The Special Education Department was awarded a $1,000 State Farm Good Neighbor Service-Learning Grant. The students from the 6-8th grade Special Day Class/Skill Building Curriculum (SDC/SBC) at McKinley School will be student leaders for this service-learning project called, “Students Helping Students Through Literacy.” The SDC/SBC students contacted other 7-8th grade special day classes throughout the district to gain their support in serving as volunteers for this worthwhile project.

This event will engage youth in the production of various spice recipes using mortar and pestles. Youths will distribute healthy snacks they create using the mortar and pestles throughout the school and also create marketing materials to send home to students families.

According to the 2007 National Survey on Children’s Health, Latino and African American populations have been particularly affected where more than one in six Latino high school students was overweight. This problem is widespread in my students' community, in particular. With the help of Youth Service America, students will organize a "Healthy Eating Fair" where they educate students from a nearby elementary school and their parents about the recent trends of childhood obesity and the adverse effects of unhealthy eating and sedentary lifestyles.