Ignacio High School students have kept boxes full of Spam, crackers, spaghetti, granola bars and ramen noodles for three years to ensure their peers don’t go hungry on nights and weekends.
“You do better at school when your stomach is not growling at you,” sophomore Jaylene Riepel said.
During the 2016-17 school year, about 48 percent of students at Ignacio High School qualified for free or reduced lunch, according to the Colorado Department of Education.
Two students were inspired to start the group, called Friends with Food, after hearing Pam Willhoite, the Pine River Shares coordinator, speak during a meeting for a family and consumer sciences group. Pine River Shares is a nonprofit working to improve the health of residents from Vallecito to Sambrito, New Mexico.
Willhoite encouraged the students to focus on serving their fellow students through their own organization rather than joining an adult group.
She has met with the group once a week year-round as a facilitator, but a core group of about seven students has kept the group running, she said.
The students presented their idea for the group to the school’s administration for approval and raised donations to fill the club’s food tubs at Farmers Fresh Market in Ignacio.
They found that students were shy about taking food when it was stored in a classroom, so they had to strategically place food in tubs around the school.
They also took inventory of their tubs each week to determine what students would eat and found a clear preference for ramen noodles.
This school year, they hope to collaborate with another club to set up a clothing exchange for Ignacio High School students.
In August, the group met twice a week to cook together. They also explored the scope of issues facing teens in Ignacio. Clothing is a key issue for teens because the way a student is dressed can make them a target for mean comments.
“If you feel like people are constantly judging you, don’t want to come to school,” Riepel said.
Some of the other issues they identified were bullying on social media, violence among students and suicide. They also identified some of the issues students face at home such as divorce, absent parents, abuse, drug use and involvement in the criminal justice system.
The members of the club say more community involvement and stronger relationships among teens could help students facing those issues.
Adults can help by listening to teens in the community and being open minded, the students said.
mshinn@durangoherald.com
