The Value of Sharing
Elementary kids do ‘Hungry Games’ to bring in food
Linda Petersen
Staff writer
2-23-2017
MT. PLEASANT—North Sanpete High School (NSHS) students want to do what they can to end hunger—at least in their neck of the woods.
To accomplish that goal, NSHS student body officers (SBO) launched their annual food drive with a theme of “The Hungry Games,” which began Feb. 8 and will continue through Feb. 27.
Following the popular book and movie series “The Hunger Games,” the high school classes are divided into “districts” based on the year they graduate: District 20 (freshmen), District 19 (sophomores), District 18 (juniors) and District 17 (seniors).
The lowest performing homeroom class from each district is eliminated each week. However, students can donate to another class in their district if theirs has been eliminated.
Each 50 food items is worth a Hawkingjay point, (combining the “Hungry Games” symbol, the mocking jay, with the NSHS mascot, the Hawk). The district that collects the most food items wins the competition.
“It’s a way to get the students to stop thinking about themselves and focus on others,” SBO Activity Agent Brenden Blackham said.
The winning district will receive a movie in the auditorium, popcorn and pizza.
Local elementary schools are also getting in on the act. On Feb. 15, the SBOs visited every elementary school classroom in the school district to encourage the kids to participate and to try to get a friendly competition going to see who can bring in the most food.
The elementary school food drive began Feb. 15 and will continue until March 3. Over that time the elementary students will collect the food in their classrooms. At the end of the drive, the SBOs will gather up the food and determine which class has brought in the most. The winning class will get a doughnut party with the NSHS SBOs.
“The school does the drive so that we can have the high schoolers and the elementary kids provide the community with more resources for people in need,” Blackham said.
This is the 14th year NSHS has done the food drive and “every year it’s gotten better,” Blackham said. Last year the schools collected more than 1,000 pounds for the Sanpete Pantry, which will be the recipient again this year.
