“What are we supposed to do?”
This was the response from an exasperated eighth grader in health class after a lesson on the importance of not putting the wrong things into our bodies. This response was one that echoed throughout the rest of the class as well. After spending time looking at the effects of bad food and the natural consequences of eating things, well, unnatural; the students wanted to know what they should eat. The response was so intense that we stopped the regular class plan and launched into an impromptu discussion.
As an educator I hear a lot of teachers talking about inspiring the students, but in this case the students were inspiring me. The discussion turned into action, in the form of a special project. The students were told to pick a health-related area of interest to them and then find a feasible solution to a problem they have identified.
I mentioned this assignment and the class was immediately abuzz with excitement. The response was so overwhelming that the seventh-grade class also joined in the assignment. So each class was divided into groups and told to pick an area of interest to them. After they selected the topic each student was required to do some research and then turn in a proposal for the assignment. Since it was an open ended assignment I expected the topics and projects to be at a very basic level, but as Lakeland students tend to do, they exceeded my expectations dramatically.
On the day the project ideas were due I was shocked at the not only the topics, but the thought and work they put into the execution of the projects. The groups topics consisted of the effects of juicing, a healthy diet versus eating fast food, homemade food without preservatives compared with well-preserved processed foods, close, affordable, non-box store foods, as well as the effects of moderate juicing. The topics they chose for a voluntary project were truly remarkable, but equally remarkable were the methods they proposed to complete them. One group is going out to interview people who frequent fast food restaurants and people who frequent workout facilities to compare dieting patterns. Another group is preparing a homemade food item and a processed food item and doing a time lapsed video to show how much preservatives affect food. Another group is doing their project in a TV news segment format and another group is developing an informational pamphlet that lists affordable local food options for the community.
As the classes are still filled with excitement and imagination, I realized that when a student is inspired, that enthusiasm bleeds into others and inspires them as well. I have heard a lot of my contemporaries bemoaning the woes of the future generations and their lack of initiative, but I can say without hesitation that if these students are a sample of the future, color me inspired.
Lakeland Christian Academy is the area’s finest seventh to 12th grade private Christian school. Lakeland is now open for enrollment applications for the 2016-2017 school year. School Choice vouchers are accepted towards tuition. For more information, contact Scott Wiley at 574-267-7265.