Spartan Strong - November 2025
Find your focus
Join us and learn practical techniques to quiet the mind, release stress and reconnect with the present. Through immersive guided practice, we will work on focusing our mental lens, deep breathing, body awareness and more.
Classes will be held Mondays from Nov. 3 to Dec. 8* with two time slot options: 3-4 p.m. or 4:15-5:15 p.m. You can attend any or all sessions — whatever fits your schedule.
📆Mondays | Nov. 3, 10, 17, Dec. 1, 8
⏰3-4 p.m. or 4:15-5:15 p.m.
📍Gates Chili Operations Center
*No class on Nov. 24
October's Spartan Strong improv classes were filled with fun and creativity. Staff members stepped outside their comfort zones, connected with coworkers and discovered the mood-boosting benefits of play.
Spartans stepped up to the Step Challenge, recording 23,696,066 steps in September! Great job tracking and working towards your goals!
The challenge may be over, but there’s no reason to slow down! Keep finding ways to move throughout your day and feel the difference it makes!
Prize winners
Wade Walker
Becky Anderson
Darcy Butler
Harvesting health and wellness in our community
Fall Family Fest is back! With a focus on health, wellness and community connection, the annual event features fun games and activities, live performances, a flu vaccine clinic, the annual Spartan Way Coat Drive and more!
📆Thursday, Nov. 6
⏰ 5-7 p.m.
📍 Spartan Field House at Gates Chili High School
Did you know?
- Cigarette smoking is the number one risk factor for lung cancer
- In the United States, cigarette smoking is linked to about 80% to 90% of lung cancer deaths (CDC)
- People who smoke both cigarettes and electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes, e-cigs, or vapes) are four times more likely to develop lung cancer than people who only smoke cigarettes (American Cancer Society)
- All commercially available cigarettes and most e-cigarettes/vapes contain nicotine, which has known adverse health effects:
- Highly addictive
- Toxic to developing fetuses and a health risk for pregnant women
- Acute nicotine exposure can be toxic — children and adults have been poisoned by swallowing, breathing or absorbing vaping liquid through their skin or eyes
- Can harm brain development, which continues until about age 25
- Youth can start showing signs of nicotine addiction quickly, sometimes before the start of regular or daily use
- Using nicotine during adolescence can harm the parts of the brain that control attention, learning, mood and impulse control
- Adolescents who use nicotine may be at increased risk for future addiction to other drugs
- E-cigarette aerosol can contain harmful or potentially harmful substances other than nicotine:
- Cancer-causing chemicals
- Heavy metals such as nickel, tin, and lead
- Tiny particles that can be inhaled deep into the lungs
- Volatile organic compounds
- Flavorings such as diacetyl, a chemical linked to a serious lung disease — some flavorings used in e-cigarettes may be safe to eat but not to inhale because the lungs process substances differently than the gut
- Radon is also a significant cause of lung cancer
- Radon is an invisible, odorless gas that can get trapped and build up in the air inside homes or buildings
- People who breathe in high levels of radon over long periods have an increased risk of lung cancer
- The risk of lung cancer from radon exposure is higher for people who smoke than for people who don't smoke
➡️Get tips to help you quit smoking
➡️Learn how to test your home for radon and reduce the radon level if it is high
Each month, we'll be sharing healthy recipes you are encouraged to try at home!
This month, our recipe is pumpkin chocolate chip cookies! Perfectly spiced and lightly sweet, these soft and chewy cookies are flavored with pumpkin and cinnamon and loaded with chocolate chips and fiber-rich oats. Ingredients can be substituted to make cookies vegan/dairy-free or gluten-free (see below).
Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 8-10 minutes
Servings: 2 dozen
Ingredients
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter (see substitutions), softened
- ½ cup light or dark brown sugar
- ¼ cup cane sugar
- 1 large egg (see substitutions )
- ⅓ cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cups gluten-free flour blend (see substitutions)
- 1 cup quick-cooking oats (see substitutions )
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt
- ¾ cup dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips (see substitutions)
Directions
- Using a hand mixer and a mixing bowl (you may also use a stand mixer), cream together the butter, brown sugar, and cane sugar. Add the egg, pumpkin puree, and vanilla extract. Mix on medium speed until combined.
- To the bowl, add the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and fine salt. Mix on low speed until combined. Using a spatula, fold in the chocolate chips. Chill the batter for 20 minutes.
- While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 350℉. Line two large, rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Scoop or spoon 12 small mounds of dough (about 1 ½ tablespoons each) onto each parchment lined baking sheet. Press down ever so slightly.
- Bake one sheet at a time on the middle rack until the cookies are lightly golden brown on edges, 8-10 minutes. Remove from the oven. Allow cookies to rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Place the second baking sheet in the oven and bake as directed.
Ingredient substitutions
Dairy-free/vegan:
- Plant-based stick butter
- Dairy-free and vegan chocolate chips
- Make a flax "egg" by combining 1 tablespoon flax meal with 3 tablespoons water, stir well and let stand for 5 minutes
Gluten-free:
- Gluten-free flour
- Gluten-free oats (can also use old-fashioned rolled oats that are pulsed a few times in food processor)