Andalusia Elementary School was one of 28 schools in Alabama that was selected as a 2016-17 Be Healthy School by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama to receive a $10,000 grant.

Blue Cross and Blue Shields Community Relations Manager Jeff Adams presented AES with a banner and check for the grant on Thursday afternoon.

“Since 2012, we have given out $1,000,000 in grants to more than 100 schools statewide,” Adams said. “Over the last 30 years, childhood obesity has risen drastically, and this grant program something that we started to help schools combat the issue.”

“It is very exciting and thankful to be selected for the grant,” AES principal Alane Brunson said. “We want to use this to promote and increase physical activity among students to combat childhood obesity.”

AES applied for the grant back in the spring by sending a list of goals and things they were going to implement at the school to combat the increasing rates of childhood obesity.

“I heard about the grant program from several people, but the first was actually Michele Gerlach from the Andalusia Star-News,” Brunson said. “After looking into it, I knew it was something that we wanted to try.”

Brunson said that the school has several different projects that the grant will go towards.

“We have a quite a few projects in the works,” Brunson said. “One thing that we have already implemented is “Brain Breaks,” which allows the students to get up and move around at different times in class. The kids seem to really enjoy it and say that they feel energized when they go back to classroom work.”

With the grant, Brunson said that she hopes it not only helps the school, but also the community.

“We want to use it to educate our students here at school,” Brunson said. “We hope that in turn it will spill over into the community.”