{"id":1972,"date":"2020-09-28T16:57:53","date_gmt":"2020-09-28T16:57:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/esynola.org\/?page_id=1972"},"modified":"2020-09-29T16:05:21","modified_gmt":"2020-09-29T16:05:21","slug":"edible-education-in-a-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/esynola.org\/edible-education-in-a-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"Edible Education in a Pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p>[vc_row][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/6&#8243;][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;4\/6&#8243;][vc_column_text]<figure id=\"attachment_1980\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1980\" style=\"width: 1000px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1980\" src=\"https:\/\/esynola.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/IMG-2872-1-e1601311546711.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"637\" srcset=\"https:\/\/esynola.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/IMG-2872-1-e1601311546711.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/esynola.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/IMG-2872-1-e1601311546711-300x191.jpg 300w, https:\/\/esynola.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/IMG-2872-1-e1601311546711-768x489.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1980\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Pre-K student makes a beak with his hands as he learns about chickens in an LHA distance garden lesson.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\nWhen schools closed in March 2020, our team went to work to find new ways to keep students and families connected to school gardens and good food, provide social and emotional support, and reinforce academic concepts. At the time of this writing (early fall, 2020) our schools are doing both distance AND in-person learning, and ESYNOLA staff is supporting in a variety of ways. Here\u2019s a <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">little<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> bit about the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">lot<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of things we have been up to:<\/span><\/p>\n<h5><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Capacity-Building Projects<\/span><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our teaching staff created <\/span><b>videos<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (cooking demos, gardening videos, calming techniques, and read-alouds) that were shared with students and families. A few of our videos from this time are viewable <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/esynola.org\/videos\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">here<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Chef educators created <\/span><b>ESYNOLA Recipe Collections<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Read more on those <a href=\"https:\/\/esynola.org\/introducing-recipe-collections\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here<\/a>, and download the collections here for <a href=\"https:\/\/esynola.org\/recipes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">free<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Garden educators created a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/document\/d\/1OOCT5NRn98N7aH4Pk-97nCzAH_WKoFg1WnO6GbVbHuU\/edit?usp=sharing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">gardening resource<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for families to create their own home gardens.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Department heads and lead educators have been <\/span><b>revising curriculum<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> using an antiracist lens and have developed <\/span><b>onboarding materials<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for new staff.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Family Food Support Initiatives\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Several educators helped with <\/span><b>school meal distribution<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> as part of a city-wide effort by New Orleans Public Schools to feed families.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>ESYNOLA garden produce<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> was delivered to families with school meals and donated to a community feeding program run by Cattail Cooks.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the spring, a $50,000 gift enabled ESYNOLA staff to work with Communities in Schools, Second Harvest Food Bank, and Apple Bus to coordinate the <\/span><b>FirstLine Schools Family Support Program<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. This 8-week program delivered weekly boxes of food and household supplies to 60 families experiencing food insecurity.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Distance Learning Support<\/span><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Several garden and chef educators are collaborating with academic teachers to provide <\/span><b>virtual ESYNOLA experiences<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to do science integration in the form of garden demonstrations, experiments, scavenger hunts, virtual field trips to school gardens in our network, read-alouds, and more.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We will soon host <\/span><b>virtual special events<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for families such as a Virtual Family Food Night.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A few garden teachers are <\/span><b>supporting academic classes in distance learning<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">; they are teaching classes, helping families with tech issues, supporting English language learners, and taking attendance.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With FirstLine Schools&#8217; implementation of <\/span><b>Social Emotional Learning blocks<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> at the beginning of each school day, ESYNOLA teachers are leveraging their SEL knowledge and experience to support this initiative with academic teachers. ESY teachers are leading team building activities, guiding discussions of emotions through trauma-informed strategies, and leading breathing and calming techniques. They are also training academic teachers on the use of opening and closing rituals to promote consistency in the virtual school day.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5><strong>In-Person Teaching<\/strong><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With the return to in-person learning for some of our students, ESYNOLA teachers are returning to<\/span><b> in-person garden and kitchen classes. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We have developed detailed procedures for handwashing, sanitation, transitions, and tool use to ensure the safety of our students and staff. Our educators are already seeing classes for enrichment in the garden and kitchen at two schools, and our educator at Ashe will be offering special garden and culinary Friday experiences, doing horticultural therapy pull-outs, and engaging students in the garden and kitchen through various clubs.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Three of our educators are teaching <\/span><b>in-person classes at the Louisiana Children&#8217;s Museum<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in a special partnership for our Pre-K and Kindergarten students from Langston Hughes Academy. These classes will utilize the museum\u2019s garden for garden class.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Several sites are planning <\/span><b>drive-through events <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">later this semester as a way of getting local, seasonal food to families, connecting them to local farmers and garden educators, and letting them see the school garden from a safe distance.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Finally, all this is balanced with caring for our four prolific <a href=\"https:\/\/esynola.org\/summer-garden-update-2020\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">school gardens<\/a> to ensure that they remain beautiful, safe, welcoming, and productive, as always.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/6&#8243;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_single_image image=&#8221;1982&#8243; img_size=&#8221;large&#8221; add_caption=&#8221;yes&#8221;][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_single_image image=&#8221;1979&#8243; img_size=&#8221;large&#8221; add_caption=&#8221;yes&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_single_image image=&#8221;1977&#8243; img_size=&#8221;large&#8221; add_caption=&#8221;yes&#8221;][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243;][vc_single_image image=&#8221;1978&#8243; img_size=&#8221;large&#8221; add_caption=&#8221;yes&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h5><\/h5>\n<h5><\/h5>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/esynola.org\/about\/news\/\">READ MORE ESYNOLA NEWS<\/a><\/h5>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/6&#8243;][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;4\/6&#8243;][vc_column_text] When schools closed in March 2020, our team went to work to find new ways to keep&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/esynola.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1972"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/esynola.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/esynola.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esynola.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esynola.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1972"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/esynola.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1972\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/esynola.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}