Hi, my name is Boomer P, and I am a junior at Luther High School. I have been in the YAHL program and on the Leadership Team for two years. During my time as a YAHL member, I have had the opportunity to work on the Elevate Student Health campaign, where I led my school in making improvements and ultimately adopting a comprehensive wellness policy.

Before my school’s wellness policy was updated, the food was not the best quality and did not seem to be that healthy. Often, our “salad bar” was full of junk food, like pudding, and the fruit seemed old and had often been sitting out for hours. Although the changes to the wellness policy may have been small improvements, they were good improvements. We immediately began to see healthier food options in the salad bar, like carrots and apples. 

Although we still don’t have any mandatory physical education requirements, students do have the option to join many sports.

I continue to advocate for comprehensive school wellness policies because I hope that one day all schools across Oklahoma can provide healthier food options, access to clean drinking water and physical activity opportunities to all students!

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By: Boomer Pridemore, Luther High School