The Student Body

1

The bill proposes to measure

body mass index, BMI...

That's what

we're doing here today,

address the core

problems we face.

And this is

a great move forward,

so I support the bill.

It's not like

I don't respect authority,

or believe in our government,

or trust the adults

who are in charge of us.

We do hearing the objection

title that was agreed to.

It's just that...

Well, the past year

has changed the way

I understand the world.

Just one year ago,

I was a junior in high school,

worrying about

doing my homework,

looking forward to getting

my driver's license,

and doing my best to fit in

and make friends.

And now, here I am

in the middle

of a national controversy,

in the personal debate

with our public officials,

all over the simplest thing

in the world,

a number.

But this isn't just any number.

This number is special.

To get it, you take one number,

divide it by another

which has been squared,

and then multiply that

by seven hundred and three.

The resulting number is, well,

magic.

This one number tells a story,

a story about your past

and even predicts your future.

Obviously, a number

that holds this much power

would be valuable.

And this one is.

So much so that some people

try to keep their number secret

for fear of what it might tell,

while others don't believe

in the number at all.

Then there are those,

even in our own government,

who believe in the

number's power so much

that they fight

to gain access to yours,

using the number

to determine whether or not

you are acceptable.

Yes, acceptable.

Not my words.

Theirs.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Maybe I should back up,

you know, to the beginning.

Or at least my beginning

and to what brought me

to this point,

fighting over a simple number.

- Dum, dum, dum...

- Looking back,

I kind of feel bad for what

I put my parents through.

That's good, Bailey.

You having fun?

No?

Apparently, I wasn't a pleaser.

Hello.

When asked a question,

I would just grunt.

I hated costumes

and school plays,

despised being paraded around

and refused to perform

for anyone.

That's me right there

at my first public protest

at age four.

Hugs were out of the question.

No smiling for pictures.

Yeah, here's an Easter

smile for you.

Some friends even gave

my parents a book

called the strong-

willed child.

I guess, it was supposed

to teach them

how to deal with me

or something.

This is where I live,

a small, historic town in Ohio.

After school, we can walk

down main street,

pass the old garage,

pass the church on the corner,

and hang out

at the ice cream parlor,

which is right across the street

from the gun shop.

Yup, it doesn't get

any more American

than this.

And this is my high school,

where I was taught that we have

the greatest government

in the world.

This is also where I learned to,

well, behave.

Remember that

strong-willed child

who was always making a fuss?

She eventually became

the soft-spoken, polite kid

that barely anyone notices.

I pretty much keep to myself,

stay out of trouble,

and never, ever

question authority.

That is until last year

when a bunch of us students

decided to stage a protest.

There was friction

between the new school board

and our principal,

so the board decided

to promote him

right out of his job.

But us students

weren't having it.

Our top story today.

High school students

dressed in black

storm the school board meeting

in which their beloved

principal was voted out

and removed from his position.

This was the first time

that I've ever held

a protest sign

or chanted on a public official.

Principal and instead...

I had my first

taste of democracy

and it tasted great.

Are more likely

to succeed in this group...

In the end,

the board backed down

and our principal kept his job.

It was then that I realized

that even kids

have a powerful voice,

and I think

I was finding mine again.

When asked,

school officials did admit

that the outpouring

of support had an effect

on the decision made tonight.

Reporting live in Springboro,

Holly Samuels, 2 news.

This feeling of empowerment

must have been contagious

because a month later,

at another school board meeting,

a sixth-grader named Maddie

bravely addressed

the board all alone.

But this time,

it was about something

more disturbing.

I also received a letter

from the school nurse

addressed to me.

As I read the letter,

I was crushed,

discovered the school

is telling me

that was not the healthy way.

Apparently, the school

district have been performing

body mass index test

on our students

and then sent letters

out to kids

whose number didn't fall

within an acceptable range.

I felt betrayed by the school

because I could fit

in to the school's idea

of what a kid should be.

Schools always supposed

to be a safe place,

somewhere I could feel accepted,

proud of my accomplishments,

and not put down.

I'm active in sports

and have a healthy...

This girl was inspirational.

The board promptly apologized

for the mistake

and the moment was just magical.

And while Maddie got the apology

she was looking for,

it made me wonder.

Was this really a mistake?

I mean, this letter

didn't mail itself.

And how many other students

got these letters?

Was that a mistake, too?

Do they get apologies?

To everyone else,

it seemed like the issue

had been resolved,

but this only raised

more questions for me.

Carrots, bell peppers,

these are tomatoes over here.

And over here, we've got

some asparagus starting,

which is our favorite vegetable.

Back there is cucumbers.

Which is my favorite vegetable.

And we've got some

herbs back there.

And we're trying to do this

without any chemicals

or any fillers,

just water and sun.

- That's it.

- No bug spray.

- No bug spray, no nothing.

- No fertilizer.

As you may know, I'm a chef

and she's in the food

business as well,

so we're both pretty

knowledgeable of nutrition

and this was kind of an idea

I've been wanting to have

in my own yard,

but also something

that we had talked about

with the school board.

Maybe doing a garden,

have the students

in summertime co-op

and have their own vegetables

for their salad bar

at school, you know.

Teach children something

that they can take away,

and carry within the rest...

Because it tastes so much better

when you know

you've done the work

to get it there, so, um...

It's amazing to think

that a family like this

received a notice

about health and nutrition.

Later that day,

Maddie told me

about her own struggles.

Um, uh, my condition

is human growth

hormone disorder.

Uh, that means I can't

grow like a normal child

and I can't lose weight, so...

And I can't grow teeth

and I'm very slow

and, like, that whole process.

In spite of her condition,

Maddie was getting along

just fine at school,

until one day in gym class.

Nurses, I guess from the state,

came and weighed us

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