Students at the Kuss, Morton and Talbot Middle Schools, as well as three New Bedford middle schools and the high school, are creating videos designed to motivate people to improve their nutrition, fitness and hygiene. The program is offered  by the LEADS (Leadership for Educational Attainment Developed through Service) project at UMass-Dartmouth. Students at Kuss Middle School are working on the script for a video that will encourage kids to play soccer, engage in martial arts or skateboard. Students at the Morton Middle School are working on a video to encourage good hygiene. Students at the Talbot Middle School are working on a video to encourage kids to eat a healthier diet. As part of that video the students are learning how to prepare some healthy dishes. The videos will be shown on cable television over FRED-TV starting in June. Click here for photos of last semester's LEADS project on sustainability. Click here to see photos of a LEADS hunger project at the Kuss Middle School, here for a school garden at Talbot Middle School and here for photos of LEADS student involvement in a neighborhood market survey. For more information about the LEADS project, contact Jarrad Plante at 508-496-9284.

(Top row, left) Nelson Sousa, Anthony Silvia and Katrina Kao work with LEADS staff member Annemarie Sharkey at the Kuss Middle School. (Top row, center) Aliceliz Alves talks with LEADS staff member Haley Rosen about her idea for their fitness video. (Top row, right) Nelson and Anthony listen as Katrina presents their group's ideas of how soccer would be presented in the fitness video. (Middle row, left) Tyler Pimentel, Jordan Talor, Hannah Almeida and Bolt Dillon meet with LEADS staffers Nikki Moniz and Laura Barsano to plan their nutrition video. (Middle row, right) Hannah and Tyler get ready to cut up fruit for a fruit salad. (Bottom row) Lexi Taborda and Maria Vultao are joined by Nikki and Hannah to put together the fruit salad.