According to another student, it had been very popular. “You’d be lucky to get a spot for chocolate milk, because it would all be gone,” sixth-grader Wesson Markowski told the outlet.
So last Friday, the 26 students in Jordan’s class joined together in an effort to bring back the beloved beverage — and it worked.
District chef and culinary manager Richie Wilim toldThe Washington Postthat school officials originally pulled the drink from schools due to its high sugar content. Now, Wilim said the school plans to offer chocolate milk once a week.
“I felt good about it,” Jordan told the newspaper. “I brought back something that everybody wanted.”
The idea to stage a protest started when Jordan’s teacher, Emily Doss, gave her students an assignment that hit close to home, per thePost.
That day, Doss assigned her class a Scholastic News article titledShould Schools Serve Flavored Milk?, which was about a fourth-grader in Missouri who petitioned to reintroduce strawberry milk at his school.
Jordan Reed leading his classmates in protest.KCRA News
The lesson had a big impact on Jordan who went home and started preparing for a protest, creating chants like “What do we want? Chocolate milk! When do we want it? Now!”, per thePost. He also made signs reading “We need it please,” “Less regular, more chocolate” and “Justice.”
The next day, after learning that local reporters had caught wind of the protest, Doss told thePostshe rallied her students to make more signs — and come up with some solid arguments to help them plead their case.
Afterwards, the students all left class to protest in front of the school, perKCRA.
Their hard work paid off when the district’s director of student nutrition met with the group to hear what they had to say, per thePost.
Jordan argued that providing regular milk as the only option caused his classmates to drink less milk, leading to increased waste, the newspaper reported. He also claimed that students may be getting fewer nutrients like calcium and vitamin D.
Ultimately, they managed to persuade school officials, who agreed to a compromise.
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories
In addition to being a win for the students on a surface level, their teacher says the experience ended up being about more than just chocolate milk.
“It started off as not being a big thing, and then it just kind of took off,” Doss told thePost. “It went from a review lesson to this huge life lesson for these kids.”
source: people.com
