Teach Teal: Food Allergy Awareness – Noelle N.’s Girl Scout Gold Award Project
Photo Credit: Noelle N.
Check out the website here: https://teachtealfoodallergyawareness.weebly.com/
Hi, my name is Noelle N. I’m sixteen years old, and I am allergic to dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, and cephalosporin antibiotics. I am a member of the Teen Advisory Group (TAG) for FARE, and I am a Staff Writer and Board Member for the Just Allergy Things Magazine.
For my Girl Scout Gold Award Project, I created a curriculum, Teach Teal: Food Allergy Awareness, to teach fourth-grade students about food allergies in three days. Food allergies affect so many people of all ages, backgrounds, and more, yet food allergies are not taught in schools. Since food allergies are not taught in schools, the severity of food allergies becomes undermined. More people need to be aware of what they can do to help, include, and support a person with food allergies, and this education needs to start while children are young. The Teach Teal: Food Allergy Awareness curriculum will change that and ensure that all students go out into the world knowledgeable about food allergies for when they meet someone who lives with the daily challenges of food allergies. For these reasons, I created an accessible, easy-to-use curriculum for implementation in schools to teach students about food allergies. The entire program is free and compiled into one website. All of the curriculum resources are on this website including all of the activities, digital textbooks, the Teacher’s Guide Video, and more. The website also includes stories from students with food allergies and other resources for people with or without food allergies.
When creating Teach Teal: Food Allergy Awareness, I wanted to make a program that would teach students in a way that is engaging and fun, despite teaching a large amount of information. For this reason, the entire curriculum is colorful with engaging games and activities I created to reinforce all the content.
As a part of my project, I shared my curriculum with my non-profit community partner school. The students who used the curriculum loved all of the fun activities, and they especially enjoyed hearing stories about other students with food allergies. Additionally, the fourth-grade students who participated learned a lot about food allergies, now knowing valuable information that can save lives, such as the importance of reading ingredient labels and not sharing food.
Why is it important to share Teach Teal: Food Allergy Awareness?
If you have food allergies, it is likely that at some point in your food allergy journey, you have run into people who don’t understand the severity of food allergies, make jokes about them, or don’t know what a food allergy is. In order to change this reality, we must all do our part to increase food allergy education in schools. If students learn about food allergies in schools, they will know at an early age how severe food allergies are and how they can affect a person’s life.
If you are a teen with or without food allergies, send the Teach Teal: Food Allergy Awareness website to your local elementary school or the school you previously attended. If you know someone who is an educator, you could also send the website to them.
If you are a parent, share this website with your local elementary school, your child’s school, or a friend that works in education. Additionally, if you homeschool, Teach Teal: Food Allergy Awareness is easily adaptable for homeschool families.
If you are a teacher, look into Teach Teal: Food Allergy Awareness for your school community or classroom!
In conclusion, share The Teach Teal Program with anyone in the education field and check out the Teach Teal website for engaging videos, stories, and more from students with food allergies. By sharing the Teach Teal: Food Allergy Awareness curriculum, you are increasing food allergy awareness for children and people everywhere!
Teach Teal: Food Allergy Awareness Website: teachtealfoodallergyawareness.weebly.com