The power of breakfast
Around five in the morning, on a normal weekday, Jennica Nugent’s alarm rings. She rolls out of bed and then hops on an early bus. She does this so that she can get to her cafeteria just before it opens. Why the rush? Well, students at Northeast High School count on the 16-year-old to make them a healthy breakfast.
Jennica is the co-president of her school’s Health Club. Together with her classmate Anna she sets up the Healthy Breakfast Corner in the back of the cafeteria. Early each morning they slice up fruit and create fresh healthy treats. Students can choose between vanilla or strawberry yoghurt. Anna and Jennica also have whole fruit, Nutri-Grain bars, Kashi cereal, fat-free milk, and more.
But why did they start this Healthy Breakfast Corner? ‘The school’s breakfast options aren’t as healthy! Everything comes in a package,’ Jennica says. ‘Food is frozen and then heated. And if it isn’t eaten, it is thrown back in the freezer again. Nothing is fresh and good. Now, we chop up ten kilos of fresh fruits every morning. We use them in our healthy breakfast options. We sell over 25 apples and bananas before school starts.’
To make the Healty Breakfast Corner real, Jennica worked with other students and her teacher Mr. Michaels. Students love the new food choices. ‘Anna and I will walk through the hallways and people stop us and say, ‘Oh my gosh, you made us breakfast this morning! You’re the healthy breakfast girls,’ Jennica says. But they’re so much more, they’re the ones who promote healthy breakfast. The girls are on a mission to make sure that all the kids in school know it’s important to eat healthy.
Jennica explains, ‘For some kids, lunch and breakfast at school are the only meals they get’. Sometimes families don’t have enough money to buy fresh fruits and vegetables. It’s cheaper to go to Burger King and get a couple of burgers. That’s why she takes her role of serving breakfast very seriously.
Adapted from: americandairy.comst
Lesson duration is: 45 min
