Building Healthy Communities

Now accepting applications

The Center for School Health in the College of Education at Wayne State University along with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and the Michigan Fitness Foundation invite Michigan elementary schools to apply for a Building Healthy Communities grant to implement a healthy school transformation during the 2012–2013 school year.

How to apply

Grant responsibilities and benefits are detailed in the Request for Applications which is available, with the application, at: coe.wayne.edu/centerforschoolhealth/programs.php or by clicking the Apply now button.

Applications are due by 5 p.m. Eastern time on March 30, 2012, for the 2012–2013 school year.

If you have questions

For answers to specific questions about this program, the RFA or the application, contact Dr. Annie Murphy, associate director of the WSU Center for School Health, at a.murphy@wayne.edu. Answers will be provided to you by email; but please include your phone number and best time to reach you during the school day in case a phone call is needed to answer your question.

About the grant

Building Healthy Communities: Engaging Elementary Schools Through Partnership is a comprehensive, school-wide childhood obesity prevention program led by the Center for School Health in the College of Education at Wayne State University. The Building Healthy Communities partners share a core commitment to decreasing the risk and incidence of childhood obesity, especially in Michigan's low-income urban areas.

Recipients recieve

Selected schools will receive a healthy school transformation package of program materials, curriculum, equipment, professional development, mentoring and technical support valued at $30,000. This package aims to create school-wide environments that support education and opportunities for healthy eating and physical activity for students and their families.

Together, eight components in the Building Healthy Communities program engage principals, classroom teachers, physical education teachers, librarians and media specialists, after-school program leaders, other school staff and parents to provide consistent messages encouraging children to choose healthy foods and be physically active throughout the school day and beyond.