Hi, my name is Audrina Baker, and I am a Leadership Team member for the Youth Action for Health Leadership (YAHL) program. One of our campaigns we work on is called Elevate Student Health. Elevate Student Health works to update school wellness policies to be comprehensive. Some of our main focuses are to implement physical education as well as increased physical activity, clean drinking water and nutritious food options.  

The Elevate Student Health campaign is especially important to me for many reasons. I originally grew up in California, where we were required to be involved in 60 minutes of physical activity every day. Three years ago, I moved to Oklahoma and was faced with the challenge of not being able to engage in physical activity without having to sacrifice my extracurriculars. This was especially hard for me because I am not an athlete, but I still want to get the physical education and activity I need. 

When I first learned about Elevate Student Health, I was encouraged to help change my school’s wellness policy since we were challenged with the difficulty of dirty water fountains and very limited lunch and breakfast options. I also hope to make it possible for everyone in Oklahoma to have access to clean drinking water, healthy food options and physical fitness. At the previous school I attended, another leadership member and I successfully updated our school’s wellness policy by gaining support from the principals in our district and eventually talking to the school board about recommendations of elements we could add to our policy for it to become comprehensive. I now attend Classen SAS, and I hope to continue my journey of elevating student health by improving my new school district's wellness policy. I think it is important for everyone to support Elevate Student Health because everyone should have the opportunity to live a healthy life.

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By: Audrina Baker, Classen SAS High School