The need for real school food has never been greater. In Georgia today, one out of every three kids are obese. Even more frightening is that one of every three people born after the year 2000  have diabetes. That statistic rises to one out of every two for African Americans and Hispanics.

In the face of this crisis, schools are financially struggling to feed children anything but the overly processed fast food that endangers their health. For many children, school lunch is their only guaranteed meal of the day. Right now, those children are forced to choose between going hungry and being unhealthy. The National School Lunch Program provides a meal to more than 30 million children every school day.

Early on a Friday morning, students of the Wheeler High School culinary program busily move about the classroom. The kitchen, a wide expanse of stainless steel appliances and abundant counter space, is a buzzing hub for novice chefs. Students quickly work together to finish their exam. The assignment? Bake a cheesecake. Separated into two groups, students are busy putting the final creative touches on their sweet treats. On one side of the kitchen, D'Anna carefully slices through a ripe green apple. On the other side, Lana and Bethany hover together and perfect the intricate design atop their cake.

Photo: Cub Scout Alexei Douglass with his dad, John Douglass

When you look at the Cub Scout homepage at scouting.org, it explains that Cub Scouting is "doing." In Cub Scout Pack 770, based out of Tritt Elementary School, our boys are living up to that explanation by "doing" all types of fun, interesting, and informative activities throughout the year.

While doing these activities, they not only work to advance in the ranks of Cub Scouting, but the boys learn about real life professions and responsibilities, too.