Atlanta Students Commit to "No Child Eating Alone"

On February 23rd, 2018 Atlanta Students participated in an assembly in honor of National No One Eats Alone day. This day and program is meant to make all students feel valued, included, etc. It also educates students on the negative impacts being isolated and alone can have on someone's health. In a time where we have very unfortunate and heartbroken events like bullying, terror threats, and school shootings (at times carried out by a former student) it is very important that we have programs like this that instill and promote being more inclusive and kind no matter who you are. As soon as I saw that our local Atlanta Kiddos participated in this event, I wanted to cover it in an article. I reached out to Atlanta Native Aaron Baker who then directed me to Francis Slay who is the supervisor of Community Outreach/Home State Health. I sent him a list of several questions in which he answered. The following is stated in the entirety from Mr. Slay:

1. Who came up with this idea?

ANSWER: "Beyond Differences is a non-profit that started the national holiday, and the Centene Charitable Foundation was this year's sponsor. The Centene Charitable Foundation is part of Home State Health's parent company, Centene Corporation. Home State Health is honored to be involved in the celebration of social inclusion in schools across Missouri."

2. What was the overall impact it had on the students?

ANSWER: "This is a great question for our schools and the students who participated. Our hope is that the celebration and lessons learned continue throughout the school year and beyond. Social isolation is a preventable public health problem affecting millions of children every day who suffer in silence. We've learned through teachers and families that No One Eats Alone is a powerful step and positive initiative that can change the culture in schools to be a more welcoming place for all."

3. Are you doing it again?

ANSWER: "The Centene Charitable Foundation is the 2018 sponsor of the national holiday, and we hope to continue partnering with schools to host No One Eats Alone Day events across Missouri next year."

4. Would you recommend it to other districts?

ANSWER: "Social isolation has been identified as a precursor to bullying, self-harm and community violence. Students have shown that given the tools, they will stand up for others as empathetic and caring activists, not passive bystanders. We know that this doesn't just impact one school or one district, so we hope that other districts across Missouri and the country continue to participate in No One Eats Alone Day annually, and implement the lessons learned in their daily routine."

5. How do you implement this?

ANSWER: "Any school can sign up for No One Eats Alone Day on Beyond Differences' website, www.nooneeatsalone.org. The holiday is celebrated annually in February, typically around Valentine's Day. This year, over 2,000 schools hosted events that reached over 1 million students."

ANSWER: "For Home State Health, we partnered with several schools across the state to take the curriculum that is developed for the holiday and worked with our partner schools to host assemblies for students. Over 500 students participated in this year's assembly at Atlanta Elementary School."

***End of Interview***

The biggest question is, "Will area districts pick up on this and implement the same program that Atlanta Schools did this year?"

"Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see." -Mark Twain