Hello, my name is Rhianna Dumas.  I am going into my senior year at Putnam City North High School. Throughout my time with Youth Action Health Leadership (YAHL), I have helped my school find an advisor for the YAHL program, met with people from our District Wellness Committee and have served over 100 volunteer hours. Even though I have done all that, I believe that there are still plenty of problems that need to be solved. 

One of the campaigns under the YAHL program is called Elevate Student Health. Elevate Student Health is a campaign for schools and school districts. Through this campaign, schools that need or want to improve their school wellness policies are able to work with Elevate Student Health directly to make those improvements. 

Through these improvements to the policy, we advocate for our schools to have clean water, healthier food options and physical activity requirements for more than just elementary students. The lack of physical activity and nutritious foods are problems that directly impact any kid that goes to any school that has yet to have updated comprehensive wellness policies. That is a reason why I think people should care. If people don’t care about these students' health now, who will even bother to try to change it later?

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By: Rhianna Dumas, Putnam City North High School