Leadership Chattanooga team educATE graduates challenge families to sit down, eat and communicate in an effort to create well-behaved and focused students.
“According to various sources, performance in schools, crime rate and moral character is directly affected by the level of parental interest and involvement in the lives of their children,” said educATE team member and Southside resident Blair Waddell. “Our goal is to challenge and equip parents to be active in their children’s lives on a consistent basis by encouraging family meal times through a strategic marketing campaign and supplemental tools.”
Leadership Chattanooga participants like Waddell spent 10 months learning different aspects of government and businesses as well as community and social issues in Chattanooga. Toward the end of the program, members were split into groups and asked to create a community project. Waddell’s team, educATE, decided to focus on students by creating a Family Meal Challenge.
“Eating together increases family communication,” said Waddell, who encourages families to set aside all distractions such as cell phones during a meal. “It’s something everyone can do no matter what their definition of a family is. It starts with one child.”
EducATE members partnered with Earth Fare and Chick-fil-A. The team attended the businesses’ family nights and supplied tips and advice for stirring conversation at the table. The graduates also created a Facebook page for the Family Meal Challenge where members can continue to encourage family meals by uploading tips and conversation starters. Fun questions include: “What animal would you be and why?” and “What was your last dream that you remember?”
“The program was awesome,” Waddell said. “It exceeded all my expectations and has been a call to action for me to be a community leader in Chattanooga. We wanted to contribute and make a difference in the community. We definitely want to see our project continue.”