Posted on the Chicago Tribune by Alison Matyus on February 17, 2015. Photograph taken by JaMonica Marlon.
Chicago-area high school students are setting the stage for the next generation of leaders.
Lead2Feed, a program aimed at helping reduce world hunger by teaching leadership skills to students, is being implemented at the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences in Mount Greenwood.
JaMonica Marion is in charge of the 35-student program at the school. She became involved in Lead2Feed three years ago.
“I teach the lessons that get their brains moving, but the students take it from there and carry out projects and educate others all on their own,” she said.
She said her students host service projects for the program, such as a drive-through canned food drive and handing out information. This year, they are raising awareness of the hunger crisis through a unique donation method.
“My students came up with ‘The Hunger Games’ this year, in which they will be soliciting for kids to donate food items to fill backpacks,” Marion said. “Their goal is to fill 250 backpacks full of nutritional food while educating people about the issue of hunger along the way.”
Part of Lead2Feed’s goal is to educate not only on hunger, but also on the lack of nutrition that comes with it. In the Chicago area alone, the issue is very much relevant, Marion said.
“When you look at the city of Chicago, there are food deserts, which means neighborhoods that do not have access to fresh food,” Marion said. “One of these neighborhoods is less than five miles away from our school.”
She said that hunger goes beyond not having enough food. Education and mental health also are affected in people who are hungry.
The students in the program recently educated their peers on what they have learned through Lead2Feed, creating their own lesson plans and teaching their own research to classes at the school.
“My students have proved that when you share your knowledge and passion with others, they are more likely to rally behind the cause you initiated,” Marion said.
Lead2Feed is not only beneficial in its root cause of helping those who are hungry, but also in providing students the skills to become the future trailblazers in these important movements, she said.
“The key to this program is that it is student-centered,” Marion said. “My students constantly surprise me at their passion for the cause and their desire to educate the community as much as possible.”
She said she hopes to see the program grow to other schools in the area, and hopes for more teacher involvement in guiding students to think outside of the box.
For more information and to find out how to get involved with Lead2Feed, visit lead2feed.org.