'I wanted to stand up for others:' Amherst senior is first high schooler to attend school nutrition conference

AMHERST — An Amherst senior made history earlier this week as the first student to attend a legislative conference in Washington, D.C., to advocate for school nutrition programs. Shyla Plezia, 17, a member of Marion L. Steele High School's student nutrition advisory council, spent March 8-10 in the capital and on the Hill to help push for federal support for school meal programs. She joined Deanne Kelbley, Amherst Schools' nutrition supervisor and Student Nutrition Advisory Council adviser, to attend the School Nutrition Association's Legislative Action Conference as the first high school student to attend the annual event and speak to legislators on students' behalf. Inspired by her personal experience with free and reduced lunches, she saw an opportunity to advocate for others, she said. "I wanted to stand up for others, not only in Amherst Schools, but for students across America," she said. Few 17-year-olds would make the whirlwind trip to D.C., but Plezia said she has always been interested in politics, with many telling her they will vote for her presidential ticket one day. "I just love politics," she said. "I feel like a regular person sitting in this room, they could be president of the United States or Supreme Court justice — just a regular person that has a high role, I find so fascinating." As a sophomore, Plezia joined the Student Nutrition Advisory Council in the group's first year and heard Kelbley talk about the Legislative Action Conference and knew she wanted to attend the Washington, D.C., event. She previously went with Kelbley to the Ohio Statehouse to advocate for nutrition programs in 2025. Columbus was a "stepping stone," Kelbley said, but helped get the background approval for Plezia to make the trip to Washington this year. Plezia's trip required approval from the high school principal, superintendent, her family and the School Nutrition Association — of which Kelbley is the president-elect of the Ohio chapter. For Amherst Superintendent Mike Molnar, approving Plezia's trip was another way for the district to create opportunities for students. He gave kudos to Kelbley for starting the Student Nutrition Advisory Council and giving the soon-to-be alumna an interest she may not have had prior to joining the group or going on the Washington trip. "Anytime we can create a new opportunity for a student in any field or area, that's the opportunity for a student to possibly see something that interests them and see a path forward for the future," Molnar said. "So one day, Shyla, from this experience, may be in business communications, marketing, she may be in the field of nutrition or something and she will definitely be impacting people and it could stem from this one opportunity because a person in education cared enough to go above and beyond." Once in D.C. — after a brief delay at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport for a maintenance issue with the plane — Plezia and Kelbley enjoyed what the high school senior called the "best food of her life" at Busboys and Poets, saw mallard ducks (Plezia's favorite) and the White House, met with Sen. Jon Husted, R-Upper Arlington, and staff from U.S. Rep. Bob Latta's office. Talking points with Husted and congressional staffers included garnering support for expanded free school lunches through the Community Eligibility Provision, and that updates to school nutrition standards are "feasible" for schools. Kelbley explained the feasibility lies, in part, with potential changes to protein portion guidelines, which would require more protein per serving. The change could raise districts' costs and make it difficult to find items that fit the new parameters. During a panel with representatives from the U.S. Department of Agriculture discussing changes to U.S. dietary guidelines, Plezia asked if Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits would be allowed to be used on à la carte items sold as snacks or to supplement school lunches. Kelbley said she could see when it hit Plezia that what she was doing in Washington would have a greater reach than just representing Amherst Schools. Plezia gave a video interview to a media crew from the School Nutrition Association and one of its members asked the 17-year-old what it meant to be advocating not just for herself, but for students across the country. "I know the moment that it hit her that she's not just doing it for herself, she's not just doing it for Amherst, she's doing it for the nation," Kelbley said. "I could pinpoint the exact moment when the lightbulb went off." For Plezia, answering that question after a couple of days of reflection, she said it did not really occur to her that she was speaking for students in Nevada, California, Florida and Alaska. "I definitely think I had an impact on some people I talked to … but I feel that I'm not enough," she said. "I'm hoping that from the conference that I attended, other students across America are going to want to come to this conference and go to Capitol Hill and speak. It's going to need a team of us — I definitely feel like I started something and I impacted something but it's going to take a lot more than just me speaking." Plezia will graduate this spring from Amherst and plans to continue her education at Lorain County Community College, then Bowling Green State University. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.