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Tuesday, February 18, 2025

Local Organization Empowers Students Of Color To Advocate For Systemic Changes In Schools

By Kiara Doyal, The Seattle Medium           

The Food Empowerment Education and Sustainability Team (FEEST), an organization that empowers students to lead campaigns for culturally relevant school meals and mental health resources, is dedicated to training youth of color and working-class youth to build collective power and drive systemic changes within their schools. Rooted in food justice, FEEST’s work has expanded to include mental health advocacy and education policy reforms, all while prioritizing the voices and leadership of students.

“We [FEEST] are all about just making sure that young people have the agency to address the issues that they care about. Our roots are in food justice, so a lot of our work in our life inception has been around school meals, but we also focus on mental health and other forms of education like policy changes,” says Devan Rogers, FEEST’s Communications and Development Manager.

“Ultimately, we are just trying to create a school system that truly serves and reflects the needs of its students, led by our students themselves,” they continued.

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Each school year, FEEST welcomes a cohort of student leaders from Chief Sealth, Evergreen, Franklin, Rainier Beach, and Tyee High Schools to deepen their understanding of social justice, build community, and grow together into strong organizers for systems change. According to Rogers, the student leaders are the lifeblood of the organization.

“Student organizers identify problems within their schools and make the changes themselves. This includes everything from designing school menus with culturally relevant food to organizing mental health resources,” says Rogers. “There are a lot of things that student organizers do—from kick-off events, raising awareness, weekly school board meetings—student organizers have taught me so much, and I am very thankful.”

Heena Vahora, a former FEEST participant who now serves as a Technical Project Manager intern with the organization, became involved with FEEST in elementary school by tagging along with her older sister to dinners and has essentially grown up with the organization.

“As I entered high school, I began to take a more active role by joining the campaign team. I started learning about organizing and campaigning, advocating for healthier food options in schools, and gaining a deeper understanding of food justice. Leading campaigns helped me develop different skills, including leadership,” says Vahora.

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“Now, as a college student, my involvement with FEEST has evolved further,” she added. “I’ve had the opportunity to help create youth programming and work as a co-facilitator! As I enter my last year of college, I continue my journey with FEEST as an intern! It’s been amazing to stay involved with an organization that has meant so much to me. Each phase of my life with FEEST has taught me something new.”

FEEST operates in both Seattle Public Schools and the Highline School District, which Rogers said was intentional, given that these South End schools serve a large number of minority and marginalized students.

“South End schools tend to be under-resourced, and we [FEEST] know that we have enough resources in Seattle to meet all our needs, which allows us to share with the Highline School District,” says Rogers. “By organizing for systemic changes in our schools, we address inequities faced by Black students. Many of the students in our cohort are either Black, immigrants, or intersect with other marginalized identities, and I think that influences and leads the direction we take when organizing systemic change in schools.”

In 2020, FEEST collaborated with Black Minds Matter, a national movement to celebrate Black minds, support excellence, and promote the development of high-quality school options for Black students, to remove Seattle police from Seattle Public Schools.

“Mayor Harrell has recently introduced the idea of putting police officers or resource officers back in schools, even though we successfully got officers removed in 2020,” says Rogers. “Not having police officers in schools is extremely important, not just in Seattle but across the country, because we know that police officers are not serving young people or our communities, and they are actually causing harm.”

“I think that was one of our most tangible examples of how FEEST has impacted the Black community. In 2020, with the uprisings following the killing of George Floyd, students started a huge conversation about defunding the police, and we rode that wave of energy,” they added.

Vahora says that FEEST allowed her to connect with other students of color from different schools who were going through similar struggles.

“FEEST created a supportive network where we could share our experiences, learn from one another, and collectively work toward solutions that impact our lives,” says Vahora. “We [FEEST] play an important role in empowering students of color by creating a space where they can come together to tackle issues that directly affect their communities. Their current campaign focuses on mental health, advocating for wellness rooms in schools, which provide a safe and supportive environment for students to take care of their mental health—a need that is especially important for students of color!”

Rogers highlighted that FEEST has had many successes, including getting police officers removed from public schools and catering to the needs of youth of color. They also noted that during the pandemic, while many organizations struggled to serve their students, FEEST adapted by moving its mental health resources online, continuing to provide adequate support.

“A lot of organizations didn’t make it through the pandemic and shut down because they didn’t know how to pivot,” says Rogers. “I think it’s been a huge success for us to be authentic, listen to our young people about what they need, and provide them with the tools to build the world they envision.”

Both Rogers and Vahora expressed their gratitude for FEEST and how it truly strives to make changes within the community and improve the lives of youth of color throughout Seattle.

“I was supported by FEEST’s programs, and now, as an intern, I have the opportunity to give back and support other young people in high school. It feels like a full-circle moment, where I’m now in a position to empower and uplift students, just as I was once empowered,” says Vahora.

“I’ve also had the opportunity to emcee events, which helped improve my public speaking skills and share my experiences with the wider community,” she continued. “It’s something I’m always proud to highlight as one of my accomplishments during my time at FEEST.”

“I’ve met so many students, so many people, and adults who are my age now who were either in FEEST in the past or involved in some way, and they’re still organizing in their communities. That’s huge. We love to use the term ‘mission moment,’ and I think that’s a big mission moment—having a student leave FEEST and continue making changes in their community after their time with us,” Rogers concluded.

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