The 2022 Popcorn Pep Club challenge drew an impressive array of creative entries from schools across the nation, showcasing the heart and soul of teachers and students alike. It is an absolute pleasure to look through these entries every year and learn more about you and what makes you tick, so thank you for taking the time to make us smile. We are proud of you all! Your 2022 Popcorn Pep Club winners are:
Grand Prize Winner - $2,500
Bermudian Springs High School
Teacher Name: Kim Robinson
Address: York Springs, PA
Art students at Bermudian Springs High School decided to spread a little popcorn cheer throughout the building. They created multiple works of art using popcorn as their inspiration! We created a popcorn costume so our popcorn character could visit classrooms and hand out free popcorn samples.
We did a “guess the number of popcorn kernels in a jar” with 319 people participating. And we created a slide show with photographs of our art, a few popcorn jokes and some facts about popcorn. Hope you enjoy our entry as much as we enjoyed creating the fun!
Secondary Prize Winners - $1,500 each
Big Spring Middle School
Teacher Name: Rebecca Whigham
Address: Newville, PA
Popcorn is integral to our Family Consumer Science lessons because it is such a wonderful snack food that works on a small budget. Our school is Title I and many of our kids struggle with access to affordable, healthy food. Popcorn is such an awesome answer to that.
We first make popcorn as 6th graders, where students are learning the basics of stove cooking and measuring. The students learn how to make old-fashioned stovetop popcorn in a pot and also can experiment with various flavors and toppings, prepared in the microwave. Students learn the basic of the MyPlate food groups this year too, and learn that popcorn is a healthy whole grain snack food.
We also use popcorn again in 7/8 when we talk about sustainable consumption. This is used to teach about unit pricing and buying in bulk vs. generic, making your own versus buying microwave popcorn, and we talk about the cost of convenience. We also have a conversation about plastic pollution and the amount of trash in food consumption, and explore how popcorn is a much more sustainable snack that is better for the triple bottom line: planet, people, profit. It is better for the environment because it makes less trash, it is better for people because its a non-gmo whole grain snack, and it is better for profit because it is an American made food source that is very budget friendly.
This year we had a popcorn fest. Students researched about the history, health facts, and celebrated popcorn. They got to share about how popcorn is a perfect snack and we had so much fun. We had presentations, poems, raps, slide decks, new popcorn recipes, and lots of posters. We created a popcorn bulletin board for the whole class to see. It was such a fun activity and hopefully taught students about all of popcorn.
Howells-Dodge Consolidated Schools
Teacher Name: Marla Prusa
Address: Howells, NE 68641
The Family and Consumer Sciences classes at Howells-Dodge Consolidated Schools in Howells, Nebraska have incorporated a variety of projects to make others in the school and community more aware of the healthy benefits of popcorn during the 2022 school year. The students worked together to plan activities and experiences that would engage and educate students about popcorn and its nutritional value. Students utilized resources from The Popcorn Board at www.popcorn.org as they created their project. Through our "Let's Get Popping!" project, activities focused on elementary, junior high, and high school students, as well as staff, parents and community members.
Activities included having older students teaching the younger ones with Healthy Hero activities. Junior High students learned about popcorn’s role in good health and the Senior High students researched projects and made presentations. A popcorn quiz using Jenga is such a fun way to learn!
Honorable Mentions - $500 each
Clear Lake Schools
Teacher Name: Dana Downs
Address: Clear Lake, IA
Dubois Middle School
Teacher Name: Teresa Brownlee
Address: Dubois, PA
Holman Middle School
Teacher Name: Heather Dedie
Address: Glen Allen, VA 23059
Iroquois School District
Teacher Name: Vicki Dant
Address: Iroquois, SD
Jackson Center High School/UVCC
Teacher Name: Vicki Kipker
Address: Jackson Center, OH
Kauai High School
Principal Name: Marlene Leary (on behalf of student Ty Takashi Kajihara)
Address: Lihue, HI
Kittitas Secondary School
Teacher Name: Cheryl Uceny
Address: Kittitas, WA
Long Beach Middle School
Teacher Name: Ilyssa Berman
Address: Lido Beach, NY
Mexico High School
Teacher Name: Karen Ford
Address: Mexico, MO
Mountain View Middle School
Teacher Name: Amber Mecham
Address: Blackfoot, ID
New Haven School District
Teacher Name: Jamie Miller
Address: New Haven, MO
Nodaway-Holt High School
Teacher Name: Tenique Hays
Address: Graham, MO
Paden High School
Teacher Name: Ramanda Rolette
Address: Paden, OK
Rocky Heights Middle School
Teacher Name: Sharon Majetich
Address: Highlands Ranch, CO
Shady Grove Middle School
Teacher Name: Anne Kozma
Address: Gaithersburg, MD
Turtle Hook Middle School
Teacher Name: Lisa Gorenberg
Address: Uniondale, NY
Wilson Middle School
Teacher Name: Jennifer Berndt
Address: Appleton, WI
Wayne Highlands Middle School
Teacher Name: Gretchen Finney
Address: Honesdale, PA
Please note: The winning schools do not need to do anything further to collect their prizes.
We will contact you by mail.