Jason: Food Day!

Healthy Food at Green Charter School

Food. We eat it everyday, but many young people have little understanding about where it comes from or how it came to be. We at FirstLine Schools believe you are what you eat, so let’s eat smart!

In November 2010, Congress designated October as National Farm to School Month as a means to improve child nutrition, support local economies and educate children about the origins of food.  Food Day – held on October 24 – was created by the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest to advocate for a healthier and more sustainable food system.

Edible Schoolyard NOLA targeted middle and high school students, staff, and families at all five FirstLine campuses to teach them about important issues like:

•  Promoting safer, healthier diets
• Supporting sustainable and organic farms
• Reducing hunger
• Reforming factory farms to protect the environment and animals
• Supporting fair working conditions for food and farm workers

Learning about composting at Dibert

Green Charter School held the event in their café with over 10 activity stations, starring a variety of community partners, such as: Tulane’s Center for Culinary Medicine, Market Umbrella, and The New Orleans Food Co-op. There were food samples, including a highly popular African Peanut Stew served by ESY NOLA’s Budding Entrepreneurs team.

Students from grades 6-8 toured the room with their families. There were games, demonstrations, mini-lectures, and even prizes. Kelly Miranda – ESYNOLA’s Volunteer, Family, and Community Partnerships Coordinator – leapt onto a table partway through the event and excitedly held a raffle for one brand new 5-piece spice jar set and a couple very useful looking garden tool pouches.

John Dibert Community School set up their tables outside for the school’s 8^th graders, perfect for a sunny fall day. Each station explained one step of the food cycle: growing, distributing, and waste management. As an introduction, Jess Bloomer – Lead Garden Teacher at Green – taught participants about pollinators by offering a taste sampler of local honey. Elsewhere, scholars tried to pinpoint the origins of the produce in front of them by attaching stickers to a map, showing them how far some of our food travels to arrive on our plate. Some wrinkled their noses at the mini-compost pile and live worms set up by ESY’s Program Manager, Rahn Broady.

Blubber burgers at Ashe

Over at Arthur Ashe Charter School, Ruth Korsten – one of ESY’s Volunteer Coordinators through the LA Delta Service Corps – gave her account: 

Kate McDonald from Second Harvest was showing Ms. Sivi Domango – Ashe’s Director – and Ashe 5th graders how much fat (using real lard... ugh) was in their favorite burger chain's product.  It made quite an impact, and one boy I asked said it was his favorite station. That's saying a lot because the parfait stops are always the biggest crowd pleasers.

With the odds very much in her favor, one mother won the raffle prize and she was super excited to take home a pressure cooker!  Several teachers and school support staff also stopped by to see what all the excitement was about.

Enjoying Food Day at LHA

Amy Zelwegger, the Lead Garden Teacher for ESY at Langston Hughes Academy, had the following to say: 

With over 100 participants, Food Day was a smashing success here at LHA! Our 6th graders were eager and ready to learn about where our food comes from, sample some tasty treats, and share take-home info with parents and family. Food Day at LHA consisted of 8 tables, with four tables provided with help of our community partners Hollygrove Farm and Market, New Orleans Children’s Museum, Sankofa Farmer’s Market, School Health Connection and Rethink New Orleans. We learned about the production rows at LHA and the FSA program that will be rolling out in December. We learned about the importance of hydration, eating fruits, and why it's vitally important to support our local farmers. Food Day was a great reminder at how our scholars LOVE to learn about FOOD!!!

Learning about Plant Starts at Clark Prep

 The scholars at Clark Prep High School also participated. Kathleen Duffy, the VISTA Outreach Coordinator placed there, gave this report: 

FOOD DAY!!! Loved it. The turnout was fantastic at Clark, including students, faculty and staff. Students tried the smoothies and breakfast at both ESY tables. They loved Grow Dat, where many are now applying for a Spring/Summer 2013 program. Donnica Conway got some love at her Cooking Up Literacy At Home table, which offered scholars a great recipe book (a favorite was Green Eggs and Ham). Food Day was a very successful health and wellness initiative that will hopefully spark a consistently strong turnout at similar future events. ESYNOLA did a fantastic job coordinating community partners to attend, and Clark loved it! Students talked to me about it today, showed me the plants they won, and we discussed working at Grow Dat.

Whether participants walked away with a snack, a prize, or just a fun learning experience, there was no shortage of smiles throughout the day.

Jason Lacoste is the AmeriCorps VISTA K-8 Outreach Coordinator for FirstLine Schools.  

Kathleen: Grow Dat's Plant Sale

I have some exciting news: in a little over one week on Saturday, November 3 our friends at Grow Dat Youth Farm in City Park are having a fundraiser! Starting at 10 a.m. Grow Dat will have a Plant Sale selling winter garden essentials and ornamental plants. From 12-5 p.m. the Party starts! There will be food, drinks, music, a tour of their new eco-campus and games, all organized by Grow Dat staff and youth interns. Food trucks and sponsors like La Cocinita, Frencheeze and Old New Orleans Rum Distillery have all signed up for the fun.

All proceeds go to Grow Dat’s mission to “nurture a diverse group of young leaders through the meaningful work of growing food” – Jeanne Firth, Grow Dat Program Specialist. This benefits US as Clark Prep students participate in Grow Dat’s program with applications due in mid-November for the next Spring/Summer 2013 session.

Team Grow Dat and I hope you can make it to this special event!

Check out this event's page on Facebook.

Plant Sale: 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Party: 12 p.m.-5 p.m.

Location: 150 Zachary Taylor Drive, City Park

Kathleen Duffy is the AmeriCorps VISTA Outreach Coordinator for Clark Prep High School. 

Press Release: NATIONAL CONFERENCE FEATURES INNOVATIONS OF LOCAL CHARTER SCHOOLS

NEW ORLEANS, LA, Monday, October 22, 2012 – This week’s iNACOL's Virtual School Symposium (VSS), held here in New Orleans, is the premier K-12 online and blended learning conference.  Over 2,000 representatives from national, state, district, private, and other virtual school programs are attending.  Two New Orleans charter schools, Arthur Ashe Charter School and Joseph S. Clark Preparatory High School, both part of the FirstLine Schools network, are featured in this week’s events. 

Based on their successful blended learning pilots over the past year and a half, FirstLine school leaders, teachers, and students will be presenters in multiple conference sessions.  Highlights include a tour of Arthur Ashe Charter School with approximately 50 conference attendees, a session discussing how to integrate a blended learning model into an existing school, and sessions detailing best practices. 

“This is a great opportunity to share the lessons we’ve learned in the past year and a half as we integrated more computer-assisted learning into our schools,” stated Chris Liang-Vergara, Director of Instructional Technology for FirstLine Schools.  “I am especially excited that our students have an opportunity to engage with educators from across the country to discuss their ideas and lessons learned from our personalized learning project.”

“Ashe and Clark Prep showed some of the largest student achievement gains in the city in 2012.  Our Personalized (Blended) Learning Project contributed significantly to those gains,” said Jay Altman, Chief Executive Officer of FirstLine Schools.  “Since its inception, FirstLine Schools has been committed to leveraging charter school independence to incubate innovative projects that improve school effectiveness.  We aim to give our teachers as many tools as possible to ensure our students have access to the best opportunities.”

The Virtual School Symposium is taking place at the Hyatt Regency New Orleans through Wednesday, October 24^th. 

For more information on FirstLine Schools’ Personalized Learning Project, please visit http://www.firstlineschools.org/blended-learning-project.html. 

FirstLine Schools

The mission of FirstLine Schools is to create and inspire great open enrollment public schools in New Orleans.  FirstLine currently operates Samuel J. Green Charter School, Arthur Ashe Charter School, John Dibert Community School, Langston Hughes Academy, and Joseph S. Clark Preparatory High School.  For more information please visit www.firstlineschools.org. 

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Kathleen: Clark Prep's College Fair

Ms. James, College Coordinator for Clark Preparatory High School, has a clearly defined role: get students ready for college! Sounds easy, right? Yea, didn’t think so. Ms. James’ most recent event was the College Fair on Monday October 8, for 9-12 grade students, immediately following Homecoming weekend. Next week, the week of October 22, will be Graduate Exit exam testing, and right now we’re discussing when to have Career Fair (so many fairs!) – the week after Thanksgiving or settle for a date in January? Decisions, decisions. I got Ms. James in a moment of free time to discuss the College Fair.

               

There were a number of At A Glance sessions organized for the students at College Fair. One example was Dress for Success, which aimed at demonstrating what it means to dress professionally. Prima Donna’s Closet on St. Charles sponsored apparel such as: shoes, purses and accessories.

               

The theme of the College Fair was clear: studying and working hard is important, in fact it’s what college is all about. As Ms. James explained, “The College Day Fair was a great success.  Students in grades 9^th-12^th attended the browse session and participated the At A Glance Sessions. The browse session consisted of a brief introduction of the college application process, issuance of college brochures, college admissions and the requirements for scholarships and college admissions. We would like to extend our gratitude to the parents, faculty, staff and sponsors for loyalty and dedication with our students.  Special thanks to our sponsors; Boh Bros Construction LLC, NOLA Copy & Print, Gulf Coast Bank, M & W Display, Prima Donna’s Closet, Darcy McKinnon Graphic Design, Chap’s Party Rental, and Community Coffee House.”

Ms. James knew what needed to be at the College Fair for students to see first-hand what it means to get ready and go to college. Ms. James knows her students and they respect her; as I spoke with her a senior who recently submitted a chunk of applications tried to shake her hand to greet her. She jokingly said “I’m not shaking your hand, this isn’t a business agreement.” and she brought him in for a hug. Ms. James embraces her students and knew exactly what to do to make the College Fair a success, so thank you Ms. James! 

Kathleen Duffy is the AmeriCorps VISTA Outreach Coordinator for Clark Prep High School. 

Green celebrates National School Lunch Week!

Ms. Joyce (Green Café lead), with Sir Saint and big Milk!

This week, Green Charter School celebrated National School Lunch Week with a visit from Fuel Up to Play 60, the Dairy Council, the American Pediatric Association, and Sir Saint!  In addition, tomorrow concludes our first plate waste study at Green conducted by Tulane School of Medicine.  When it comes to healthy eating, Green Charter is ready to Rise Up!

Kathleen: Homecoming and other Clark Prep Happenings

Clark Prep scholars at the African American Museum

Homecoming is only two days away and Clark is gearing up in the best way possible. Spirit Week is in its fourth day – Thursday is Twin Day – and tomorrow is Bulldog Pride Day. This Wednesday, College Day in Spirit Week lingo, students took interims,  freshmen visited college campuses and sophomores participated in their first of four Service Learning events for the year. Freshmen ladies went to Dillard and the gentlemen went to Tulane. Sophomores went to Animal Rescue New Orleans, the African American Museum as part of the Claiborne Corridor Project, Second Harvest Food Bank and Grow Dat Youth Farm. Scholars finished the project taking pictures of the murals under the I-10 Corridor, they learned a lot!

Now that Homecoming is closer, plans for the Pep Rally are being practiced by the band, athletic teams and the Homecoming Court in the afternoons. The Homecoming Court has been  preparing their statements for Pep Rally and the Homecoming Game. Ms. Freshman, Kerrielle Eaglin, has a lot of Clark Prep pride so she loves staying after school to dance, participate in Wellness Wednesdays and help Mr. Durand, Clark’s Director of Athletic and Enrichment Programs. With this being her first year of high school, she is very happy to be on the Court – and received a lot of congratulations! Ms. Eaglin is looking forward to joining Clark Prep’s new poetry slam club called Silence is Violence and hopes to spread her love for Clark to other students so that they too participate in all that Clark offers.

The Homecoming Court will be helping set-up for the week's festivities like the Homecoming Dance, one of the many highlights on the Homecoming agenda. After the Homecoming football game on Saturday, October 6 at 2:30 p.m. at Pan American Stadium in City Park, the student dance will be held from 8:00-11:00 p.m. in the Clark Prep Gym.  Students are excited about the dance, but I think they are just as or more pumped for the big highlight – the Homecoming Game! LHA’s Band will be playing at the game to keep the motivation high and the fists pumping. A strong, loyal group of Clark Alumni will be running an Alumni Tent selling Clark swag, from shirts to hats. Are you a Clark Alum? Stop by the tent and talk to your fellow Alumni, we would love to keep in touch with you!

We hope you can join in on the fun and be a part of Clark Prep’s 2012 Homecoming!


Kathleen Duffy is the AmeriCorps VISTA Outreach Coordinator for Clark Prep High School. 

Clark Prep National Honor Society Students Serve as Tutors and Mentors

Yesterday, October 1st, 2012, was the first time that Clark Prep's National Honor Society (NHS) scholars participated in their service project of the school year.

NHS students and friends have been given the opportunity to serve as tutors and mentors every Monday for elementary students in an after-school program at the S. Truth Community Center. NHS scholars will continue to dedicate their time creating an after-school program that provides a safe, fun, interactive and educational environment for students for the remainder of the school year.

Big thanks to all of the NHS students and friends who are dedicating their time in serving the community! Keep up the great work!