Mini-doc on Club Advised by Niagara University Grad Airs During CNN’s ‘New Year’s Eve Live’
Amid the conical hats, demands for hot tea and general hullabaloo of New Year’s Eve was a gripping mini-documentary about a new program that launched last fall at a high school in Boca Raton, Fla.
Produced by MassMutual, the three-minute piece spotlighted We Dine Together, a lunch club started by four teenagers that endeavors to combat social isolation. Its premise is that no student at Boca Raton Community High School unwillingly eats alone. Each day, club members walk around their school’s courtyard introducing themselves to classmates spotted eating alone during lunchtime.
We Dine Together was founded by students Denis Estimon, Allie Sealy, Jean-Max Meradieu and Kinsley Florestal. Its advisor, English teacher Jordan Hernandez, is a two-time Niagara University graduate. Hernandez said that his Christian upbringing, coupled with his experiences at one of the country’s three Catholic and Vincentian universities, has helped him to encourage his students to “love their enemies into conviction” and “not drink from the cup of bitterness.”
Click here for much more about the club that’s been featured on CNN, CBS and The Huffington Post.