Meet Our Award Winners: Combating Food Insecurity Curriculum

Round One Curriculum Implementation Highlights

DC Implementation: (left) Center Center PCS | (right) Kingsman Academy PCS

Learn more about implementation activities across the nation in a diverse grouping of school settings.

In Washington, DC At Center City PCS, Alicia Passante will implement the Food Insecurity Curriculum as part of the ESL After the Bell afterschool program. The ESL After the Bell supports the academic growth of students who speak a language other than English at home. Center City PCS has had tremendous success with this program and has been featured by local and national stakeholders for its innovative programs that support the diverse demographics of its students.

At Kingsman Academy PCS, Alexandra Bowen will introduce the Food Insecurity Curriculum as part of an Expeditionary Learning program to help meet the school’s mission of preparing students for post-secondary success and responsible citizenship.

Implementations at other Urban Schools

Danielle Green will implement the Food Insecurity Curriculum with her 8th grade students at the Thomas C. Boushall Middle School in Richmond, VA. Boushall is a high poverty urban middle school that serves as almost entirely African American and Latino students. When asked what she found particularly appealing about the Curriculum, Ms. Green said, “My students live in a food desert and I believe this Curriculum’s emphasis on civic responsibility will encourage them to be active participants in changing that fact.”

Kaitlin Montgomery, a middle school studies teacher at Al-Iman School, a private Islamic school in Raleigh, NC, intends to use the Food Insecurity Curriculum with 92 students at the 6th – 8th grade levels and a group of six teachers.. In 1992, a group of dedicated individuals founded the school with, at that time, just nine students. Now, Al-Iman teaches hundreds of young students to achieve academic excellence. At Al-Iman, the Food Insecurity Curriculum will help students prepare to become global citizens.

Rural Implementation Activities

Chris Burris, an agriculture teacher, plans to use the Curriculum at Homestead Elementary School in Cumberland, TN. Chris is a first year teacher, having worked the past 10 years in the heavy equipment, heavy truck and farm equipment business. He currently teaches an introductory agriculture class to 5th – 8th grade students. That class spans all elements of agriculture – from plants and animals to agricultural mechanics and sustainability. Chris’ students include children with deep roots in the agricultural community as well as students with limited awareness and understanding of farming and food production. In his application, Ms. Burris shared, “Students, even in the rural area where we live, take for granted how they are fed three meals daily.” Homestead Elementary is a unique school – most of it was built in the late 1930’s as part of the New Deal and many of the original buildings are still used.

In January 2017, Ben Tollet, the 7th-8th grade science teacher at Homestead Elementary, assumed responsibility for completion of the Homestead Food Insecurity Project.

Small Town and Suburban Implementation Activities

Stephen Facques will bring the Food Insecurity Curriculum to the after school program in McKelvie Intermediate School. The school serves 750 students at the 5th and 6th grade levels in Bedford, NH. This year, McKelvie was rated the top Intermediate School in New Hampshire.

In Adelphi, MD, Autumn Snell, an AVID Coordinator who prepares students for college, will coordinate implementation of the Food Insecurity Curriculum with two teachers and 16 students at the 8th grade level at Buck Lodge Middle School. Ms. Snell said, “There are two aspects that I find particularly appealing, both that students would have a chance to be involved in service and that they would participate in project-based learning.” Although 92% of the students receive free or reduced lunches, Ms. Snell describes her students as “incredibly generous and interested in helping others around them.”

In Massachusetts, Kelly DeVareness plans to introduce the Food Insecurity Curriculum at Lee Elementary School with 60 students in the 8th grade. She will focus on social studies, geography and civic responsibilities as a part of her implementation.

Lee Elementary is located in the culturally rich Berkshire Hills of Western Massachusetts. The school educates students from the town of Lee and Tyringham, as well as other communities through school choice agreements in grades Pre-K – 6. The city of Lee, MA was once a thriving mill town; however, with those days behind them, Lee’s student population now has a 55% free or reduced lunch rate. Lee Elementary School also recently committed to implementing CEI’s Heart Centered Learning approach.

Round 2 Recipient

Deborah Elkins is integrating the Food Insecurity Program into service learning activities that are a part of her Related Arts Program at Mauldin Middle School in Greenville, SC. Through her program delivery, more than 100 students in the Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin area will extend and strengthen its relationship with Harvest Hope Food Bank – a nonprofit organization with the mission of providing for the needs of hungry people by gathering and sharing quality food with dignity, compassion and education. Harvest Hope feeds the hungry across 20 counties in the Midlands, Pee Dee and Greater Greenville regions of South Carolina and has distributed over 28 million pounds of food last year and fed approximately 38,000 people a week.