Boulan Student Named Video Contest Finalist: In it to Win It

Boulan Park Middle School student Marissa Orzame is simply dedicated to getting kids healthier — and the promise of having a Detroit Lions player visit her school helps motivate her cause.

Marissa, 13, a seventh-grader, was recently selected as a finalist in this year's “Make the Play” kid video contest from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.

As a finalist, Marissa has a chance to be a guest video blogger for ahealthierMichigan.org and to receive a school assembly with Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford.

>>To view the five videos and vote in the contest, visit A Healthier Michigan on Facebook.<<

Marissa was involved in the same contest last year, during which she starred in a video "dance battle" encouraging families to stay active at home while having fun at the same time. She didn't win, she said, now going into this year's contest with hopes of the top prize thanks to a creative video entry.

"My idea of making the video (last year) was that the whole family was involved, up and moving, and getting healthy in the easiest ways. This year, it was more about people you didn't know and getting them up and moving," she said.

To that end, Marissa hit the streets of Troy to film her video "dance dares," or opportunities to exercise around town. She said she filmed part of the video in The Somerset Collection and another part with a sign-twirler at a local business. Then came the editing process, which she did herself using iMovie.

"That was one of my favorite moments to film," Marissa said.

Marissa said that she met Stafford at a meet-and-greet event last year following the contest and hopes to bring the Lions quarterback to meet her school.

"It's definitely a motivator," she said.

Marissa is studying with dreams of becoming a doctor, but added that she'd love to dance into adulthood.

About the video contest

In January, the Blues asked students, grades four through eight, to submit homemade videos on ways they would make Michigan healthier.

The other finalists are:

• Ashley Jacobson, a sixth grader from Van Hoosen Middle school in Oakland Township
• Mackenzie Pentland, an eighth grader from Sault Area Middle School in Sault Ste. Marie
• Fiona Wing, a seventh grader from Three Lakes Academy in McMillan
• Daphne Yaman, a fourth grader from Kalamazoo Country Day School in Kalamazoo

The winner will be decided by public votes. Voting opened on April 6 and runs until midnight April 26; the winner will be announced April 30.

About the program

The program was inspired by 10-year-old Marshall Reid from North Carolina, who documented his fight against childhood obesity through “Portion Size Me” videos.    

The contest adds a new dimension to the Blue Cross Blue Shield's efforts to combat childhood obesity by encouraging kids to share their ideas using creativity and new media.

"Kids have tremendous influence over their friends and classmates – in both positive and negative ways. Kids who carry positive messages about healthy eating and exercise can be extremely influential and can help reverse a trend where today, nearly one-third of Michigan kids are considered statistically overweight," said Andrew Hetzel, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan's vice president for corporate communications.