DANVILLE — Almost three dozen Danville High School teachers are losers.

Or at least they hope to be.

Thirty-two teachers have publicly stepped up to the scales in a school-wide weight-loss contest — all with the aim of becoming svelte shadows of their former selves.

“Snow days and too much free time” led to the contest idea, according to organizer Rachel Brown, the lead teacher of GLOBAL House and a DHS math instructor.

“When I’m home sitting on the couch I start dreaming up activities.”

Feeling a little soft after the break, Brown decided it was time to lose some pounds.

She started enlisting co-workers for support and one-by-one they joined her. Before long, 10 men and 22 women were putting money in the pot with the goal of lithely collecting the prize at the end of the year.

“We have weekly weigh-ins just so we can see our progress,” she said. The contest started at the end of February and will finish in June at the final weigh-in. The prize will be split between the man and woman showing the largest percentage weight loss.

“I don’t know exactly what everybody else is doing, but we’ve been sharing tips with one another,” she said.

Judy Pendleton, the school’s certified nurse, said once the number of participants grew, she and Brown decided to dovetail the contest into GLOBAL House’s current classroom emphasis on health care. The “house” concept takes a student-led, thematic approach to curriculum, with several disciplines encompassing that theme at one time.

Pendleton has been offering low-fat recipes and weight-loss techniques in a weekly newsletter and some of the teachers have posted their daily progress charts to bring students into the support circle.

“Part of my job as the certified school nurse is health education and the well-being of staff and the kids,” Pendleton said.

Pendleton is the official judge of the contest, responsible for the initial weigh-in and the final one. She said percentage loss was being used to make it fair for contestants of varying sizes.

“I think they picked me because they know HIPAA (privacy) regulations won’t allow me to tell their weight to everyone,” she said. “I guess they felt safe with me.”

As part of the semester unit, the school also will hold a health fair in April that will offer health education and health-career options through a partnership with Lakeview College of Nursing.

Angie DeMonte, a special education teacher, is one of the participants who posted her progress chart on the classroom wall.

And she was having a particularly difficult Friday because her cooking class was making cupcakes to celebrate the birth of a teacher’s grandchild. The smell of warm cupcakes floated through the classroom as DeMonte mixed icing.

“I’ve been sticking to my healthy eating,” she said, “but in this class we’re always having a celebration with snacks or a party. This smells really good.”

DeMonte has set a modest goal for herself, but despite counting calories and increasing her exercise routine, she is still awaiting big results. She said the classroom posting of her chart, and its appearance on her Facebook page, is supposed to give her added motivation.

“I’ve been a little discouraged because I’ve been working hard,” she said. “But it’s good to know people are backing you. It hasn’t been easy.”

The difficulty of her fight is compounded by a commute to Indianapolis before and after the school day — leading to lots of snack and fast-food opportunities.

“I’m starving when school’s over and I tend to have a lot of meals on the go,” she said. “I’ve been finding and picking healthy solutions at the fast-food restaurants. I’ve just got to start putting that (exercise) DVD in when I get home and I’ve got to press play.”

And was it mentioned she’s getting married in three months?

“My fiancé won’t exercise with me, but he’ll cook dinner and motivate me,” she said. “I’m afraid all of the people on our honeymoon cruise are going to be skinny. The stress level has been very high lately, but I know I need to keep going.”

If she doesn’t see some progress soon, DeMonte said sabotaging the others’ progress with mailbox treats would not be beneath her.

Pendleton said keeping a calorie journal, which notes type of food, portion size and time of day it was eaten, is one of the most effective tools in battling weight.

“You’d be surprised at the things you put in your mouth over the course of the day,” she said.

Although this DHS battle of the bulge isn’t taught in history class, students have been following their teachers’ daily progress like their grades depend upon it.

“I’ve been real open with the students about it,” Brown said, noting her goal is a lofty 45 pounds.

She’s already lost almost 10 pounds in two weeks and coming to class to mark her progress has been a joy to this point. She said she has kept a calorie journal and tried to implement exercise into her daily routine — like answering e-mails in her classroom atop an exercise ball.

“The kids know exactly what I do and how much I’ve lost,” she said. “They come in every day and check the board. I know if I don’t do well, they won’t let me forget it.”