High Schools as Partners in Ending Hunger: Part Two
April 11, 2014
FFA students at Sumner-Fredericksburg High School worked
with their advisor and school administration to organize an
Oxfam Hunger Banquet and fundraiser involving their entire
school. The Oxfam Hunger Banquet is a free curriculum that
helps participants understand the injustice and causes of world
hunger through an interactive meal at which some are fed well
and others eat very little.
The student organizers used the school-wide hunger banquet
as an activity to introduce the issue of hunger to their entire
school and to kick off a week of fundraising, where students
voted with their donations on which teachers would participate
in a hands-free pie eating contest in front of the student body.
Students at Sumner-Fredericksburg raised $250, which was donated to Oxfam America’s global hunger relief
efforts and to the local Fayette County Food Shelf, which is recovering from a fire. The community was
supportive, and funds to cover the cost of food at the Hunger Banquet were donated by the first person the
students approached.
At Emmetsburg High School, a sophomore biology teacher has modified free curriculum published by the
World Food Prize to introduce all sophomore students to the human face of global hunger through a poster
project and canned food drive. Sophomore biology students research a country and a challenge that
contributes to hunger in that country, come up with their own solutions, and then present their ideas on a
poster through short written lists and pictures.
Students are encouraged to bring in non-perishable food items as part of the project, which are donated to the
local food pantry in the name of the Emmetsburg High School Sophomore class. The posters are hung in the
school for public viewing to further raise awareness of hunger. After completing their posters, students have
the option to write a paper and attend the World Food Prize Iowa Youth Institute at Iowa State University.
Recommendations for encouraging high school students’ interest in hunger and supporting them as they take
action include:
1) Ensure that projects provide an appropriate mix of challenge and support to meet a variety of students
where they are at. Providing options for building on a shared experience is one way of doing this.
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At Emmetsburg, the poster assignment allowed students to focus on writing, images, or oral
presentation, ensuring that all students, including special education students, were able to produce a
good looking poster with appropriate content. The option for students to develop their poster into a
larger paper supported interested students in building on their passion, without burdening students
whose interests lie elsewhere.
At Sumner-Fredericksburg, the hunger banquet provided opportunities for student participants to speak
or observe based on their comfort level. Interested students had the option to help plan a hunger
activity next year. By involving the entire student body in the hunger banquet, the organizers provided
academic value and created a shared experience that teachers are using to frame discussions in
classes across disciplines.
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