Victor Valley Union High School District Case Study: More Staff Taking Part

Victor Valley Union High School District (VVUHSD) in California has nearly 1,200 employees across multiple school sites. When its previous wellness vendor became too expensive and too limited, the district switched to YuMuuv. With themed 30–45-day challenges and cross-site teams of three, active participation grew from about 200 to 260 employees – above the district's engagement goal.

At a Glance

Organization: Victor Valley Union High School District, a public school district with multiple locations
Team: nearly 1,200 employees
Program: monthly and seasonal themed challenges of 30–45 days, team competitions across school sites, prizes and milestone rewards
Result: active users up from about 200 to 260, above the 10–15% engagement goal; 49 teams of three in the latest team challenge

Background: Why the District Switched

VVUHSD had used a wellness tracking platform from another vendor. It worked at first, but dramatic price increases made it hard to justify, and employees were frustrated by limited engagement features, inconsistent participation and few customization options. Deshawn Dickinson, who oversees the district's wellness initiatives, led the search for a more sustainable and user-friendly alternative.

The Challenge

Engagement: make challenges interactive and fun so more people take part.
Scale: support employees across multiple school sites.
Customization: tailor challenges to the district's needs.
Affordability and longevity: avoid dramatic price increases over time.

How VVUHSD Runs the Program

Pilot first: a small-scale test checked the user experience, and participant feedback shaped the full rollout.
Themed challenges: monthly and seasonal themes, such as “Let's Move Together”, a Valentine's Day team challenge in February, and “Hop into Spring” in March and April. Find more themes in the wellness challenge calendar.
The right length: challenges run for 30–45 days, which kept motivation higher than the longer challenges used before.
Cross-site teams of three: employees from different school sites team up, building camaraderie, accountability and friendly competition.
Prizes and milestone rewards: Visa gift cards and wellness items such as walking pads, stationary bikes and portable home gyms, plus random milestone rewards during each challenge.
Device support: the district worked with YuMuuv on Google Fit and Health Connect syncing for Android users, and manual step entry is available for Samsung Health users.

Results

Active users up from about 200 to 260, above the 10–15% engagement goal.
49 teams of three competed in the latest team challenge, and over 150 employees took part in group challenges across sites.
More accountability: employees said their teams motivated them to keep going.
Less burnout: the 30–45-day format kept interest high, and people who had dropped out of longer challenges came back.

Lessons and Next Steps

The district also noted areas to improve: step counts can differ between apps such as Google Fit and Samsung Health, and staff asked for more visual customization, branded banners, better chat, personalized challenge descriptions and richer admin analytics. Looking ahead, VVUHSD plans to:

grow participation to at least 300 employees by the next contract renewal;
add challenges for hydration, mindfulness and nutrition;
streamline challenge management and reporting.

Key Takeaways for School Districts and Public Organizations

Pilot before rollout to catch issues early.
Keep challenges to 30–45 days to avoid fatigue.
Build teams across sites to connect people who rarely meet.
Choose a platform with predictable pricing so the program can last.

For more ideas, see how to involve more employees and the rewards guide, or read more case studies. Book a demo to plan your district's program.

Case Studies