Advanced Topics
CG Goes Veggie Week: Monday, January 9th through Friday, January 13
Advanced Topics has sponsored World Vegan Week for several years, but it's always a difficult time in the dramatic and athletic season, so we decided to do a CG-focused activity instead (and hit people when they've made those New Year's Resolutions!).
We are encouraging students to try going vegan, but if that is too difficult, particularly as our students are not usually in charge of the menus at home, we also encourage them to try going vegetarian for a week. This creates a situation where students can talk about thinking more specifically about food choices and nutrition.
This year, we are encouraging teachers, community members, and families to participate because it creates a more involved community conversation if people consider the same nutritional challenges or situations. This is more effective to conversation and relationships than the blanket response that many people give: "I couldn't do that." Usually, the "couldn't" really means "wouldn't/won't," which means this is the perfect personal challenge of decision-making.
We tend to do lunch/potlucks through the week in Dr. Gilpin's room; obviously, with high school students, we are transparent about ingredients, pay attention to the medical information, and ask them about allergens.
We hope you will take participating in CG Goes Veggie into consideration as a personal challenge and a way to join a conversation with students: at some point, they have to feed themselves, and it is better for them to be doing that with a little foresight on the many ways they can approach decision-making.