This year the Fuel Up to Play 60 National Student Ambassador Summit was in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I have now been to three national Summits, and I can confirm they keep getting better and better! From July 24th through the 27th, I got to experience amazing field trips, be given awesome opportunities, and make some long-lasting friendships! On the first day I got checked in, and like two hours later, I went to the US Bank Stadium, aka The Vikings Stadium, for the Summit’s opening extravaganza. I think I forgot to mention that that stadium will hold Super Bowl 52! (I cannot believe I got to stand on the field, meet some players, and eat in the Delta Sky360 Club). The next day I went on a field trip to the Winfield United Answer Plot. It was so cool to see the huge tractors, meet the amazing farmers that make all the grown crops possible for farm feed and for humans, and to see a drone they use to view their crops from above. After that, everyone went to have a group picnic, and then we split off to go to sessions. I went to the session where I learned potential limiters I have as a leader based off of my Equilibria colors, and I even got to participate in a school announcement throw down after. To end the night, each team performed a Farm to Fork production; showing everyone else what they learned about how farmers get food to our plates. Teams used dramas, music videos, advertisements, etc. as their performance. Continuing onto the third day, my team started off with FLAG Football; winning our game! Later that day I met Olympic Gold Medalist Maddie Bowman, and even got to TRY ON her Gold Medal. Next, everyone at the Summit did a milk toast to thank all the farmers, and sponsors. Then for dinner, there was a giant pizza cook off. Each team had to make a pizza, a cafeteria model, and a pitch with a poster for three judges to evaluate. For the end of the night we had team talent night, with an ice cream social, and it was a BLAST. Each team had such unique ideas, and they were all hilarious! Sadly however, it has come to the last day. I started the morning off with physical activities, and after breakfast everyone went back to the dorms to pack up. However, we all just dropped our bags off in the main building, and headed over to the campus indoor track, where each team set up obstacle courses the night before for the Gauntlet Challenge. After that competition was done, all students and Youth Council had a lockdown; which is top secret! Everyone then headed back to the main building, and we had our ending ceremony, where prizes are given out and the Summit video was shown. Finally, all great things must come to an end, which means the 2017 Summit. I had so much fun, and cannot wait for the 2018 National Summit!
Sydney
New Hampshire
10th Grade
About three weeks ago I attended my third National Summit for Fuel Up to Play 60. It was in Minnesota this year, and I was looking forward to gaining more valuable leadership, teamwork, and confidence skills. After arriving from the airport, I was checked in and brought to a discussion group about football! Later, I met my team for the first time and we quickly got to know each other. Then, we were taken to the Vikings Stadium and were allowed to play at stations on the field and have the most amazing dinner in the Delta Sky360 Club. The next day, I split off from my team and went on a field trip to the Winfield United Answer Plot. I got to learn all about agronomists and how they help make farming easier and more efficient. Next, I went to the Fuel Up! Innovation Challenge where I worked with Ariana, another student at my school, to create a pitch for our “On-the-go Spartan Smoothies”. We ended up winning $1,000 for our school! That night, I met up with my team again and we performed a mini-skit that we created, and although it wasn’t the best, we had a great time making it and performing it together. On the third day, we kicked off the morning with FLAG Football and a nutritious breakfast. We participated in a session that was about involving dairy farmers in our schools. It was good for me because I discovered new ways to engage farmers in more professional ways because the students I am reaching out to are high schoolers. At night, we had a super awesome Pizza Cook-off given to us by Waring. My team created a “Herbalicious” pizza that was inspired from a pesto pizza my Mom makes fresh from her garden. It was delicious! Although we didn’t win, one of the Judges, President Bart Minor from the Mushroom Council, was kind enough to donate us a mushroom growing kit because he enjoyed our pizza so much! We then went right into Team Talent Night and an ice cream social. My team worked hard to write a parody to “Single Ladies” called “Team 5”. Unfortunately, our performance didn’t go as planned, but it was definitely the point where we bonded the most. That is what made this Summit so unique to me. This was the closest I have ever gotten to a team, and after that night, we really felt like a family. We chose to sit together at meals, and we still are in touch. I loved my team and that is what made this Summit so special for me! Our final day started with physical activity station rotations and another great breakfast. We then sadly went back to our dorms and checked out. We then competed in the Playbook Gauntlet Challenge which was an obstacle course that my team and I created. It was based off of the Snack Smarter in Schools play. We ran through two other teams’ courses and had a lot of fun. We ended the Summit with the Youth Council Ambassador Lockdown. Pretty soon I was back on the bus to the airport, and then home in bed. Every year, the summit gets better and better, and I cannot wait to attend next year’s!
Jade
New Hampshire
10th Grade
This year I went to the 2017 National Summit. It was a great experience! This was my second Summit and they keep getting better and better each year. After I got checked in I was brought on a small tour and discussion group which had me meet some new people from around the country. Later I met my team and everyone bonded very quickly. Our team consisted of eleven people and all eleven of us were great friends by the end of the Summit. After I met my team we shortly boarded the buses to go to the US Bank stadium, which is home to the Vikings. There we played games, listened to a couple of great speeches, eat dinner, and had a lot of fun! The next day everyone went on different field trips. I went to the Land O’ Lakes Headquarters. There we went in the test kitchen and combined ingredients to put in a bowl of mac cheese. Then we learned about other things Land O’ Lakes does, for example they make animal feed for a lot of animals besides cats and dogs. After the field trip, we had a picnic outside for lunch, which was a great time! After that I went to the Fuel Up! Innovation Challenge where we came up with an idea to improve our school to win a chance to win 1,000 dollars. Jade and I won so now we are going to put in a school breakfast cart. After each team put on a Farm To Fork production. Our team did a short skit about prisoners’ food. The next day we started our morning playing FLAG Football. For dinner that night we did a huge pizza cook of, which was tons of fun. Each team had to make a pizza, cafeteria set up with dolls, and a poster. Then we had a team talent night, which was really fun to make. My team had two people singing and the rest of us snapped, waved, and danced a little. During the talent night, we had an ice cream social which was really good! The next day my team did some physical activity stations and ate breakfast. Then we sadly had to go pack at the dorms. Then each team set up an obstacle course and teams went through them. This part was very fun! After that we had a top-secret Youth Council lockdown. Then we had a closing ceremony. This year’s Summit was so fun. I had a great time and met so many great people from all over the country.
Ariana
New Hampshire
9th Grade
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