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Capital Health Plan celebrates 20 years of inspiring fitness

Capital Health Plan (CHP) celebrated the 20th anniversary of its CHAMPIONS™ Student Fitness Program with a news conference at Gilchrist Elementary School. The event showcased the program's ongoing impact on over 20,000 students a year and over 120,000 unique students in six counties. Sept. 19, 2024 (Adrian Andrews/WFSU)
Adrian Andrews
/
WFSU Public Media
Capital Health Plan (CHP) celebrated the 20th anniversary of its CHAMPIONS™ Student Fitness Program with a news conference at Gilchrist Elementary School. The event showcased the program's ongoing impact on over 20,000 students a year and over 120,000 unique students in six counties. Sept. 19, 2024 (Adrian Andrews/WFSU)

The CHP Champions Program helps encourage kids in the Big Bend to get active.

Capital Health Plan (CHP) is touting its efforts to promote student health and physical fitness in Tallahassee.

CHP President and CEO Sabin Bass said on Thursday that the Champions Student Fitness Program got started at Gilchrist Elementary School 20 years ago.

“This last school year, we set a record where we had over 20,000 students in this program," said Bass. "That is a testament of the effectiveness of this program, but more importantly the trust of the community in this program.”

The celebration at Gilchrist Elementary underscores the milestones achieved over the years.

The CHP Champions program provides children in grades K-8 with fitness coaches and encourages kids to eat healthier food options.

"Now its more important than ever that we talk to our kids at a young age about healthy lifestyles, healthy eating, and nutrition," said Leon County School Superintendent Rocky Hanna.

The program is available in public schools in Leon, Wakulla, Jefferson, Gadsden, Calhoun, and Liberty County School Districts.

CHP’s Bass said this year, he plans to bring the program to schools in Madison, Taylor and Franklin counties.

Adrian Andrews is a multimedia journalist with WFSU Public Media. He is a Gadsden County native and a first-generation college graduate from Florida A&M University. Adrian is also a military veteran, ending his career as a Florida Army National Guard Non-Comissioned Officer.

Adrian has experience in print writing, digital content creation, documentary, and film production. He has spent the last four years on the staff of several award-winning publications such as The Famuan, Gadsden County News Corp, and Cumulus Media before joining the WFSU news team.