Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities
Final Grant Report for
Fiscal agent if applicant is not tax exempt:
Tax ID Number:
38-2314954
Contact First Name:
Contact Last Name:
Jen
Schaap
313 Howard St, Unit B, Petoskey, MI 49770
Address:
Email:
231-941-6584 x708
Phone Number:
Project Name:
Groundwork Hosts FoodCorps in Pellston and Alanson Public Schools
Project start and end dates:
Monday, August 3, 2020
Thursday, July 15, 2021
Amount Granted From Hestia:
$
2577
Project results and Impact
How many girls/women have been served by the project during this project year?
Approximately 475 students attend Pellston Public Schools (PPS) in total, many of which are receiving meals influenced by 10 Cents a Meal which helps the school purchase fruits, vegetables, and legumes grown in Michigan.
4 grade levels receive direct FoodCorps instruction:
1st grade: 13 total students, 8 girls
3rd grade: 24 total students, 15 girls
4th grade: 26 total students, 14 girls
5th grade: 30 total students, 17 girls
PPS has an all female food service staff. All teachers that receive FoodCorps instruction in their classrooms are female.
Approximately 230 students attend Alanson Public Schools (APS) in total, many of which are receiving meals influenced by 10 Cents a Meal, also.
4 grade levels receive direct FoodCorps instruction:
Kindergarten: 20 total students, 9 girls
2nd Grade: 18 total students, 9 girls
3rd Grade: 13 total students, 6 girls
6th Grade: 10 total students, 7 girls
APS has a female serving as principal and superintendent. They also have an all female food service staff and all of the teachers receiving FoodCorps instruction in their classroom, with the exception of 6th grade, are female.
Goal of the Project
Did you meet your program goals for the grant period?
If yes, how do you know? Please describe any program evaluation you use:
If no, please describe current barriers and how you are working to overcome them:
Despite changes in school operations due to COVID, we are on track to reach our goal: a schoolwide culture of health. We track stakeholder quotes and hours spent in schools.
Our FoodCorps service member will serve 33.2 hrs/week through midJuly and meet her requirements. A typical day includes planning and delivering hands-on nutrition and garden lessons, gathering garden and nutrition info to share with the community through social media, newsletters and hallway boards, building community partnerships to sustain the work, and engaging in professional development. She spent 90+ hours in schools, led 68 hands-on lessons, delivered 25 tastings, and engaged 11 volunteers. She re-established the APS garden and is fundraising for PPS’s hoophouse infrastructure, which will grow tomatoes for school meals. She planted seeds at both schools for a summer program.
The superintendent of APS said:
"There are a lot of great things happening…at the beginning...there was a lot on everyone’s plate — but she [Janie] was wonderful...I’ve seen her getting into more and more classrooms as the year goes on...more and more teachers are like, ‘oh, tell me more.’ Slowly but surely we’re getting there."
Do you have a story of how your program positively changed participant's situation, behavior, or knowledge?
If so, please share it:
FoodCorps programming encourages students to think deeply about their food and embrace trying new things. For all students, especially young girls, instruction around what healthy food is, where it comes from, and how to eat it can be a source of empowerment. We have witnessed, time and again, seemingly small student moments that actually demonstrate pivotal changes in a student’s preferences.
During a lesson with 2nd grade students at APS, they had the opportunity to taste a “rainbow smoothie.” This recipe showed that “eating a rainbow” supports your whole body. Many students excitedly slurped smoothies made of strawberries, blueberries, banana and spinach, but one girl voiced hesitancy to try it when the cup was placed on her desk. After a gentle reminder of how the different colored fruits and vegetables included in the smoothie can positively impact her health, she bravely took a sip and a smile spread across her face. She along with many other classmates requested recipes so that they could re-create the smoothie at home!
This story highlights how when information, opportunity and support are tied together, young girls may feel more willing to try new things.
Sustainability
Will this project continue?
If so, how will it be funded?
If not, why not?
The Groundwork-FoodCorps-APS-PPS partnership will continue: APS for 2-4 more years, and PPS’s for 1-2 more years.
Service members will increase from 2 this year to 3 in 2021-2022. The 1st two will continue to conduct cooking and nutrition lessons, as well as support school gardens in APS, PPS, Boyne Falls, and East Jordan. The 3rd will be a pilot. Michigan receives 4 “School Nutrition Leaders,” 3 of which will be in Detroit Public Schools, and the 4th to Groundwork. They will be focused on school meal quality, not in just 1-2 schools, but the whole region. Goals and outcomes are being drafted now. Recruitment is underway.
FoodCorps’ Michigan team is including fees, travel, supplies, supervision, and training for the pilot position in their proposal to the Michigan Health Endowment Fund this spring. Groundwork’s proposal to a family foundation aims to cover the remaining costs for the two traditional service members. We have one steady private donation to the program.
Also, Chef Nathan Bates of Boyne Falls Public Schools has been hired as a consultant for PPS, and is hiring a chef to support food service at PPS, which will influence APS since they share a food service director.
Public Relations
How did you publicize this grant?
Please list any examples.
In December 2020, Groundwork Center publicly acknowledged Hestia’s generous contribution to supporting FoodCorps AmeriCorps service member, Janie Noah, through a post on Groundwork’s Facebook page. The post was viewed by 737 people and was shared by two different people. In April 2021, Groundwork Center once again publicly acknowledged Hestia’s contribution to supporting Janie’s FoodCorps service at Pellston Public School and Alanson Public School on its Facebook page. The post was viewed by 429 people and shared by one person.
The posts can be viewed here:
Dec. 2020: https://www.facebook.com/groundworkcenter/posts/10164540510290187
Apr. 2021: https://www.facebook.com/groundworkcenter/posts/10165070732180187
Summary Comments
Exciting happenings: Thanks to Hestia, this program expanded from PPS to APS, and because we added APS and EJPS, our farm to school activity also increased drastically over the Char-Em region, which helped us build a case for more support. A presentation to the Char-Em ISD superintendents on April 12. Through the Assistant Superintendent of Instruction we’ll be considering funding options to attain support within the ISD. Farm-to-school activities align with the ISD’s goals to support the whole child. A healthy child is one that is connected to community, is part of their environment, and knows nutrition basics. Now more than ever, schools are seeing the importance of all the components a student needs to learn.
Budget: Numbers here are actual, to date. Our project has 3 more months. Due to COVID, we had less tastings, and therefore less supplies needed. Training and travel were reduced due to virtual events. No computers were purchased this year because service members used their personal computers and FoodCorps supplied Chromebooks. We did not receive C3F funding last year and our organization provided more contribution to the program from unrestricted individual donations.
Grant Final Budget Form
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