This semester, we have partnered with the Burlington Housing Authority (BHA) to teach at their after school program. The BHA provides affordable housing to families and elderly, handicapped, and disabled individuals, usually from low income backgrounds. The after school program we are working with gives children in grades fourth through sixth a place to go after school to receive help with homework, and supervision before parents and family members arrive home. Each week, three volunteers from our class go to the BHA to teach about topics related to our class’s focus on food security, agriculture, and sustainability.
The local committee coordinates these visits- from setting them up, to maintaining accountability of our cohort, to lesson planning. Various members of the local committee are responsible for these tasks, and Mel Mackin and I do the lesson planning. We meet each week to put together the lesson plans, which include an educational component (usually a short powerpoint) and some activities (coloring, painting, drawing, word searches, games). Thus far, the topics we have covered are the basics of farming/gardening, sustainability, and pumpkins (Halloween themed), with our upcoming visit focusing on nutrition.
Creating the lesson plans usually involves a good deal of educational research on the topic chosen, as well as some research on possible activities we can do with the kids. We gather information and ideas from academic sources, educational programs and websites targeted at kids (e.g. Food Trust, and Eat.Right.Now Nutrition Education Program), and Pinterest (activity ideas).
Lesson planning also involves an understanding of and research on food insecurity and low income communities. According to Feeding America, 15.7% of Alamance county’s residents are food insecure, and 24.1% of children are food insecure. Burlington is also categorized by the USDA as a food desert, which is an area where a significant proportion of low income residents lack access to affordable and nutritious food. Thus it is important that our lessons account for this context by providing options attainable in these settings, and information about new services in the community that help combat food insecurity.
Overall, we aim to create fun, engaging, and educational lesson plans that challenge and encourage kids to make smart, sustainable choices for their health and our planet’s.
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