English students produce PSA on benefits of eating breakfast

LYNN – Ken Vorspan?s advanced television production class at Lynn English High School has breakfast on the brain.For the past month, the class has been working on a 30-second public service announcement about the importance of eating a healthy school breakfast to enter into the “Eat. Film. Screen.” contest, developed by the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education?s Child Nutrition Outreach Program at Project Bread.The PSA contest is open to middle school and high school students across Massachusetts. If Vorspan?s class wins, it will receive a $1,000 Visa gift card and have its commercial broadcast on WHDH-TV?s “Urban Update.”Click here for a photo gallery of the students at work.Having a contest attached to the project, Vorspan said, got his 15 students, mostly juniors and seniors, excited to get to work.?I think contests are great because sometimes there?s even a little money involved, but there?s an incentive and there?s a real push to get something done,” he said. “It?s a motivator.”Although the students acted, shot and edited the PSA, which took place in different locations around the school, Vorspan did not take on a solely supervisory role.Vorspan appears as the “Muffin Man” in the classroom portion of the commercial, who delivers a rap about conscious healthy eating alongside a beat made by the students.Wearing an apron that bears his title, Vorspan starts the rap with, “Grubbin? is a habit, grubbin? is a habit, but think before you grab it, think before you grab it.”Vorspan called the focus of the contest timely because he has been talking to his students about eating a healthy breakfast and the school breakfast at English is not popular.He estimated that 75 to 100 students eat the breakfast daily, out of a student body of 1,700 people.?It?s something that a lot of kids don?t take advantage of for a lot of reasons,” he said. “The biggest one, I think, is they don?t want to get up earlier and come in here, but I often ask them that question. Because if you came in here first period, which is at 8 a.m., this same group that?s all rambunctious, they?re half-dead.”Kadejah Leonard, a 16-year-old junior, agreed that the breakfast is unpopular because of its serving time and said there is also a low demand because of what is served.?Sometimes the breakfast is iffy. But there?s other options, too,” she said. “They have cereals and stuff like that. The cereal is (in) really small portions, so it?s not a filling breakfast.”However, after the research the class did before making the PSA on the benefits of eating a healthy breakfast, Leonard said she is changing her mind about the first meal of the day.?I?ll start eating breakfast, but I don?t know about here,” she said.Kristina Musto, a 17-year-old senior, said she usually just has a cup of coffee before leaving for school, but she is also considering altering her routine.?I had a muffin this morning, so it?s progress,” she said.Jay Guerrero, an 18-year-old senior, said he has occasionally eaten breakfast at school, but it was “horrible.” There is fruit offered, he said, but “not with good quantity.”?It?s just a little bit on the side. That?s what we want to work on,” Guerrero said.The class must submit its PSA between March 5 and April 6, and Vorspan said the results will be released on May 7. He first heard about the project from Principal Thomas Strangie, who emailed Vorspan the contest information.Some of the students said if they win the prize money, they want to continue to promote good nutrition in the school.?We want to build a garden, so we can grow fresh vegetables and stuff,” said Arlette Hernandez, a 16-year-old junior.Vorspan said the unused courtyard by his classroom could be a potential site for the garden, but he has not yet talked with school administrators.?So if we got some money, that would be amazing,” he said. “We?ll also have a big party, with a lot of healthy food.”Sarah Mupo can be reached at [email protected].