We kids are the future of this country. One day we will run all the nations, discover new resources, and change the world as we know it. All these things and more can only be accomplished if we receive the means to do so though. Education and the nourishment found in healthy foods are two key components.
Good nutrition is essential in a healthy school environment, as it enables you to actually be able to say that you are doing the best work you can. One key food that helps students to do the best work they can is dairy. Dairy is a paragon of a good nutrition source as it provides lots of vitamins, not to mention calcium! Good nutrition, especially foods like milk and cheese, is an important factor in a school meal. By filling up your body with the nutrients and vitamins found in healthy food, you are fueling your brain for the rest of the school day. No more not being able to keep your eyes open in class; no more not being able to focus on your math assignment (been there, done that). Instead, you’ll be ready to go. It is VERY important for schools to be able to provide healthy options for their students, because, in my opinion, it will better your district and/or school in the long run.
Along with healthy eating, physical activity plays a major role in a healthy school environment. Think about it: what would happen if you didn’t exercise at all, and only ate food? No matter how healthy the food, you need a way to use energy from the food you eat. Otherwise, you will have so much energy that you won’t be able to focus. There needs to be a balance between the two. You can achieve this by eating healthy AND keeping up on your physical activities. I’ve found this balance is needed to help maintain the academic goals I have set for myself as well as the energy I need for my sports and extracurricular activities. I have seen the same among my friends, teammates, and classmates.
Through Fuel Up to Play 60, I’ve become empowered as a leader. It’s important that students receive leadership roles in an everyday school environment because it’s preparing them for the real world. One day, we are going to run the world, but humanity keeps making monumental changes to it. We will too. So by giving us leadership roles, we are learning early that change doesn’t come easy, and that you have to work for it. We are learning how to manage ourselves, and the team of peers around us. I, for example, started the program with a group of peers in the end of fourth grade. Then at the beginning of sixth grade, it became just me on the team. I did as much as I could, doing small plays. At the last event of sixth grade, a school-wide taste-test, I received help from two of my friends, passing out samples.
I am now in seventh grade and a team of one again currently, but am not letting that stop me. This school year there has been a FUTP 60 booth at a community wellness fair, and a booth at my middle school’s open house. I took pictures and video in a publicity shoot with Devin McCourty from the New England Patriots and other New England Student Ambassadors, and have collected a list of interested peers to join the team. I have, along with my district wellness coordinator and my Program Advisor, organized a district wide physical activity Play to coincide with our 30-day wellness challenge. I was also asked to make a speech at a local press conference, and made it into the semi-finals of the NFL Super Kid competition. Along with the other the New England FUTP 60 Ambassadors, I am helping to organize and plan to attend our New England Regional Summit this summer. I am an empowered leader now thanks to Fuel Up to Play 60.
My advice to students who want to get involved is to drop the stone. That may sound strange, so think about it this way: when you throw a stone into a pond, it makes a ripple. That ripple starts out small but grows and expands and changes how the pond will be from then on. That little stone can make a difference. But it needs someone to drop it for it to do its job. Drop the stone and make a difference, or at least pave the way for someone else. But take YOUR change, because who knows when that next person will come around?
I now realize that you can’t sit around, just waiting for someone to make the change for you. You have to get up, run the mile, and jump the hurdle. You have to make the change. Who knows, who’s to say that everyone won’t say, “someone else will do it!”? If everyone says that, then who’s left to do the down and dirty work? Nobody. Embrace the change, because with enough attention it will come. The only question is: are you ready for it?
Cat
Summit Ambassador
Vermont
7th Grade
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