Health Library

AZ kids are inspiring health—and winning!

February and March were big months for kids in Arizona. In February, our Walk On!? Kids Cooking Challenge brought together five finalists between the ages of 9 and 12 in a competition that let them showcase their creativity and culinary skills.

Inspiring health for all Arizonans is what excites us most here at Blue Cross® Blue Shield® of Arizona. We want to make it easier for every Arizonan to take their next step for health. One of the ways we do that is by creating community wellness programs that are available everyone.

This past February and March, two of our community projects saw kids winning big!

Kids in the Kitchen

Our annual Walk On! Kids Cooking Challenge in February brought together five finalists between the ages of 9 and 12 in a competition that let them showcase their creativity and culinary skills.

Entrants were asked to create a completely original healthy recipe that included at least one fruit or vegetable. The dish could be hot or cold, and could only take up to 20 minutes to prepare, start to finish.

We enjoyed every delicious bite of the judging process, for sure. In the end, though, it was 10-year-old Josslyn Michael’s yummy Veggie Burrito recipe that stole our hearts (and taste buds). Josslyn left with the grand prize—a brand-new bike!

The Walk On! program is part of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona’s Nourishing Arizona® program, an initiative aimed at improving the health of Arizonans through nutrition education and healthy eating programs. Walk On! teaches fourth and fifth graders the benefits of eating healthy and getting exercise, and shows them easy ways to get plenty of both.

Meet all five finalists and download their healthy (and delicious!) recipes.

Fitness Is Elementary

It took months of nominations and deliberations, but on March 2, winners of the second annual "Get Fit. Don’t Quit!" Spotlight Awards were announced. The ceremony, hosted by fitness icon Jake Steinfeld and BCBSAZ President and CEO Pam Kehaly, recognized Arizona organizations that are inspiring health and wellness in their local communities.

BCBSAZ awarded a total of $150,000—including five $10,000 prizes to organizations across the state, and an all-new $100,000 “Get Fit. Don’t Quit!” Fitness Center to grand-prize-winning Kiser Elementary School in Gila Bend, Arizona.

The new state-of-the-art fitness center will be built over the summer. When school starts in the fall, an official ribbon-cutting will open the center to students, faculty, and community members. 

“We have an incredible student body and our teachers are passionate about ensuring we lead by example when promoting healthy habits,” said Kristin Turner, principal of Kiser Elementary School and superintendent of Paloma Elementary School District. “The fitness center will not only introduce physical education to our students but also offer our staff—and our entire community—a space where they can improve their health through exercise.”

BCBSAZ and Jake “Body by Jake” Steinfeld teamed up in 2018 to launch “Get Fit. Don’t Quit!” and empower Arizonans to live a healthier lifestyle through fun, engaging videos and tips on how to be active, eat better, and live well. The program is built around the idea that small steps can lead to a big payoff, and offers ideas for positive changes you can make to support long-term wellness.