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Q1: What is the name and Title of the person filling this application out? Include contact information (telephone, fax, email)
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Q2: What is the name and Title of the person who is responsible for entering into contracts/agreements? Include contact information (telephone, fax, email)
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Q3: Name and contact information of person authorized to accept grant funds
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Q4: Name of School District
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Bethel SD #52
Q5: Total number of schools in District
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11
Q6: Total enrollment of district in SY 2011-2012
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5654
Q7: List each school that will benefit from these Grant funds. Include contact person and their contact info at each school.
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All schools in Bethel SD will benefit from grant funds through our local purchasing program.
The following schools will benefit from grant funds used for education components
Fairfield Elementary -
Clear Lake Elementary -
Kalapuya High School
Willamette High School - YTP Program –
Q8: Number of students who will benefit from Grant funds (total number of students at schools where Grant funds will be used ONLY)
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5633 (current enrollment) benefit from procurement of Oregon Foods. 195 students in the following schools will receive additional educational programming during the grant period:
Fairfield Elementary: 68
Clear Lake Elementary: 60
Kalapuya HS: 50
Willamette HS YTP: 17
Q9: Total percentage of free & reduced price meals for the ENTIRE district. Use SY 2010-2011 October information.
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69%
Q10: Total percentage of free & reduced priced meals of ONLY those specific schools who will benefit from Grant funds? Use SY 2010-2011 October information.
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69%
Q11: Clearly state the overall project proposal
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We are seeking funding to expand the Bethel School District's purchases of Oregon Foods which a new focus on center of the plate items and to provide agricultural and food-based educational activities which encourage student's knowledge about and consumption of these products.
Q12: Describe project activities & objectives that will support your grant proposal
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Procurement: With funding from this grant we will be able to significantly increase our purchases of Oregon-grown products. We currently have a very strong local purchasing program. Twenty-six percent of Bethel School District’s food purchases in 2011 came from Lane County farms, dairies or food processors. Our district spent a total of $188,815 on Lane County products in 2011. This included 19,720 pounds of Lane County-grown fruits and vegetables valued at $16,062. Our district’s produce purchases included 10,920 pounds of apples from Detering Orchards, 2887 pounds of corn on the cob from Hentze Farm and 3120 pounds of frozen blueberries from Lochmead. We also purchase a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables for our Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, offered to students at Fairfield, Malabon, Danebo Elementary Schools and Cascade Middle School. Emerald Fruit and Produce has helped a great deal by distributing most of our locally-grown produce.
Our district spent $35,098 on products processed in Lane County such as yogurt from Lochmead Dairy, granola from Golden Temple, and tortillas and corn chips from Carmen’s Tortilla Factory. We purchase our milk from Lochmead Dairy. In 2011 we purchased 196 bags of locally grown and milled flour from Camas Country Mill. We have not yet calculated our total Oregon-grown and processed food purchases (beyond those from Lane County) in pounds or dollars, but we can easily do so with local purchases tracking documents provided to us by Emerald Fruit and Produce which already include thorough documentation of which products were grown in Oregon with their city of origin and farm name.
The district is ready to expand its local purchasing to include more Oregon grown or processed products especially center of the plate items We hope to offer “Oregon Harvest” days, providing complete meals with products grown or processed in Oregon. Promotion: Four years ago we implemented a Harvest of the Month program in our district, which highlights one locally grown fruit or vegetable that is served in school meals weekly. The Harvest of the Month product is also displayed on posters in the cafeteria and classrooms, on the school district menu and in family newsletters.
We are utilizing Oregon Harvest for Schools posters and family newsletters. All students in the district are exposed to the Harvest of the Month program. Bethel Nutrition Services produces a color brochure that is included in every student registration packet attached to the Free and Reduced Lunch application. The brochure has a section describing our Farm to School Program listing local items and the vendor they were purchased from. Our education component of FFVP includes a product flyer that is sent to all teachers. Factoids from this flyer are included in morning announcements. Whenever an Oregon product is served, this is highlighted in flyer with the name of the farm. Education:
The goals of our education program are to:
1) Increase students’ knowledge of where their food comes from, how it is grown, and the benefits of eating locally;
2) Improve students’ and their families’ nutrition by increasing their exposure and access to fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables, giving priority to those with the greatest need; and Willamette Farm and Food Coalition (WFFC) will continue to provide our comprehensive Farm to School educational program to students in Fairfield and Clear Lake Elementary Schools.
WFFC will also offer outreach activities to families at these schools. Comprehensive Farm to School Education Program WFFC will continue to offer our comprehensive education program to one or two grade levels at Fairfield Elementary and Clear Lake Elementary. Students will participate in the following activities:
• An introductory lesson on where food comes from and the benefits of eating locally; • Farm field trips in the fall and spring, where students taste food growing in the fields, do a “helping task”, and harvest produce to take back to the classroom;
• A snack or meal prepared by students in the classroom using food they harvested from the farm and their school garden;
• Garden sessions where students plant, nurture, harvest, and eat vegetables in their school’s garden plot (implemented by the School Garden Project of Lane County); and
• Nutrition lessons focused on the nutritional value of fruits and vegetables.
In addition, all students in these schools will participate in Tasting Table events. Tasting Tables offer large quantities of fresh fruits and vegetables sourced from a local farm and their school garden for students to enjoy in the cafeteria at lunchtime. Approximately 120 students will participate in WFFC’s comprehensive Farm to School educational program in Spring 2013. All students at these schools, 623 in total, will participate in lunch time tasting tables. School garden sessions are led by the School Garden Project of Lane County’s (SGP) Program Coordinator and Garden Educators, with support from the classroom teacher and community volunteers. Each participating student will receive five, 1-hour garden lessons during Spring 2013. In the process, students engage in inquiry-based lessons taught by SGP staff including 1) Plant Parts and Function; 2) Plant Lifecycles; 3) Ecological Interdependence; 4) Soil Ecosystems; 5) Pollination Biology; and 6) Photosynthesis.
Students use the scientific method to develop and test hypotheses, with the garden as their laboratory. We provide experienced, knowledgeable staff and a high quality, participatory education program that is correlated to the class's specific needs and to Oregon State Standards. Each garden session has three components: 1) a hands-on science activity, 2) a garden work session, in small groups with an adult volunteer leader, and 3) tasting produce from the garden.
Students learn standards-based science curriculum and begin to develop a healthy, lifelong relationship with vegetables.
Shasta Middle School has an established school garden and composting system. Cascade Middle School hopes to establish a school garden in the Spring. KalapuyaHigh School is developing a comprehensive food-based, agriculture –based and garden-based education program. The garden will provide opportunities for students to apply their learning in the classroom to learning the skills involved in plant propagation and growing their own produce. The garden will serve as an outdoor classroom, biology lab, and place for students to connect to the source of their food. Students in this class are learning about human connections to plants, community connections to gardens, and the social issues (such as food security) that we can address through gardens. They are also learning the principals of garden design. Kalapuya High School (KHS) has a fully equipped kitchen where students can learn how to prepare nutritious meals, process and preserve produce in various ways, and incorporate foods into Kalapuya's school lunch program. Many of KHS’s students come from troubled backgrounds and a garden on campus will provide a safe and healthy place to exercise, recreate, relax, and relieve stress. The garden will also help address student’s food insecurity by empowering our students, most of whom are low-income, to learn how to grow, use, and enjoy fresh food grown locally. KHS has also had a food/agricultural based class in the past, which we hope to offer again in the future. The District’s Youth Transitions Program (YTP) at Willamette High School is a year round program working with students, teaching transferrable job skills. Through the YTP summer garden program, students have been involved in maintaining a school garden, with support from the School Garden Project. Students in our program help maintain these outdoor garden areas year round and harvest in the summer. The gardens are open to the public and produce is available to the community. This past fall, YTP established a hydroponic garden in the classroom. The vision for the hydroponic garden is that students will be able to grow produce year round.
Family Outreach: Through our Family Outreach Program we will offer supplemental food and resources to the families at the schools we work with. Families will participate in the following activities:
• Family night events at each school, during which families will sample fresh locally-grown fruits and vegetables and receive produce to take home. We will also provide coupons for use at nearby farmers markets or farm stands and flyers educating families about the opportunity to use their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits at these sites.
• Farm field trips local farm and/or farmers market, during which families will meet the farmers, enjoy a snack together, and receive coupons for use at the market or farm stand.
• Families will also receive Oregon Department of Education’s Oregon Harvest for Schools Family Newsletters, which encourage consumption of Oregon-grown fruits and vegetables at home. By educating students about where their food comes from and connecting their families with resources to access healthy, locally grown food, we are giving them the opportunity to connect with their local food system, creating healthier children and a stronger community.
Q13: How are procurement and promotion activities integrated with food, agriculture and garden-based education?
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Students are offered Oregon foods through the National School Lunch and Breakfast Program and through the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program. These products are highlighted in the cafeteria, classroom to families through our Harvest of the Month, Harvest for Schools and FFVP programs. Students in two elementary schools receive our comprehensive farm to school education program. Students will have the opportunity to visit Hunton’s Farm and Camas Country Mill where the wheat used in the Nutrition Service’s baking program is grown and milled! All students in these two elementary schools participate in farm to school tasting tables. These students demonstrate a significant increase in knowledge of where their food comes from, how it is grown, and the benefits of eating from farms close to home. Students at Cascade and Shasta Middle Schools and Kalapuya and Willamette High Schools are all engaged in garden-based education. These activities are a strong complement to our local purchasing efforts and increase students awareness and consumption of locally grown products which are offered as part of our meal and snack programs.
Q14: This grant has an aggressive timeline to spend the funds in a time where typically local produce is not as plentiful. What is your plan to ensure the funds are spent on procuring Oregon products by the deadline?
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Bethel School District has been in a leader in Farm to School with a strong procurement component. Bethel school district will ensure all purchases made with Oregon HB2800 funds will made and products will be received by May 31st 2013. The focus of our Farm to School procurement program has been the purchase of fresh produce items, grains and dairy from Lane and surrounding counties. We will aggressively expand our focus to the purchase of high quality center of the plate Oregon products. At least 30% of the funds received for food purchases will be allocated to the purchase of center of the plate items. This will include, but not be limited to the following items that are known to be available with at least one potential Oregon vendor listed: Beef - Painted Hills, Fossill, Oregon Eggs - Willamette Egg Farms, Canby Oregon Fish- Emily Ritchie, ODA FoodCorps fellow is currently researching Boat to School for Oregon Cheeses- Tillamook Cheese Factory, Tillamook, Oregon & Bandon Cheese Factory, Bandon, Oregon Bean Products - La Casa Foods, Eugene, Oregon and Truitt Bros, Salem, Oregon Tofu - Surata Foods, Eugene, Oregon Remaining funds received for food purchases will be used to support continued purchases of other items available during the grant period that meet the HB2800 criteria and are menued frequently (Granola, Tortilla Chips, Tortillas, Bread, Flour, Pizza, fresh and frozen seasonal produce) and to procure new items (such as dried cranberries, barley and dried beans)
Q15: Who are the key personnel coordinating and supporting Farm to School activities funded through this grant? Please include their names, titles and short bios.
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Jennie Kolpak, Nutrition Director, Bethel School District Jennie has been at her current position since May 2008. Prior to serving as Nutrition Director she served as Assistant Director at Springfield School District. She holds a B.S in Nutrition and is a Registered Dietitian. She serves on the steering committee of Willamette Farm and Food Coalition’s Farm to School Program. She is a leader in Oregon’s Farm to School movement and has been featured in National professional school nutrition and dietitian publications.
Megan Kemple, Farm to School Program Director, Willamette Farm and Food Coalition’s and Oregon State Lead for National Farm to School Network: Megan has five years of experience building WFFC’s program into a model for the Oregon. Megan serves as Oregon’s state lead for the National Farm to School Network, providing technical assistance and support to farm to school programs throughout Oregon. She also serves a co-lead of the Oregon Farm to School and School Garden Network. In 2009, Megan received the Community Educator of the Year award from the Oregon Association of Conservation Districts. Megan was selected to be a U.S. delegate to Slow Food International’s Terra Madre in Turin, Italy in October 2012, an honor for food movement leaders.
Molly Bullock, Farm to School Education Coordinator, Willamette Farm and Food Coaltion: Molly previously served for two years as Garden Coordinator for FOOD for Lane County’s Churchill Garden, directing over 100 student groups, implementing a comprehensive garden curriculum, supervising volunteers, and producing 12,000 pounds of produce per year for the food bank. Molly has a strong background in agriculture from her work on organic farms internationally and locally.
Jenny Laxton, Program Director, School Garden Project. Jenny has been leading outdoor education for children for more than nine years. Prior to focusing on garden and food education with SGP, she worked for OMSI’s Pacific Marine Science School as a science educator and program coordinator. Jenny is a former Peace Corps volunteer who specialized in agriculture and environmental education with children. Along with teaching, she brings experience in facilitating outdoor educational programs, curriculum development and volunteer coordination. She is aided in curriculum development by Karen Wildish, SGP board member and educator with over 25 years experience instructing at all levels, elementary through university.
John Moriarty, Executive Director. John brings more than 10 years of nonprofit and natural resource management experience to SGP, and will share responsibility for building key relationships with schools. Prior to joining SGP, he helped build the Network of Oregon Watershed Councils as their first executive director; developed the Natural Areas Program for Lane County Parks; and provided board development and facilitation services for local nonprofits. John is also a former Peace Corps volunteer specializing in natural resource management in Chile.