Out of 46 schools that received 2019 Michigan School Wellness Awards, 18 of the schools (or 39%) are using the Project Healthy Schools (PHS) program. Most of these schools started PHS as part of the Building Healthy Communities partnership with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. The Michigan School Wellness Award program is a collaboration between the Michigan Department of Education, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, the United Dairy Industry of Michigan, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Michigan Action for Healthy Kids and the Healthy Kids, Healthy Michigan Coalition.
The program encourages schools statewide to create healthy school environments by establishing school wellness teams, completing the Healthy School Action Tools and implementing sustainable policy and environmental changes. Schools that have achieved all of these elements are recognized with the top level Gold award. The winning PHS schools include:
Gold Award Winners:
- Allendale Middle School, Allendale
- John D. Pierce Middle School, Waterford
- MacDonald Middle School, East Lansing
- Negaunee Middle School, Negaunee
- Portland Middle School, Portland
Silver Award Winners:
- Cherryland Middle School, Elk Rapids
- Creekside Middle School, Dexter
- DeWitt Middle School, DeWitt
- East Middle School, Plymouth
- Grass Lake Middle School, Grass Lake
- Powell Middle School, Washington
- St. Charles Borromeo Catholic School, Coldwater
- St. Mary Catholic School, Pinckney
- Thunder Bay Junior High School, Alpena
- University Preparatory Academy Middle School, Detroit
- Vista Charter Academy, Grand Rapids
Bronze Award Winners
- Bentley Middle School, Burton
- Pittsford Middle/High School, Pittsford
Congratulations to the above schools, their administrators, wellness champions and wellness teams for providing a shining example of what it takes to build a healthy school community.
