My name is Braden Mensack. I’m a Senior at Keys High School. I started YAHL this year as I believe that students must have access to proper nutrition and clean drinking water while in school.

Once I learned about the Elevate Student Health campaign, I knew I had to be a part of it. Physical activity and nutrition are both very important topics to me because as someone who has experience in physical activity and access to proper food, I know how much easier it is when those things are easily accessible. Within my school, I can see the effects that the proper nutrition plans put in place have had. Many of my peers have become more active and generally happier since the change was made. The Elevate Student Health program has made a major change in my school by opening the eyes of my administration. In turn, they put in a salad bar and easier access to water. In other schools, the policy change could potentially do the same. I believe everyone should have access to these bare necessities to live a healthy lifestyle.

Others should come together to help support this program because as I stated earlier, the Elevate policy has the potential to make great change throughout schools, which in turn promotes an even greater lifestyle for the students within them. Since joining YAHL, I have done a partner presentation for a health coalition in my community to help encourage change. Working with YAHL has taught me how important proper policy can be. On top of this, it showed me that anyone can make a change in their community; they just have to get out and promote the change they want to see.

By Braden Mensack, YAHL Leadership Team member at Keys High School