For the past few months, I’ve had the opportunity to work as an intern at Redwood Voice. As my time here comes to a close, I look back on the experience and am filled with gratitude. During my time here, I have learned and grown so much, and I owe that to the opportunities this internship has provided me.
Working at Redwood Voice was more than just a job–it was an education. Before I started, my knowledge of filming and editing was extremely limited. I had never used a DSLR camera before, and my experience with editing software was very limited, so I felt like I had to learn a foreign language. I would frequently come to my boss, Meng Lo, with questions. Meng, being the wise coach that he is, did not answer all my questions. Instead, he pointed me in the right direction so I could get there myself. I studied advice from experts in the craft, and with each project that I worked on, I could practice and apply what I had learned. This process ensured true learning instead of mere memorization.
An emotional Coach Quick receives praise from his friends, family, and coworkers at a recognition assembly held at Smith River School. Photo Credit: Jayden Cornett
The first few videos I made were short, documentary-style videos. One of these was a feature on Ron Quick, who was a finalist in the US Cellular Coach of the Year competition. Another was a video promoting positivity surrounding pit bulls. As I spent time with Coach Quick, local pit bull owners, visiting the great people (and dogs) at the animal shelter, I was so inspired by the passion that these good people have for the important things in their lives. I was honored to be able to present them to the community. These interactions with people were as valuable to me as the skills I learned.
Filming the pit bull video. Photo Credit: Persephone Corvid Rose
I also had the opportunity to be involved in the preparatory stages of a media program that is about to be implemented for youth in Hoopa. I got to observe and participate in discussions and planning sessions in which we tackled real problems and worked together to create solutions. Then, I assisted in curriculum development for this program. I appreciated my involvement in this process so much, because I felt that my perspective and contribution was valued, and because I realized how unique this opportunity was.
Still shot from The Unwashed, Jayden’s final video project on hand washing. Photo Credit: Anna Lor
My final project before the close of this internship was a short video reminding people to watch their hands. This time, I was able to break from the standard documentary format and go with a more creative narrative form. Knowing the value of hands-on work, Meng let me take the reins from the beginning. I created the storyboard, wrote the script, set up lights, acted, directed, edited, and even composed some of the music. Along the way, Meng would take opportunities to advise me and teach me.
I do not take for granted the great experience that I have had here at Redwood Voice. With all the education, skills, and experience I have received, I am walking away a more experienced, prepared, and confident person than I was walking in. Now, I will take all that I have been given at Redwood Voice and use it to do good wherever I may go from here.
5th grade teacher of Mary Peacock Elementary School Paige Thompson (center) is one of two teachers in the Del Norte County Unified School District taking on the “Breakfast After the Bell” initiative in its pilot phase.
“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” Even though there are people who would look at that statement and dispute without hesitation, tearing down breakfast’s ranking on the nutritional hierarchy and claiming any other time of the day is “the most important,” few can argue with the simple truth that it is of great importance nonetheless. Also, it’s breakfast – there shouldn’t really be a debate on breakfast.
More importantly, breakfast is important for children. Going to school every day with progressively developing and impressionable minds while constantly taking in new information can be very demanding, and students – from elementary grades to graduating off to college – need to keep up their energy. It’s one of the things that never change about the school system. The brain is a muscle constantly at work, constantly exposed to new concepts, new ideas, new developments, and in order for it to function properly, it absolutely requires nutrition. Nutrition at the beginning of the day gives students the start they need to endure the rest of the day. But breakfast isn’t just about having it in order to merely function. Any source can give you any number of reasons why breakfast is so important and the additional benefits it grants: increased concentration, reduction of fatigue, amplified awareness of proportion control and nutritional moderation, and a decrease in the risk of illnesses.
Skipping breakfast, on the other hand, has demonstrated numerous negative effects, especially against young school children: diminishing mental performance in class, increasing the likelihood of poor food choices throughout the day (which has been shown to extend into long term circumstances), and cuts the body off from attaining important nutrition.
Everything points to the importance of students eating breakfast. Unfortunately, despite the attempts of establishment in which many schools serve breakfast to students in the early morning, breakfast accessibility is still an issue across the nation. One in five children live in households facing food insecurity, leaving roughly 13 million children across the country who go to school hungry with little to resolve it. It is a much more widespread issue than most people tend to believe. Lucy Melcher, director of advocacy and government relations for the nonprofit Share Our Strength, running the No Kid Hungry campaign, has said, “There are food insecure and hungry kids in every congressional district and every demographic[.] Food insecurity is a family that has enough money to buy groceries three out of four weeks; it’s a mom skipping dinner; it’s having to choose between buying groceries and paying rent.”
There is such an unfortunate discrepancy. As said before, schools do indeed attempt to serve breakfast. But usually, breakfast is served early in the morning before classes. Not only does this create issues for students with transportation issues who do are unable to attend early, but it means that students will have to wake up even earlier than the already dreaded early hours shown to produce negative effects.
But across the country, teachers have been taking up a simple but effective movement to combat this problem. Already it has been reaping positive changes, and two teachers have introduced it to the Del Norte County Unified School District.
Students participating in the Breakfast After the Bell program eating breakfast in class. They are provided food and are allowed to save the food for later in the day.
For now, these are known as “pilot” sessions, determining whether the program, known as Breakfast After The Bell, is effective. Breakfast After the Bell is an initiative pushing for a simple method to assist food insecurity issues. Simply, teachers are able to provide breakfast foods in the beginning of class. Some may have their class open a few minutes earlier so that students who arrive early are able to eat, though teachers are often able to simply start class slowly as the students are eating. By giving them the free time to simply eat and socialize, however, they are able to begin the day on a note of low tension and social development.
“The idea for piloting Breakfast After the Bell in Del Norte came from a collaborative group of community partners coming together to discuss how we can increase students’ access to food in schools. Breakfast after the Bell is a nationally recognized program that has been shown as one of the most effective ways to boost breakfast participation in schools. With the help and support of Deborah Kravitz, the Nutrition Services Director for Del Norte Unified School District, we were able to pilot the program in two classrooms at Mary Peacock this year,” said Ryan Kober of Building Healthy Communities, who has been a big part of helping Breakfast After The Bell in its piloting stages, and who gave Redwood Voice the opportunity to create a video for it, as seen above.
We interviewed Paige Thompson, a 5th grade teacher at Mary Peacock Elementary in charge of one of the two piloting classes testing the Breakfast After The Bell system.
First and foremost, the Breakfast After The Bell program easily accomplishes its goal of making sure that every student has food. “I like knowing that my kids ate that day,” said Thompson, which in itself reflects the effectiveness of the program. Being able to provide food and knowing for sure that students are eating helps to eliminate food insecurity during school, and she goes on to explain that of her classroom, only 2 students do not eat every day – one of which is due to medical reasons, the other simply out of preference who will eat some days but not others, but who still has complete access to the food – allowing ease of flexibility for students with different preferences or necessities. However, Thompson goes on to explain that the food itself is far from the only positive effective reaped from this experience. “I was excited about having breakfast in my classroom because it creates a really interesting social dynamic, and it makes my students feel comfortable asking for food later in the day when they’re hungry. It creates a really great sharing environment where, if somebody doesn’t want their orange they know they can offer it to somebody else.”
Although, the teacher isn’t the only one to notice the benefits of breakfast in class. We were able to interview a few of the students as well, who each gave very interesting ideas on what they liked about Breakfast After The Bell. Along with students knowing they had access to food if they weren’t able to bring food themselves that day, students enjoyed being able to be in a smaller, quieter place where they were able to talk to their friends. They claimed that it was a better experience than that of the Multi-Purpose Room, which was typically full of students and made for a much noisier environment. The attention of this from students shows that it would be greatly beneficial to overstimulated or overwhelmed students, as well as shy or quieter students who may develop social skills more positively by being around their friends and classmates, rather than a more disorganized room with many sounds and senses firing off, and instead have a more stabilized, calm environment before starting their day.
With Breakfast After The Bell, students have the opportunity to eat and either socialize with friends or relax before the beginning of the school day.
Overall, the Breakfast After The Bell program speaks for itself as to why it’s a nationally recognized program. It exceeds in its goal in making sure every student has access to food, promotes positive social dynamics involving sharing, closer social development, and to some degrees even self-care as students take time to themselves before undergoing school for the day – and all the while, it’s an easy system that all teachers could fluidly work into their schedule, elementary and beyond. Perhaps that is just one of the many reasons this program has already proved to be so successful across the nation. It is taking a simple, small action to step towards a more inclusive space, and in turn grows into something effective and powerful that benefits everyone. It’s a win-win situation that anyone can step up towards. References (2) BetterHealthChannel: BreakfastThe Denver Post: More than 13 million kids in this country go to school hungry
Telling the untold stories of Del Norte and Tribal Lands through amplified youth voices.
