It took them almost four months to do it, but HISD teams have collected two of the top three prizes in a national weight-loss challenge—earning them both lighter frames and heavier wallets.

Both teams were formed at the same district campus: Judson Robinson Elementary School, and one group will take home a $10,000 prize at the national winner of the HealthyWage Matchup, while the other will split a purse of $3,000 as the third-place winner.

Team Bravo 5, which consisted of Robinson ES faculty (and sisters) Susana Perez and Yudith Vazquez; their brother Jorge Vazquez; their cousin, José Ortega; and another Robinson ES teacher, Sonia Cedillo; collected the top prize and national bragging rights after dropping 167 pounds collectively—or 16.59 percent of their body weight.

Team Xtreme, meanwhile, lost 143 pounds, or 15.26 percent of their collective body weight. That team was made up entirely of Robinson staff members: teachers Deordre Adams and Heather LaDay, and Apollo 20 tutors Quynh-Anh Cao, Talia Grundy, and Jennifer Harwell.  

HISD had 467 participants in the contest, which lasted from March 20 through July 4. Collectively, they lost a total of 2,968.6 pounds—or an average of 6.36 pounds per person.

You can read more about what the winners did to lose the weight and see before and after photos at the HealthyWage blog.

• See Team Bravo 5’s video. (Quicktime video)