From getting down and dirty to getting down to eating

You may remember a blog post of mine in May about my kindergarten class's adventures in gardening. With the insanity of the end of the school year over and done with, I thought I would post an update as to how our garden turned out.

Just about every sunny day my class and I went to the garden to tend our vegetables, enjoy the garden, and compost our fruit and vegetables peels from our snacks and lunches. Even though is was a small part of our school day, my students would cheer every time we set on our way. Once we were in the garden they proudly checked on our vegetables, emptied our classroom compost, and greatly enjoyed looking around the garden and discovering all the plants and bugs living amongst us. When our classroom butterflies hatched, we released them into our garden as well, and enjoyed visiting them and seeing them fly free.

Finally, on the day before the last day of school, I told my students that we would pick some of our vegetables tomorrow and make a delicious, gigantic, and nutritious salad from our garden, they were extremely excited. Children, excited about salad? It's true!

I had a child and her mother ask a couple of days prior if they could make a special treat for the last day of school, cake pops. I told my student that we wouldn't have time to eat that treat on the last day of school (which is only a half day) as we were having our special salad. At first she was disappointed until her mother suggested they make special salad dressings for the class. Immediately, she thought that was a great idea and was just as excited to contribute to our healthy snack as she was with the treat food.

I also had a mother who offered to order in pizza for the last day of school, which was very generous, but I politely declined as we were having our special salad. Her response "Salad? Good luck with that". Well, in actuality,  I didn't need any luck because my students were so invested in their garden and what they had produced that every child tried the salad and most came back for seconds and thirds. In class I cut and my students helped me to prepare cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, craisins, and sunflower seeds to go with the lettuce and radishes they grew and picked, and then they added a dressing of their choice. It was a huge hit and a great way to end off our school year.

Our garden project was a massive success and I enjoyed it as much as my students. Two green thumbs up!

Thai Health Initiatives: from Mr. Condom to Smoking Kid

Image from:http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2012/06/thai_anti-smoking_psa_shows_li.html

I came a across a youtube video put out by the Thai Health Promotion Federation called Smoking Kid.
I first became aware of some of the innovative health education practices happening in Thailand after seeing a Ted talk video in class last semester called Mr. Condom. This anti-smoking campaign takes a different approach from our current model of using scare tactics, via disturbing images and dire warnings, to discourage tobacco use.

Smoking Kid uses children to create dialogue and reflection of smokers on their reasons for smoking.  Instead of a warning, or scare tactic, the children in the video ask the smoker why they are smoking, and after listening to the warnings and appeals for the children not to smoke, they offer them a pamphlet about the dangers of tobacco use.

The video statistics sound impressive, though I'm unsure of the scale of the promotion and or of its lasting power on the individuals approached by the children, or those who see the campaign. Scare tactics and shame do little to address the physiological and psychological dependence many smokers struggle with, and I'm unsure if this style of campaign does either.

Nevertheless, an interesting idea on a health concern whose current campaign needs desperately to be readdressed in North America.

How High is Your Grocery Bill?

I knew food costs more in rural and isolated towns in Canada was expensive, but from my home in New Westminster where food from all over the globe is instantly accessible at, for the most part, reasonable prices it's easy to forget how lucky I am to have access to fresh, nutritious, and affordable foods.

I was shocked when I came across a Facebook page called Feeding My Family, started by citizens of Nunavut rallying against the outrageous prices of food. How outrageous may you ask, here are some examples posted on their Facebook page.

(the price is $104 in case it's to hard to read)

$104 dollars for a flat of bottled water is unbelievable, but almost no more unbelievable than the fact that most communities in Nunavut don't have running water and those that do receive the grade of D on a report done on drinking water in Canada. 

Nunavut residents are planning a protest for Saturday June 9th outside their local Northern brand grocery store to protest the sky rocketing food prices. They are largely reacting to the decision of the Government of Canada to end the Food Mail Program last April, which subsidized shipping costs of fresh and perishable foods to remote northern communities, and it's replacement with Nutrition North where the the savings are passed on to the store who in turn is supposed to pass on the savings to the consumer.

Unsurprisingly, the consumer is not seeing any savings, meaning that the cost of feeding themselves and their families has grossly increased, making eating fresh and nutritious food even more difficult for Northern Canadians.

The willingness of our government to cut social programs and sell off the right of individuals to chose the food they eat at somewhat reasonable prices to a business whose bottom line will always be profit is appalling. The need for a unified food security plan for Canada is essential for the health of our nation. For so many people to be hungry and without access to nutritious food in a first world country is shameful. Good health should not only be for those who can afford it.

Concern over the Concerned

image from:http://socialglare11.livejournal.com/282358.html

A new ad has been put out by the Concerned Children's Advertisers called Media Monkey. The premise of this PSA is to tell children that they can make up their own minds regarding advertiser's messages regarding weight and body image. The add portrays monkeys censoring print, on line, and television messages; telling the viewer "you don't need a monkey on your back to make healthy choices, think for your self".

Well actually, according to the U.N., a vast body of research, and the millions of marketing dollars food companies spend on marketing to children, clearly the message of "think for yourself" is not developmentally appropriate for children as making healthy choices is confusing even for educated adults, let alone children and teens.

I find this ad appalling. It really speaks to the need of our government to set greater controls on the marketing of food to children. Yes we can educate and help children to make better choices, but how can poorly funded public education and health compete against the billion dollar food industry without support  and controls on advertisers. Concerned Children's Advertisers, you have my concern.

This is how I roll

As a non car owner, well an occasional car sharer is probably a better descriptor, active transportation is a daily must for me. I take full advantage of close proximity of my work and enjoy the 40 minutes of fresh air and reflective time it affords me, rain or shine. This year I have really enjoyed spending more time being active outside and choosing to let exercise opportunities find me, such as walking home from SFU Surrey after school sometimes (a good 2 hour walk by the way) instead of transiting home and rushing to the gym.

This past summer I fell in love with bicycle riding in South East Asia, most specifically the ancient temple landscape of Bagan in Myanmar (Burma). Ever since my trip, I have lamented how bicycle riding doesn't seem to fit with my life in the hilly suburb of New Westminster. I own a bike, two actually. One, an uninspiring mountain bike style given to me on my 13th birthday, and the other, a 70's Nordco road bike with gears that makes me flinch at the thought of using and toe baskets that have given me some impressive road rash. Suffice to say neither inspire me to ride my hilly city, or get excited about hopping on. But with summer looming just around the corner, and no big travel plans for me due to my Masters program, a new way to enjoy summer sunshine became increasingly desirable.

With my tax return finally in hand (thank you tuition fees, you're finally good for something!) I was on the hunt for the perfect bicycle that would get me up and down hills safely, but with enough style and enjoyment that not a sunny day would go by without me wishing I was on two wheels. After much research and a few test rides I fell in love with a bike company that designs bike based on Dutch city bikes. We've discussed this a few times in our masters cohort and I really do believe that one of the biggest barriers to cycling, especially in the suburbs, is that generally the only cyclist you see are serious road bikers dressed head to toe in spandex. I need a bike that doesn't make me feel like a downhill mountain biker wannabe, or a road racing impostor. I wanted a bicycle that I could just hop onto in any outfit, at anytime, with a basket for my bag and groceries, I found it! Voici mon Electra Ticino 8d in wintermint with hammered chrome fenders and cream leather seat and handlebars.

Since getting my bike on Friday, I've put about 8 hours of riding on it and loved every minute! I've been rocking bike to work week, and intend on continuing long after the week is over. My new bicycle has even inspired me to change up the workout rut I've found myself to be in. From now until the end of bike season I'm swapping my 5-6 day a week workouts with a new three day a week split (push, pull, legs) and on my off days you will find my out and about walking, running, hiking, and of course riding my new favourite possession. Change is great!

Localicious – Delving Into Local Deliciousness and Food Policy

I attended the fourth and final Re:generation event on Thursday May 24^th which focused building a culture of local food. I had hoped for an interesting and tasty evening of food and food discourse, I was not disappointed. The evening started off with amazing local food prepared by local chef Hunter J. Moyes. Afterwards, the storytelling began with 4 speakers sharing their experiences with local food in a myriad of contexts relating to growing, farming, food security, and food policy. After an introduction into the current goals of the Vancouver Food Policy, participants broke into small group to discuss ideas and thoughts about the food policy, creating a dialogue for change.

One of the most exciting features of the evening was the intergenerational aspect of the speakers and audience, as well the diverse opinions and backgrounds represented in the forum. From farmers, business owners, educators, to policy makers, it was truly inspiring to be surrounded by people who care about their food, and food for others. I was also extremely impressed by the Vancouver Food Policy and the 5 tenants they have outlined in their current charter. As creating and sustaining just, sustainable, and accessible food systems becomes increasingly challenging, is heartening to know that discourse and action continue to happen and our voices are being heard. I am also excited to bring back to New Westminster and our Food Action Committee what is happening around the lower mainland to support our citizens and community.

The most poignant piece of the evening, for me, was how often I heard non educators mention the importance of food education in schools and schools acting as change agents in creating a just and equitable food system. While it’s sometimes tempting to shrug that off and think “and with what time, budget, or support for teachers and students?”, (especially with BC teachers in job action this year) I have instead being trying to think realistically of ways schools could actually do this in real and meaningful ways with the resources we have available. This idea continues to be in the forefront of my mind during the design consultations with the builders and designers of what will be my new school. It keeps bringing me back to the same question. Realistically, how can a school be designed in ways to promote social equity and environmental sustainability with limited budgets and curricular, student composition and learning constraints? Much, much, food for thought.

Flex Your Foodie Muscles

There's a couple of great local food events happening in the next couple of weeks that I will be attending, and I thought I'd share.

The first is re:generation: localicious - an international dialogue

Tickets are extremely affordable (sliding scale) and great stories and food are promised. Come be a part of the local food movement!

The second is The Royal City Farmers Market Fundraiser on May 31st at the new and fantastic Wild Rice restaurant at the fabulous New Westminster River Market. This event promises an amazing and diverse local menu, silent auction, and other festivities to support our local Farmers Market and all the work they do in New Westminster.

Bon and sustainable appétit!

Student Perspectives on Learning Spaces: What Are We Missing?

First class of the new semester today!  This course jumps into the realm of imaginative education in regards to curriculum and instruction through our lens of Health Education and Active reading. This is a reaction paper in response to an assigned course reading. The content is exceptionally relevant to my current work situation and offered me an interesting little experiment with my class. I've included a few sample of their work, enjoy!

Angelica: "We are playing on the carpet. Sabrina is planting. The carpet looks nice. I'm waiting for Sabrina to come play. I'm planting too."

       

 Anthony:  "When the bell rings they will go inside. The gym is downstairs. There is an upstairs"

Ben: "This is a fun school, there is a roller coaster. There's a guitar and drums - a rock school. There is a smart board, learning board, and television. There is a trampoline. There is a lock so bad guys can't get in. It's a carnival and a rock school".

Daniel: "I want a rainbow roof. I want to play new toys and a new floor. I want to bring toys to school".

 Sammi: "I want calendar and the carpet. Read a book. Writing something"

Bland, D. Drawing on imagination: Primary students' ideal learning environments. Queensland University of Technology

            After reading the abstract for this article I knew instantly that it would be the article I would chose to write my reaction paper on. With my school district’s announcement that the decrepit 80-year-old school I teach at is to be torn down and relocated to a new site, and that teacher input would be essential in the design of the new structure, I gladly jumped into the article hoping to glean ideas for the upcoming consultation meeting, I was most definitely not disappointed.

            The first thing that struck me when reading this article is how true it is that the opinions and ideas of children are not valued is so many areas of education despite the current popularity student centred learning. My school district has hired numerous consultants, and solicits advice from teachers and parents, but nowhere in the plan is student feedback. However, I cannot only place blame of ignoring student perspectives at the senior administrative level, this article also made me question the redesigning of my classroom learning environment I took on this January.

            Earlier this year I took advantage of my release from full-time teaching duties during my student teachers long practicum to redesign my classroom to better meet the needs of my class[1].  I was extremely happy with my experiments in educational design, however, after digesting the Bland article I couldn’t help but be haunted by the fact that I never considered asking my students about our space, or what they would like changed in their learning environment. Pacifying myself a little with the knowledge that my re-design used well-researched early learning practices and strategies to meet the needs of young learners, I began to think of feasible ways to illicit feedback from my students,as working with kindergarten aged students often presents parameters far different than those for older children

            The article focuses on the ideas and perspectives of grade 5/6 students.  This age range was chosen based on Piaget’s concrete operational stage, the developmental ability to think logically and use epithetical awareness. The article does touch a little on research with 7-9 year olds, and even suggestion that a 1^st grader may be able to offer an perspective, but I teach kindergarten, henceforth, I decided to see what they could offer.

            Before giving my students the piece of paper for their drawing, I told them about the new school and that we needed their help. I told them that they could imagine and draw anything they wanted about a new school (I tried to use the word learning space in place of school but the concept was unclear to them). I specifically did not use examples or give ideas as often they will copy ideas or examples given to them, and I wanted this to be their perspective. I scribed their ideas for them immediately after drawing as to not lose any meaning behind their work.

            Afterwards, many constraints of this age group on somewhat abstract concepts were evident. Most students drew pictures that were almost exact replicas of our current school[2]. The lack of inclusion of ideas, items, or design elements that were not in the current school seems to come from the limited experience kindergarteners have with learning environments. For some, my classroom and their school is the only formal learning institution they have been in, which makes it hard for them imagine something vastly different than their own experience,  - running quite parallel to the findings in the article where no students questioned the existence of schools, or wanted to abolish them. Only a couple to students included new ideas, such as rollercoasters[3], fantasy, and technology, which were similar to the article. The inclusion of nature was also vividly represented[4]

            I found this little experiment with my students to be extremely interesting and illuminating during my school rebuilding process. This article made me realize how much value there is in honoring the perspectives of students in relation to their learning spaces. How best to do this at a kindergarten appropriate level, however, is still something I am trying to work out. Working with young learners is challenging, but their opinions are extremely valuable. The challenge moving forward will be to figure out how best to allow their ideas to flourish and expand without forcing current practices or stifling their imaginations.

---

[1] Blog Post: “The RE design of my everyday things” February 12^th 2012

http://fuelyourlife.blogspot.ca/2012_02_01_archive.html

[2] Drawings by Daniel, Sammi, and Anthony

[3] Drawing by Ben

[4] Drawing by Angelica

Getting Down and Dirty

With a little sunshine finally come our way I have resumed my local, sustainable, and delicious food production and cultivation, aka my backyard garden. There is something viscerally satisfying about seeing the beautiful green shoots of plants sprouting forth from the soil from the seeds sown only a few weeks ago. Despite the cold and dreary weather, my arugula, peas, and pumpkins are already foretelling the warmer weather ahead and the amazing food they will become. I have always found vegetables grown by my own hands to be so much more delicious, and I think that involvement and interest in food from its literal roots would make vegetables more appealing to my students as well.

As plant life cycles are entrenched in kindergarten curriculum, I have always grown beans with my students on my classroom windowsills. As exciting as it is for students to see their plants grow, we were never able to produce food from these little plants,  a concrete connection between plants and food that is missing in such a small scale planting. This year, I wanted to make plants, food growing, and eating fresh vegetables as exciting and hands on as possible - the addition of a community garden onto the parkland adjacent to our school grounds has given me just that opportunity.

I feel extremely humbled and blessed by the kindness and interest the members of my community garden have in including students in their beautiful and fruitful space. You can imagine that 17 excited and often spatially unaware kindergarteners can be quite a challenge to share space with, but our fellow gardeners are always helpful and kind, often showing my students interesting plants, taking the time to explain what they are doing, and helping us accessing the tools we need. The sense of community in our garden is truly amazing.

My students, in turn, recognize how beautiful and harmonious this space is, and want nothing more than to participate and take care of all the living things they find. The glee they express when turning over the dirt with their hands and finding worms is palatable. The care they use when sowing our seeds and patting down the earth demonstrates how even a few visits to the garden have made them feel a part of the space and helped them to assume their role as gardener, care taker, and food grower.

We are growing radishes, lettuce, and cucumbers. The first two because they grow quite quickly and should be ready to harvest in June, and the third because it's our classes favourite vegetable. Everyday they ask to go to the garden and are learning the plant life cycle and new vocabulary words faster than any of my previous classes. Even my pickiest eaters are excited to try the foods that we are growing.

Even though I am far, far from an expert gardener, I am greatly enjoying passing along what knowledge I do have and teaching my students not only skills to grow food, but also to love and appreciate simple and unadulterated foods, starting with enjoying the vegetables they grew themselves.

GreenTech Exchange - Seminar Series

photo from: http://www.greentechexchange.ca/

I found out through a friend, oddly enough not via the vast amounts of SFU email I receive, that SFU has a partnership with a company called GreenTech Exchange and offers free seminars on a wide variety of issues connected to environment, energy, food systems, and others extremely important areas of concern for our economy, environment, and planet.

GreenTech Exchange is


"Greentech Exchange (GTE) is a monthly networking and learning event featuring presentations from leaders in the green technology field, pitches from Greentech entrepreneurs and networking with entrepreneurs, professionals, investors, government representatives and more.

The GTE is open to anyone interested in greentech and cleantech. Specifically, Greentech SMEs, entrepreneurs, innovators, investors, industry leaders, government partners and supporting service providers will benefit from attending."

I attended a seminar last Wednesday on Solutions in the Food System: Addressing Food Security and Impacts on Agriculture which included four panelists from a variety of backgrounds and interests in food, one of which happened to be my uncle oddly enough. It was an extremely interesting discussion about past, present, and future concerns surrounding local food security, food production, and protection and promotion of local and sustainable foods. It was exciting to see how seriously the city of Vancouver is taking its "greening" initiatives and learn of many exciting and upcoming local food projects such as large scale vertical growing of herbs and greens which will be happening right in the downtown core, on a roof top green house. 

It was a great forum for discussion, sharing, and learning about pressing issues in food security and agriculture that cannot wait. Greentech exchange has a listing of upcoming events being held at SFU Harbour Centre and other locations on health and environmental issues. I would definitely encourage anyone interested to check out the upcoming series.

Food Marketing to Kids: New Approaches to Consumer Education

As a grad student I somehow seem to be on 5 million (give or take a few) mailing lists an receive a plethora of academia focused emails that are usually challenging to sift through. As challenging as it can be to give them due attention, every once in a while I come across something that catches my eye and makes it all worthwhile. I was forwarded a website about food marketing to kids, and I thought I'd share a cause near and dear to my heart.

Ruthless food marketing tactics are increasingly being focused at children, a consumer group with a lot of sway and little ability to see through the cartoon covered, website promoting, free toy give away ploys of food companies to sell their products.

Walk into any supermarket, crouch down, and look at what products are placed at children's eye level and reach, it's no coincidence that this is where you will find the majority of fat and sugar laden treats and "foods" meant to attract the attention and desire of kids.

The direct marketing of food (and in most cases heavily processed sugar and fat added foods) has become such a pervasive problem that many special interest and public health groups are trying to force government to limit and or eliminate food marketing to children. The UN for example, mentions this specifically in a Report on the Right to Food


"Adopt statutory regulation on the marketing of food products, as the most effective way to reduce marketing of foods high in saturated fats, trans-fatty acids, sodium and sugar (HFSS foods) to children, as recommended by WHO, and restrict marketing of these foods to other groups" 


Here's a great example of marketing to children. This comes from a company offering prizes and incentives to schools that carry their brands. This add is a perfect example of how food marketing can make almost any food appear "healthy" or a "good choice" "Better" for you chocolate snack

What I came across today seems to be a very innovative approach to teaching kids about food marketing, and how children can learn to more critically asses the images and messages being presented to them. A website, created by the Media Awareness Network, has created an Coco's Adversmarts: An Interactive Unit on Food Marketing which is a game where children design they're own food marketing gimmicks and in the process learn about how foods are marketed to them. I really like this approach because as important as banning or at the very least limiting food marketing to children is, it is far more empowering to teach them to think critically about the information presented to them. I think this would be a very powerful tool in the classroom and at home.

While I continue to support and join in the demand for regulation on food labelling and marketing, I greatly applaud efforts like these that give power through education to the consumer, especially societies most vulnerable consumers, children.

Social Media and Grad School

The fact that I happen to be blogging my way through my masters program must mean there is something to the idea of using the internet to connect, inspire or be inspired, and reflect upon my unfolding educational and professional journeys. There is power in putting your thoughts and self out for others to see, alongside a humbleness that comes when you explore the amazing things others are doing.

When I received an email from SFU graduate programs about a workshop on Using Social Media to Advance Your Graduate Career, I thought it might  be a good idea to see what others are doing and how I can use all the tools available to me keep my career and educational options as open as possible.

The workshop, consisting of four SFU grad students who are currently effectively using social media to network, further their research, and find educational and employment opportunities, inspired me to see how I can use social media to my advantage.

The piece that stuck with me the most was that if someone "looks you up", no information, is just as bad as the wrong information about you to come up on a google search. Best plan, manage an online personna that reflects what you would like people to know in a professional and educational context.
Effective social media use is new to me, but I've been inspired and am well on my way to creating an effective and professional online version of me.

Want to watch the podcast of the workshop? Here's the link Social Media for Graduate Students Workshop

What Are You Eating?

The hot topic of "Pink slime" a fantastic moniker for what is know in the food industry as lean finely textured beef, is  has been popping up in the media over concern of its uses in school lunches. Pink slime is the finely textured product of all the parts of the cow that are not fit for sale in any other form, yet sold as food in school cafeterias and restaurants across North America. While Pink Slime is likely as safe and nutritious to eat as most hot dogs, the bigger question facing the food industry is whether it should be made known to the consumer whether they are eating beef, or lean finely textured beef, as this new form is so far removed it bares its own name.

These engineered foods are receiving huge backlash in the media, and many are calling for a return to more "natural" processed foods. However, without stronger regulations on food labelling, food companies seem to find a way to keep cost saving measures and re label them in ways the confuse the consumer. Case in point the Maple Leaf "Naturals" line which contained all the same nitrates as the original meats, but labelled as nitrate free.

So natural foods are the way to go? Perhaps, but L-cysteine is a natural product found in most commercially produced bread and wheat based product, made from human hair. Or the red die that many enjoy in Strawberry flavoured drinks such as Starbucks Strawberry Frappuccino, is made from beetles.

Hungry? In fact it seems that the more one forays into the business of big food, the more the statement "ignorance is bliss" seems to ring true. Is that what modern eating has become? A choice between ignorance and knowingly eating slime, bugs, or human hair on a regular basis? Maybe, but its also another great reason to look at the foods you're eating and pick those that are in their state closest to nature, that's the best guarantee against a myriad of cost saving, flavour changing, colour producing things that may be hiding in your food.

Enjoying the simple pleasure of whole foods, prepared in a kitchen and not a factory may just be the one of the solutions to an ever increasing problem.

"Pink Slime"

Natural Deli Meats not so Natural

Are Bugs Vegan Friendly?

Human Hair and Bread!?!

Today was my final day as a School Associate, as my fantastic student teacher completed her final practicum today. I have been incredibly fortunate this year to have worked with such a talented and passionate pre-service teacher for both her 401/402 and 405 practicums. Being a School Associate has been an incredibly rewarding and introspective journey into my own professional career. Mentoring and collaborating with a student teacher has fuelled my own reflective behaviour on my practice and journey as an educator. Taking on a student teacher as I returned to school myself gave me a fresh perspective on my own views of education and the benefits of collaboration in teaching.

I am reminded so often when working with pre service and current teachers that the profession of teaching is a journey and no matter the number of classes you've taught or years of service, good teachers are open to change and new ideas. Good teachers continually put effort into creating meaningful and engaging learning opportunities for our students appreciating and teaching to the distinct dynamics every different class brings. My own journey in the undertaking of a Masters degree is really not so different than my student teacher's journey in PDP, just in another place on the continuum of experience. No where was that more abundantly clear than when we discovered that we were both submitting reflections to the same SFU Professor who happens to be heavily involved with not only my Masters cohort, but the PDP Playworks module as well. Lesson to be learned? Where there is Active Living and Health Education, you just might find Stephen Smith :)

While is was sheer coincidence, the fact that I was paired up with a student teacher from the Playworks module was an incredibly advantageous fit. It allowed for a deeply rooted focus in health, active living, and the built environment - supported by our university studies and propelled by our common interests, experiences, and passions.

While many a tear was shed today, and it may sound overly sentimental; I truly feel that while I may be saying goodbye to a student teacher, I am welcoming a colleague. Congratulations Angela! You are a skilled, passionate, and talented teacher who touched the lives of every student within our class and greatly benefitted the school community. I wish you the best of luck on the continuation of your teaching journey, no matter where in the world it may take you.

And just to lighten the mood, or in case you thought after spending so many months together we started to look a little alike...

I'll let you try to decide if I'm a giant or she's a shrimp :)

Jump Rope For Heart

I know Jump Rope for Heart is a February initiative, but better late than never.

With a student teacher teaching full-time in my class for 6 weeks I decided to do something more useful with my time than read the paper in the staffroom. Here is a link to the power point presentation I created for my Perspective assignment this term for the skipping initiative I started at my school this February.

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B0O8CliAsC4eTHJ4OVVucDVRX2lQLXR2TVBQUkZtdw

Applied Project Concept

This is my concept paper for the applied project proposal and plan we are submitting in our course this semester. It is also, though in it's infancy, the beginnings of my action research project that I hope to implement in my schools three kindergarten classrooms next year.

This is only the concept, so more an outline of the issues and problems than a plan of attack, but the beginning of my project nonetheless.

            Kindergarten is a time of great change and transition for children and their families. In inner city schools, Kindergarten is also, specifically marginalized groups, new immigrants, and struggling families, the first time parents and children come in contact with an institutional system. This first and formative year of school is an excellent opportunity to embrace parents and siblings, alongside their kindergarten aged child in learning, yet sadly schools are often not equipped to do so.  At the kindergarten level it is so apparent that “every system that touches the lives of children offers an opportunity to strengthen the foundations and capacities that makes lifelong healthy development possible” (National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, p. 21), but unfortunately elementary schools have limited abilities to engage students and their families on matters greater than general school readiness such as literacy and numeracy.

            Effective health education, however, has the power to support, engage, and foster better health and happier lives for individuals and families.

“[this idea] presents a compelling rationale for fundamentally rethinking the health dimensions of early childhood policy. Science tells us that meeting the developmental needs of young children is as much about building a strong foundation for physical and mental health as it is about enhancing readiness to succeed in school.   (National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, p.3)

            Yes literacy and numeracy are important, but if kindergarten aged students and their families are not having their most basic health needs met, the possibility for academic success is extremely limited. If students and families were supported and educated in making healthy choices, accessing healthcare and health programs, and finding and utilizing tools and agencies to find safe housing and access to good quality food - the effectiveness of quality academic programs would be greatly improved. Unfortunately, no matter how hard we try; teachers and schools cannot provide all of this to our students. Due to our close proximity and daily contact with families we have the ability to play a pivotal role in our students lives – but we can’t do it alone. In order to serve the whole child, schools and teachers need to access supports for our students and their families. Research shows that an effective way to do this is to build school-family-community partnerships with agencies and organizations that can foster and educate families’ health and well-being.

            Partnerships are not new to schools. Many are currently in practice in most elementary schools such as School Liaison Officers, Public Health Nurses, BC Fruit and Vegetable programs and numerous others are examples of the facility and effectiveness of reaching children and family through schools. While frequent and helpful, these programs tend to be in place as reactionary or stop-gap measures, unable to address the health concerns, problems, or lack of awareness of health issues at their source.

If school-family-community liaison programs are meant to support and foster lifelong health in our students and their families, programs need to move from a reactionary and stopgap perspective to a skilling perspective. A skilling perspective, in essence, is equipping and empowering children and families with the skills needed to live healthy lives in a world where the deskilling of common practices such as cooking and food preparation, physical activity, and community involvement and integration has disabled individuals and families from obtaining and retaining good health and health practices. Most current school-community health liaisons focus on disseminating information to parents and checking on the health of students, and making referrals when necessary. By creating school-family-community liaison programs that aim to skill both children and parents, there is far greater potential to improve health. Effective school-family-community liaisons must strive to go beyond disseminating information and making appropriate referrals if necessary, but to also teach and support families in learning and using the skills required to build and maintain good health.

Effective school-family-community liaisons require collaboration and strong communication between the school and community group/agency. Unfortunately, collaborations often fail to meet the needs of the students because of a mismatch between the community group’s or representative’s skill set, experience, or interest. Liaisons between kindergarten classrooms and community members are especially challenging due to the difficulty of approaching material and learning outcomes in a way that is engaging, developmentally appropriate, and feasible for a 4 and 5 year old child. As a kindergarten teacher it is extremely frustrating to watch a well-intentioned, expert in their field, community member too nervous to engage students in activities or discussion, or hurriedly “talk over their heads”, loosing their attention or interest by using vocabulary or presenting concepts in a way that students are unable to follow. This disconnect between community member and school/student needs can create a discouraging view of and experience with of school-family-community liaisons for both partners.

To move from a reactionary measure to a skilling tool the needs and abilities of students and their families must be the focus in the creation and continuation of school-family-community liaisons. For this to happen, programs must be designed to identify the greatest needs and effective ways of teaching to the specific age group targeted. For effective skilling to take place at the kindergarten child and family level, it is essential for the classroom teacher to not only open their classroom doors to the community, but to work hand in hand with liaising groups and individuals to create specific outcomes and model developmentally appropriate ways to engage and skill students.

While this may seem like obvious good practice, a framework is currently lacking for the development of a teacher driven, skill based, health education programs at the kindergarten level.  After connecting and discussing teacher supported, skill based focused programs with current school-community liaison workers such as our School Liaison Officer (New Westminster Police Department), a New Westminster Fire Fighter, and a Fraser Health Registered Dietician it became clear that community members see the value in creating effective and powerful liaisons as much as I do as a classroom teacher. Teacher input and modeling of developmentally appropriate skills, presentation ideas, and ways to engage kindergarten aged children and their family members was immensely well received by these liaising individuals. It quickly became clear the want to improve and expand upon liaisons exists on both sides of the current partnerships.

 For effective and engaging programs to exist and be accessible to students and families it is essential that experts and those that know the target audience best, such as a classroom teacher, work together to have the greatest impact on the health and well being of our community’s families. By creating positive and memorable skilling experiences for kindergarten students and their families, they will be able to build strong and positive ties with their school and community, furthering their abilities to live healthier and happier lives. The development and fostering of current liaison practices provides a vehicle for health education and promotion of families by mentoring, supporting and connecting those who strive to create an inclusive and obtainable vision of health their community. 

In the development of my action research project I have stumbled upon a great committee doing fantastic things in my own community. Here's their blurb:

NEW WESTMINSTER COMMUNITY FOOD ACTION COMMITTEE

The committee is based in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada. Our members are community developers, advocates, educators, environmentalists, health professionals, community service agency representatives and concerned citizens who have all come together around the issue of Food Security. The committee has been in existence for four years, and currently its steering committee has representatives from: the New Westminster School District, Operation Food Justice Society/Hospitality Project, Fraserside Community Services, Elizabeth Fry Society, Fraser Health, Family Services of Greater Vancouver, Cameray, New Westminster Environmental Partners, and the BC Healthy Living Alliance. Many more organizations and individuals subscribe to our e-list to keep up on our activities and food security issues in general.

Our current action items are:

• In partnership with Fraser Health, facilitate information and resources on local food services;
• Continue to support “The Biggest Little Garden in Town” project;
• Continue to promote and support local Community Kitchen programs;
• Support the City of New Westminster as they work on the action items laid out in theGreen Action Plan, particularly the continuation of the Royal City Farmers Market, and partnership development around the development of local community gardens;
• Encourage and support the re-introduction of a Harvest Box Program (formerly known as the Good Food Box) in New Westminster; and,
• Start the “conversation” on the development of a Food Policy for New Westminster.

For the last 4 years we have all been doing the Food Action Committees work off the sides of our desks, and it has been a challenge to move things forward but there have been successes. For instance, the Biggest Little Garden in Town project has received international recognition – and it all started with Diane, from Fraserside Community Services Society, sitting at our table saying “what if… “. We have also seen ideas move forward because local citizens also saw the need (i.e. the establishment of the Royal City Farmers Market, the establishment of the New Westminster Community Gardening Society) and the City recognized that they needed to do more with respect to environmental and social issues and established a rain barrel, composter and worm composter program, and developed Social Planning and Environmental Coordinator positions.

In 2009, the NWCFAC secured funding from the BC Healthy Living Alliance (BCHLA) to hire aFood Action Community Developer who was housed at the Hospitality Project at Shiloh Sixth Ave United Church. The Operation Food Justice Society was the host agency for this funding. The project: conducted an environmental scan of food security and health literacy resources to utilize and/or adapt them for use in New Westminster; completed a feasibility study for a Harvest Box Program for New Westminster; held a community event to provide information to low income individuals on food security and health literacy; and, held a community event that started the conversation on the development of a Food Policy for New Westminster. A big thank you goes out to Jessica Lai for all her hard work on this project and her continued dedication, on a volunteer basis, to the development of Harvest Box Program fro New Westminster.

Funding was also secured through the New Westminster LiteracyNow Commitee to develop an in-season, plain language, visually rich cookbook: New West Cooks. The cookbook is in the final stages of editing and should be in print by mid-June 2010. The cookbook will be distributed to individuals and families at the food bank and at local community kitchen and other food programs. An electronic version will also be available on the Kids in New West website atwww.kidsnewwest.ca/

We were also approached by BCIT student Wesley Woo who, as part of his course requirements, developed an interactive Food Map for New Westminster using GIS technology. The map will pinpoint the locations of food services and programming, provide brief information on the food services or program and will also have a tool where viewers can see a street level view of the location to make it easier to find it. The map is in the final stages of development and the link will be posted shortly. A big thank you to Wesley (and Jessica who provided support) for all his hard work, and to BCIT who will host the map on their server for us!

The committee continues to work hard to move food security issues forward in New Westminster!

For more information about the committee please visit our Google Group.

Contact

Betina Ali
Co-chair New Westminster Community Food Action Committee
betinaali@yahoo.com

I have joined the committee and have already learned an incredible amount about food policy, food initiatives, and many programs and resources that exist in New Westminster. We are currently planing a Food in the City Event in July, stay tuned!

On a slightly different note:


The co-chair, who also works for my school district in community support, and another member are also quite excited about my action research project and would like to support and develop it for implementation for next year! While it is still in it's infancy, I am extremely excited about it's possibilities and support for realizing its potential. More updates to come!