For years, America has struggled with keeping its population healthy, using a variety of strategies in attempts to incorporate nutritional education. Yet it remains a seemingly integral facet of our well-being that our mainstream education system simply lacks. A group of young students attempted to tackle just this with their HOSA club project “Mission Nutrition.” HOSA is an international student organization recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and the Health Science Education (HSE) Division of ACTE. HOSA serves to promote career opportunities in the healthcare industry and enhance the delivery of quality healthcare to all people.
Novi High School students Ronit Tiwary, Prianka Subrahmanyam, Neha Surapaneni, and Sanjit Johri are part of the Novi HOSA Chapter, an esteemed organization that sent more than 50 students to the national level leadership conference last year. These ambitious students recognized the deficient state of quality nutritional education in the Novi community and took the challenge head-on. As part of their “mission nutrition,” they visited elementary and middle schools across the community and gave interactive lessons about nutrition that left students both more knowledgeable and more excited to improve their eating habits. “Kids that we visited...were coming up to us later and telling us that they always check MyPlate before they eat...and that they make better food choices too,” said junior Prianka Subrahmanyam, referring to a paper plate craft the students made.
Through their efforts, they have impacted thousands in the community around them and continue to strive to enlarge their influence and encourage positive nutritional decisions. “It’s humbling...to be given this opportunity to give back to the community for all it has given us,” said junior Ronit Tiwary when responding to why they chose to pursue this event. If America truly expects to make significant progress, more determined students like these to step up and make a difference.
