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STATE SUMMARY 2006 |
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DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
State Contact:
Ms. Barbara Brooks Evans
District of Columbia Ag in the Classroom
4200 Connecticut Avenue N.W.
Building 52, Room 322F
Washington, D.C. 20008 |
Phone: (202) 274-7160
Fax: (202) 274-7130
E-mail: bevans@udc.edu |
Major projects accomplished this year
- UDC/CES/AITC continued its partnership with Cornell University's Connecting Kids to the Food Systems Initiative (Kids Growing Food) by adding five more elementary schools during this fiscal year. Since the idea of food gardening became popular, AITC decided to use KGF as an incentive for teachers to participate in this school year's after-school program. Kids Growing Food is used as a hands-on component to AITC.
- To meet the need to lower the obesity rate among DC youth, AITC in Partnership with Nutrition on Demand, implemented a grant, Teachers Understanding Nutrition and Agriculture (TUNA), to reinforce healthier eating habits along with more physical activity via a teacher training pilot program. TUNA was a five module three-day workshop for teachers who were graduates of the AITC program. The Modules taught were: What's Fat Got to do With It? Go With the Grain, Looking Beyond the Commercial, The Food Rainbow, and Add a Little Salsa to Your Life. (Ann Matz from Salsa Wild.com gave a group Salsa lesson). What a fun way to become physically active. Each one of the modules included the agriculture/nutrition connection.
- Teachers learned what food manufacturers are required to put on labels and what information is left out. They observed what the manufacturers advertised about the product compared with the reality of the product contents. They also learned how to read and interpret food labels and what the information means in relationship to the new USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Additionally teachers created lesson plans reflecting each of the modules.
- The collaboration between American Institute of Wine and Food/ DC Chapter of Days of Taste, FreshFarm Markets, AITC/KGF (added this fiscal year the National Arboretum's Youth Gardens) continues this fiscal year to bring farmers and DC renowned chefs into 4th and 5th grade classrooms aimed at enhancing the Standards of Learning and improving academic achievement.
Major impacts the program had this year
- Eight teachers completed at least six of the eight workshop training sessions. Each teacher wrote at least two lesson plans that tie in with the DC Standards of Learning. At least 80 telephone conferences were conducted regarding AITC activities or potential activities. AITC and KGF information was presented at the 2005 Smithsonian Folklife Festival.
- Approximately 200 people were in attendance over a three-day period. Eleven teachers completed the three-day TUNA workshop. We observed eight of the teachers teaching lesson plans they developed about nutrition and agriculture. Through a collaborative plan involving American Institute of Wine and Food/D.C. Chapter of Days, FreshFarm Markets, Warner-Hanson TV, and AITC/KGF, approximately 180 DC students and six teachers and adult volunteers were beneficiaries of DC renowned chefs providing hands-on lessons with food in the classroom. DC AITC directly impacted a significant number of Washington, DC, K-12 teachers and students (at least 1200 students, 33 teachers and approximately 200 parents, grandparents, other school staff including administrators) thus providing a stronger understanding of our local, national and global food and fiber systems within the DC urban community that is served by the University of the District of Columbia/Cooperative Extension Service.
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