Be the Students Who Carry the Torch to Middle School

Before Shrusti Amula founded the Rise N Shine Foundation, a youth-run nonprofit that reduces food waste in Montgomery County, Maryland, she was a middle school student like you. 

She saw things that needed to change, but was discouraged by thoughts like, “I haven't even graduated from high school yet, I don't have a degree, I haven't started real life yet, I don't have the credentials to make a change.” 

Fortunately, she also had another voice that said, “Literally, genuinely, there's nothing holding you back. If you have an idea, if you've done the research, you're just as qualified as anybody else. Fully go for it, plan it out, and just see where it goes because honestly, the world right now needs more people like that.”  

We all have these opposing voices in our heads. But when we stick with it, the voice that tells us to keep going gets stronger, especially as our community starts to back us up.

Shrusti and her team stuck with it. They talked to and emailed many schools before they were even able to set up a meeting. They had meeting after meeting before a school finally said yes. That “Yes” was one of her biggest moments. She was only 13 years old, but in that moment, she created change. 

Shrusti wants you to know that, even if no one has ever told you that you have the power to create change, you do.

Shrusti reflects on conversations with elementary school principals whose students participated in Rise N Shine programs and then moved on to middle school, where food recovery or composting didn’t exist.  

“They're going to their middle school, and they're like, 'Why isn't there a compost program? We have been doing this for a couple of years [at the elementary school]. Why isn't this already here?’” 

Shrusti believes in you. She knows you grew up with climate education in elementary and are being taught to be leaders. 

Her message to you as incoming sixth graders, “If that feels wrong to you, that your new school isn't doing that, then that's how you know that you're passionate about it, that's something you want to change. So I think once you realize that, you just really need to tune in to that; if something feels wrong, you have to change it. Just take the first step. You already know how to do it. You grew up doing that for a couple of years. 

“So, don’t be afraid to talk to your principal. Don't be afraid to talk to your peers or your parents, even your teachers or anyone, because honestly, you don't have anything to lose. You're trying to help the world, and that is the most wonderful thing you could do.”

At her middle school in 2018-20, Shrusti often felt alone in her passion for addressing climate change and food insecurity. She noticed that her friends and other students her age didn’t seem as interested in tackling those issues. But that was before food recovery was in 118 schools and composting was in 23 schools in her community. Now, in 2026, students from your school and from the other elementary schools that feed into your middle school want to continue food recovery and composting. 

“Just participating, even if you're not [formally] leading other students in your school, even just putting your food waste into the green compost bin instead, is taking leadership,” Shrusti encourages. 

Sometimes leadership starts small. But as you influence your school cafeteria by modeling and introducing new behaviors, you’ll sharpen your leadership skills.

“A lot of principals that I've talked to are like, ‘Obviously, we need to do this.’” Shrusti says. “It's just not something that they're required to do, so they don't think about doing that themselves.” 

This is your moment to step into a more confident version of yourself. Find out how your middle school principal feels about food waste as a contributor to climate change. Find out how they feel about food insecurity. 

To quote Shrusti, “The reason we're doing this is because of the negative environmental impact that climate change is having on our health. People's health is being significantly detrimented when food insecurity is rampant. These programs have just really opened my eyes to what other people in our community are going through, even when it's not super obvious. I think a lot of the time it can be hidden.” 

Maybe your middle school principal has their own story that tugs at their heartstrings. That could be your entry point.  

According to Shrusti, elementary school principals are already telling each other how easy the program is: just an extra bin, a cart, and a mini fridge. 

If the leadership you developed in elementary is a part of who you are, hold onto that expectation of yourself and live into it. Cafeteria Victories encourages you to talk with your elementary school principal and invite them to email your middle school principal with a list of students who are passionate about continuing this work and who can be counted on to step into leadership and create change in middle school. We offer a coaching program to help you grow your leadership skills. 

Don't get discouraged. It took Rise N Shine a few years to establish a composting program in several schools, but it became easier and easier. The more of your fifth-grade peers you can rally, the more you’ll create a domino effect. 

“What better way to convince the students to do something than to go talk to them directly, students talking to students,” encourages Shrusti.  “After showing schools that composting is normal and not composting is not normal, eventually the conversations became: ‘Why aren't we doing this already? It's such an easy thing to do.’” 

Now, schools are reaching out to Rise N Shine because they've heard about the program through other principals and staff. Will you lead your middle school to be next? 

We all have these opposing voices in our heads. The one we listen to more often gets stronger. Keep choosing the one that tells you to keep going. 

If you ever have doubts, reread Shrusti’s words, “Saving the world is the sentiment we need to be growing up with: Yes, we can save the world.” 

Find the community that echoes her words. You are already the students who notice what others overlook. You’ve seen the wasted food, the bins that send everything to the landfill, the habits that feel “normal” but don’t sit right with you. That awareness is your spark. You have real experience with what it’s like to move through your lunchtime. That makes you the most powerful ambassadors for change. You understand your classmates. That’s why your voice is the one that matters most.

If you’re ready to do more than care, and you want to lead something real, Climate Action Lab is for you. It’s a leadership lab where small teams of students design and run a simple, meaningful cafeteria sustainability action. Bring your climate knowledge. The lab focuses on how behavior change actually happens.

If you’re thinking, “I’m not sure I’m a leader” or “I’ve never done something like this before,” you are exactly who this lab was created for. If you want to be one of the students who carries the torch to middle school visit CafeteriaVictories.com to learn more and sign up. 

As our articles have shown, small actions in one cafeteria can spark bigger change. The question is: what torch do you want to carry?

Cafeteria Victories supports middle and high school students as they develop their leadership in driving school wide cafeteria-waste reduction. All programs are facilitated online and open to schools nationwide through articles, coaching, and facilitated peer-mentoring.