Alexander Hill: Connecting Healthy Eating to Academic Success
Alexander hill
Class 2, Create
What is your Vision for Impact Statement?
My initial Vision for Impact Statement was: to instill confidence in a student's ability to finish high school by showing them a multitude of success paths that lead to livable wage employment.
Currently, my Vision for Impact Statement has evolved and become more specific. My goal is to create a sustainable health food program where schools and institutions can provide equitable health food options free of charge to students.
We know you’ve been super busy lately and are working on many projects. We also heard you received a competitive grant for one of these projects! How has your involvement with School Board School influenced your work?
School Board School has given me the motivation to devote my talents to a purpose. The community has also strengthened my passion to help Black students succeed in high school and in post-secondary education. I am increasingly motivated to help students achieve success during and after their educational journey.
How have you used your School Board School training/learnings in your projects?
The School Board School training has greatly impacted the way I approach and navigate the school system. It has specifically helped me to better determine who to talk to if you want to create change in policies and procedures.
Talk to us about one of your most recent endeavors. What impact are you hoping to make?
I am building strong connections with public and private schools to pilot a program to educate a cohort of students on the importance of a healthy diet for increased academic success. I will prove a correlation between an unhealthy lifestyle to decreased graduate turnout & post-secondary education opportunities. This data will give me the motivation to lead a campaign at the local, district, and state levels of our school system to enforce an inclusion of alternate health food options for students.
The program is called “Herbal Way Youth Health Initiative,” and will begin with the introduction of a variety of health food options that schools can provide to students free of charge. Once any student finishes consuming any one of the health foods options, they will be given the opportunity to earn crypto as an incentive. I plan to coordinate partnerships with local schools that can pilot this initiative to collect data on the level of impact health food has on the performance of students throughout the school year.
I’m starting a new cryptocurrency called Herbal Coin™ which will be used as the incentive for students within the Herbal Way Youth Health Initiative. Check it out HERE.
What do you love about the work you do?
I love starting new projects or ventures and I’m excited to inspire and instill confidence in our youth’s future generations through technology and innovation.
How can the School Board School community support you in this work?
The program I’m putting together involves a lot of time, energy, and resources, as I’m working to disrupt the current food process that schools provide and lead a change of understanding to increase a higher turnout of African American graduates. All in all, it will take about a year to complete because there are a lot of moving parts that need to be started. I plan to have this program available at the end of Q2 2023. In the meantime, all support is appreciated!
I'm in a seed-phase looking for $10,000 in capital/donations to get this program off the ground. If you can contribute you can follow this link HERE.
What advice do you have for other School Board School members as they look to get involved or start new initiatives?
Consistency and persistence is key to fulfill your goals and passions. In parallel, utilizing your network wisely to advance your impact or goal. And, always remember to initially file a trademark (or patent) to protect the amount of work you will do before broadcasting it to your network.
Is there anything else you want to highlight about your connection with School Board School?
I served as part of the original community member impact team of School Board School. One of our main functions is to support School Board School members by providing what they need to continue and achieve their Vision for Impact. So far, we’ve been able to hold quarterly Zoom events and group discussions with featured panelists. One of our most recent projects involved creating Impact Streams that reflect the common Vision for Impact Statements from all our members. The goal is to have an Impact Stream that every member could potentially participate in once completing the School Board School learning program. I’m working on building an Impact Streams portal that will help facilitate all of the activity in one place to quickly get updates on what each stream is doing for the community, our students, and the school system as a whole.
You are one of School Board School’s super volunteers! You’re at every event, and always willing to volunteer your time and talent to support this organization. Why are you so committed to School Board School?
School Board School was a pathway to success in many ways for me that included connections, fellowship with new people, and exposure to new ideas and perspectives. This, in fact, opened doors for me that once never existed and for that I’m grateful.
As someone who is not school board bound in the near future, I figured the least I can do is give back and support in a way that will inspire others to either run for school board or bring their Vision for Impact to fruition.