The Poplarville Lower Elementary School recently received a Healthy School Award from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Mississippi Foundation.

According to a press release by Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi Foundation, Poplarville Lower Elementary School was one of the schools to receive the award, which is in its fourth year. The school will receive $25,000 for its wellness program and will also host a Healthy Day Awards Celebration Day to commemorate the award.

Ocean Springs High School was selected as the “healthiest school in Mississippi” and the other award winner school was Oxford Intermediate School.

Winning schools are chosen based on criteria that include how a school promotes a healthier lifestyle, physical activity, staff wellness and tobacco-free lifestyles among students, parents and staff.

“The Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi Foundation is encouraged by the positive changes we are seeing in our K-12 schools,” Sheila Grogan, executive director of the Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi Foundation, said in the release. “When schools create cultures that emphasize wellness, it helps to instill healthy habits across the organization from faculty and staff to students and parents. These are lessons that will last a lifetime, helping to shape a healthier future for our state.”

The Healthy School Award Program focuses on promoting healthy practices so students can reach their full potential academically, the release states.

“Here in Poplarville and all throughout Mississippi, we are focusing on promoting a healthy lifestyle to our students at a young age, so they can take these lessons with them for the rest of their life,” Poplarville School District Superintendent Carl Merritt said. “Mrs. Henderson, Poplarville Lower Elementary’s principal, the teachers and everyone in the administration have done a great job at the Lower Elementary to promote a healthy lifestyle to all the children.”