Posted on DNAinfo Chicago by Howard Ludwid, January 15, 2015
MOUNT GREENWOOD — When faced with the challenge to solve hunger, students at the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences chose to think local.
The 33 students in JaMonica Marion’s agriculture education class last month launched a project called Backpack Foods. First, they’ll raise money and collect donations of non-perishable foods at the high school in Mount Greenwood.
Then the students will pack these edible items into drawstring backpacks and distribute them to homeless men and women throughout Chicago. While it won’t end the hunger crisis, it’s a step in the right direction, said Cameron McCoy, 16, of Chatham.
Howard Ludwig says the students hope to make a difference:
McCoy, a junior at the school on the far Southwest Side, said the project spoke to him and other students because it offered an opportunity to interact directly with those facing hunger within their communities.
“I used to live in Roseland, so I’m aware of poverty,” McCoy said.
Backpack Foods was spawned by Lead2Feed, a team-based learning program that aims to teach students leadership through service projects aimed at tackling hunger. Marion was among the first to sign onto the inaugural program in 2012. Five schools throughout Chicago now participate in Lead2Feed.
The free program is based on the principles outlined in a book authored by Yum! Brands Executive Chairman David Novak. The head of the company behind KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell released “Taking People With You” on Jan. 3, 2012.
The concepts within the book are translated into 10 Common Core-aligned lessons educators can customize as part of the Lead2Feed program, said Dana Metz, a spokeswoman for the sponsors, which include Novak’s Lift a Life Foundation and the USA TODAY Charitable Foundation.
Nearly 2,500 schools nationwide have participated in Lead2Feed since 2012, and Marion strongly encouraged her fellow teachers to consider adding the leadership and hunger education curriculum to their lesson plans.
“Most teachers are afraid to do a program because they think they have to do all this work,” Marion said, adding that Lead2Feed offers a simple, flexible outline for educators and dramatic outcomes for students.
Madeline Poole, 16, of Beverly first participated in Lead2Feed as a freshman. Marion then offered the program as an after-school activity. It culminated in a canned food drive benefiting the Maple/Morgan Park Community Food Pantry and the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Chicagoland & Northwest Indiana.
Now a junior, Poole said Lead2Feed has helped her overcome shyness and given her the strength to have candid conversations with fellow students about the realities of poverty and hunger.
“When you think of hunger, you think of some Third World country, but your neighbor might not have food for the night,’ Poole said.
She and her fellow students in the agricultural education pathway are still flushing out plans for the backpack project. They’re now planning fundraisers to buy food for the backpacks — beyond what’s supplied through canned food drives.
Among the fundraising ideas is a Hunger Games-inspired sports tournament. They are also considering hosting a neon party — where all students would wear reflective clothing and celebrate under black lights.
Should all go according to plan, the students expect to deliver the backpacks to the homeless on March 1, Marion said.
For Kyla Frenchwood, 16, of Washington Heights the lessons gleaned from both the canned food drive and backpack project extend beyond issues of hunger. The Ag School junior said she’s valued to the leadership instruction as well as the opportunity to practice these skills in a group setting.
“Leadership, for me, it makes me who I am. It makes me Kyla,” she said.
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