community Walk Across Texas, the agent, advisory group or school must decide on a route across the state and determine the amount of mileage for the route. Schools may choose to walk from a northern border to a southern border such as Padre Island or from East to West Texas. Aim at keeping the total distance around 830 miles.
   
   
5. To determine how far a class walks, measure the mileage around the school where they will be walking. If there is a track with known mileage, this will be easy. If the classes will be walking around the school grounds and not a track, you may have to help them determine mileage by using a pedometer (make sure it is calibrated correctly) or have someone drive the route if that is possible, noting the mileage on a speedometer. Another option is to credit one mile for 20 minutes of continuous walking. So, if 28 children walked 1/2 mile 5 days each week, your class could enter 70 miles a week.
   
   
6. Each class must have a team name. Up to three classes may be entered on-line on each Teacher Registration Form.
   
   
7. Teachers with more than three classes, must start another Teacher Registration Form and list those on a second on-line Teacher Registration Form.
   
   
8. Teachers or their designate (parent volunteer or student) should enter each class's total miles each week by Sunday evening each week.
   
   
9. If older students want to keep their own mileage and form their own teams, use the regular Walk Across Texas forms and procedures.
   
   
10. To start Walk Across Texas at a school or district, you must visit either the superintendent or principal. This may vary depending on the district policies. Ask for someone who can be the contact person or site manager such as a school nurse or physical education teacher. Sometimes, if you know a teacher or school nurse, you may work with them to get administrative approval. Your cause will be easier than in the past because schools are mandated to provide physical education even though no funding was provided for this.
    
    
11. Start with a Kick-Off activity to raise students' and teachers' interest. Explain the program and provide some sort of opportunity to walk to kickoff things. For example, you might have a set of signs that take the students across the state by welcoming them to various towns along the way to El Paso. Each sign could name a town, note how far they have walked if they were that place on the competition map, and then end with a welcome to El Paso -- you walked ____ miles!
    
    
12. You may supplement the walking with the Youth Series; this is just an option.
    
    
13. During the fourth week, you might schedule an activity to raise the enthusiasm to keep going.
    
    
14. After Walk Across Texas ends, schedule a recognition event to acknowledge both the class/team walking from border to border and walking the most. Make sure everyone gets one of the certificates acknowledging they walked in Walk Across Texas.
    
    
15. Whenever possible help students understand the importance of staying active rather than sitting and watching television or playing video games.
    
    
16. While any pictures of children require parental permission, check with the schools to see what their policy is regarding this. Pictures in the local papers with a story about Walk Across Texas might stimulate interest in parents and others in the community. Try having results reported at PTO meetings if possible.
    
    

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Don't Give Up Now Activity
Goal: Motivate participants during about the fourth week to complete the eight weeks of Walk Across Texas. (Past data analysis showed people tend to give up about the fourth week.)

Organize an event with activities to help people continue walking for the last four weeks. Here are some ideas:

• Organize a "best legs" contest after a few weeks of walking.
• Set up a screen that will expose only legs or post instant photo of legs on bulletin board.
• Have participants vote on "best legs."
• Award a humorous prize to the winner.
• Have most creative or silliest team name contest.
• Sponsor a "weight control" activity.
• Have an entire team weigh themselves as a group on freight scales.
• Base the contest on total pounds lost or the average pounds lost per individual by weighing on freight scale at end.
• Sponsor a "Hollywood Stars" contest.
  • Have each team member sign up to be their favorite Hollywood Star.
  • Everyone's weight starts as zero.
  • Post everyone's weight loss or gain as -3 or +4, etc.
  • Greatest loss at end wins.
  • Could have this be a competition between teams or team members.
• Hold a healthiest, best tasting dessert contest.
• Have a nutrition fair.
  • Have separate booths for different nutrition-focused topics.
  • Have plenty of free samples and recipes available.
• Hold a dirtiest walking shoe contest.
• Hold an ethnic food fair where cultural recipes have been modified to be healthier, and give prize for best tasting.
• Have a contest for best looking team t-shirts or best team banner in walking parade.
• Determine average ages of teams and recognize oldest and youngest.
• School classes can compete with each other, teachers vs. students and if students win, principal will dress in clown costume, etc.

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Motivation -- Prizes, Incentives, and Awards
Walk Across Texas has always been a free program so everyone can participate. If your county or some of your sites want to have prizes and help get them donated, you and/or your advisory committee can make that happen. However, groups get really tired of finding prizes and want to avoid this work. Having only a recognition/celebration activity and certificates is OK.

Prizes and fundraising are not encouraged, but if participants want to do this, they can.

• When Walk Across Texas begins, decide what awards, if any, will be offered, and decide who will obtain the prizes.
• If many large groups are participating, try to coordinate so sponsors are not being asked multiple times to provide prizes.
• If prizes are desired (only certificates and no prizes is an option; may decide to collect small registration fee like $1-$2 to pay for these if no one wants to solicit donated prizes).
  

Here are some achievements you can recognize with awards and recognition:

• Team(s) and/or individuals reaching destination in Texas first, second, third.
• Team(s) and/or individuals walking most miles first, second, third.
• Teams entering completed Captains' Registration, Individual Registration, weekly mileage on Captain's Log, Wrap-Ups for their entire team by a preset date (i.e., two weeks after Walk Across Texas officially ends) will be recognized or have their names placed into a pot; name(s) will be drawn for award(s).
• Present awards, prizes, and recognition to winning team.
• Participants attending all Health Breaks or Weight Loss Series or Youth Series could become eligible for prize drawing.
  

Several options for certificates are possible depending on the size of the group:

• Captains could insert each of their team members' names into one of the certificates found on http://walkacrosstexas.tamu.edu, and then print a personalized one for each team member. Captains and/or the site manager and/or county agent could sign each certificate and/or use one of the signature programs to insert a signature. Click here for certificates.
• Agents could do the certificates in smaller counties for all participants.

Incentives/awards are more effective if:

• Participants know what rewards will be from the beginning at Kick-Off.
• Incentive is something people really want, although most participants will try hard to win even small things like t-shirts, recipe books, water bottles, sweat bands, and free pair of walking shoes. Some groups have given larger awards including month membership to fitness center, treadmill, dinner at a nice restaurant, movie tickets, plane tickets, or weekend trip.
• Participants are reminded of reward during 8 weeks as well as at beginning.
• Participants believe anyone can win including their team.
• "Losing" participants are given something -- at least a certificate of participation.
• Rewards are things such as dinner with a local dignitary, or names posted in courthouse or mall, article in newspaper with their pictures, proclamation of their team's day from county commissioners' court, etc.

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Celebration and Awards Activity
Goal: Provide recognition of "winners" and all other participants.

1. Select date and time.
   
2. Find appropriate location.
   
3. Notify your county Extension agent of event time and place.
   
4. Planning a program that includes recognition of winners, awarding prizes, certificates and some fun activities.
   
5. Program suggestions -- choose one appropriate for your group or create your own.
   
   
   • Picnic, lunch, pot luck supper with activities like taste tests for best tasting low fat dessert or low salt snack or low sugar dessert or low fat Mexican food.
   • Have an enthusiastic speaker to talk about the benefits of continuing to walk. Short, snappy speeches are good! Identify the American Volkssport Association as a great way to join with others who want to continue walking not only in your county but around the world. See their website for further information: http://www.ava.org/. Really motivated groups might want to form a walking club in your county with or without any connection to American Volkssport Association.
   • Have slide or video show showing key events during Walk Across Texas for your group; people love seeing themselves and their co-workers, friends, neighbors, and family.
   • Present total number of miles walked by your group; convert that to total number of times your group walked around the world (25,000 miles is around the world once).
   • Present other facts like oldest (with their permission) and youngest participants; funniest team name, funniest or best looking team t-shirts, best looking team banner -- any fun facts pertaining to Walk Across Texas you think your group would enjoy.

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Phone Follow-Up Survey
The goals of Walk Across Texas is to help people increase their physical activity level, and establish a habit of walking that continues even after the program ends. The only way to measure that is to conduct a phone survey about six months or a year after Walk Across Texas has ended, asking people if they are still walking. This is not a required activity of Walk Across Texas -- it is entirely optional. Click here for a copy of a phone survey (note: this survey is in WordPerfect format). Please let us know what you find or ideas on additional questions needed. You do not need to call every participant. See Extension publication D-1340, Sampling in Extension, to determine how many people you might call to get an adequate sample or call Carol Rice at 979-845-3850 or e-mail at ca-rice@tamu.edu

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Continuing to Walk After Walk Across Texas
Many people would like to continue walking after they complete the eight weeks of Walk Across Texas. One excellent option is to join the American Volkssport Association. See their website for further information: http://www.ava.org/