This summer, more than 100 NYC 3rd to 7th grade students learned about nutrition and healthy living as part of Cornell University Cooperative Extensions’ Choose Health Action Teens (CHAT) program. Working in four Police Athletic League (PAL) youth development centers, teenaged educators facilitated Choose Health Food Fun and Fitness (CHFFF) workshops for younger students. CUCE staff and Cornell Cooperative Extension summer interns offered guidance to the student educators leading the CHAT program.
The CHAT program–which uses a unique teens-as-teachers model–equips teenagers and college students with the knowledge and skills to educate youth about the importance of healthy eating and an active lifestyle. The result is a mutual learning experience for both youth and student educators. Jackie Davis-Manigaulte (’72) first launched the CHAT partnership between Cornell University Cooperative Extension–New York City (CUCE-NYC) and the Police Athletic League in 2018.
This year, four student educators from the Police Athletic League’s Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) led nutrition workshops with younger students, using the six-session CHFFF curriculum. Through three weeks of workshops, students learned how to read nutrition labels, understand the importance of a healthy and balanced diet, and even participated in cooking demonstrations.
SYEP educators found the CHAT program a valuable and rewarding experience. Nathaniel, a student at the City University of New York (CUNY), who worked with CHAT for a second time this year, said the program helped him improve his public speaking skills. He also enjoyed seeing how the children could apply what they learned in classes to their own lives.
One third-grade student, after learning about nutrition labels, switched her daily juicebox for a 100% juice alternative. “One thing that surprised me was how students are applying what they’re learning everyday.”
Jamal, a SYEP educator who is a second-year student at Morgan State University, led nutrition workshops for a third grade class. He reported that his role as an educator pushed him to think creatively about teaching youth dense information.
Miriam Jovanovic, a CUCE-NYC program assistant who led the CHAT program for the first time this year, commended youth leaders for bringing new ideas and perspectives to the program.
“There was a lot of flexibility and creativity,” she said.
SYEP educators created novel approaches–incorporating new tools like air fryers into cooking demos and exploring ways to make the program more relevant to youth.
Two CHE students supported by the Cornell Cooperative Extension Summer Internship program also gained practical experience through this year’s CHAT program. Ivy Jiang ‘26, and Eda Gunal ‘25–both human development majors–supported the CHAT project by guiding and mentoring teens throughout the program. Jiang and Gunal worked with PAL sites in Harlem and Queens to support youth leaders and lead classes of their own.
For Ivy, gaining experience with youth also helped her consider unique ways to engage with them. She said the internship program helped her learn how to take initiative and develop leadership and facilitation skills. Though Ivy is still exploring career paths, she plans to work with youth in the future.
Working with youth also fit well with Eda’s interest in youth development. Having worked with youth as a swim instructor in the past, the CHAT program allowed Eda to explore the youth learning process in a more formal educational setting.
“The teens as teachers model provides rich, individual learning and behavior change opportunities for everyone involved including the teen leaders & youth participants as well as the college interns & project administrators,” said Davis-Manigaulte. “Teens are great role models for youth. This teens as teachers model is also an effective strategy for teaching other topics such as STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering and Math projects.”