Four Copper Country elementary schools join the Building Healthier Communities program

Four Copper Country elementary schools join the Blue Cross Blue Shield Building Health Communities Program. The 16-year-old program has impacted more than 57,000 students in the state and creates healthier school environments through physical and emotional initiatives to reduce childhood obesity, prevent chronic diseases, improve academic performance, and address mental health challenges.

Building Healthier Community’s elementary program, Reducing Health Disparities, seeks to increase the amount of healthy foods students consume in their diet, increase physical activity, decrease screen time, and improve nutritional and physical behaviors through education. In the western Upper Peninsula, four elementary schools will participate in the program, including Houghton Elementary, Lake Linden Elementary, Baraga schools’ Philip LaTendresse Elementary, and TR Davis Elementary in the Dollar Bay Tamarack city school district.

Building Healthier Communities program is supported by multiple state organizations, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Michigan Middle School and Elementary Principal Association, the Michigan Fitness Foundation, MSU Extension, Michigan Virtual, OK 2 SAY, SHAPE Michigan, the United Dairy Industry of Michigan, and the University of Michigan and Wayne State University Center for Health and Community Impact. Those interested in learning more about the Building Healthier Communities program and the four Copper Country elementary schools participating in the 2024/25 school year can find more details here.