FYI!

Feed Your

Intellect!

Marcia Feliz & Danielle Schulte

“Developing mindful eating habits and

transforming the way we think about food”

“To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art.” -Francois de La Rochefoucauld

○ Mindfulness

○ Habits

○ Lifestyle

If you change your mind, you can change your habits, which can change your lifestyle!

-M. Feliz & D. Schulte

Core Beliefs

Bronx Early College Academy250 East 164th Street, Bronx NY 10456

The school was founded in 2006 and currently serves 509 students, across grades 6-12. We were founded on the premise of students earning college credits while still in high school, through a community partnership. As of last year, we were authorized as an IB school.

About Our School

Student Demographics

○ Total population: 509 students

○ Race/Ethnicity percentages of students:

Asian: 3%, Black: 32%, Hispanic: 63%,

White: 2%

○ Percentage of Title 1 students: 80%

○ Percentage of Students with Disabilities: 17%

○ Percentage of English Language Learners: 20%

Student Achievement

Proficiency Levels○ Average Incoming Math Proficiency (based on 4th grade)

2.38 (2013-2014)○ Average Incoming ELA Proficiency (based on 4th grade)

2.23 (2013-2014)

2013-2014 Middle School State Exam Proficiency Level (3 or 4)○ 9% - ELA

(City Avg: 27%, District Avg: 11%)○ 5% - Mathematics

(City Avg: 29%, District Avg: 14%)Graduation Rates:

○ 88% (within 4 years)(City Average: 73% Borough Average: 65%)

Staff Demographics

Race/Ethnicity Percentages of School Faculty and Staff:

○ Hispanic/Latino: 32%

○ Caucasian: 50%

○ African American/ Caribbean: 16%

○ Asian: 2%

Years Teaching

Less than one year: 11%1-3 year: 46%4-10 years: 18%11-15 years: 21%More than 15 years: 4%

Staff Demographics (cont.)

Education Level95% teachers have at least one Master’s Degree1 teacher has a doctorate

About the Community

Population for 10456 zip code: (based on 2010 census data) 86,547

○ One Race: 94.2%○ White: 15.4% ○ Black or African American: 48.4%○ American Indian or Alaska native: 1.5%○ Asian: 1%○ Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific

Islander: 0.3%○ Some Other Race: 27.5%○ Hispanic or Latino: 56.2%

Total Households: 28,122Family Households (families) (7) : 70.8 %Husband-Wife family: 23%Male Householder, no wife present: 8%Female Householder, no husband present: 39.7%Nonfamily households (7) : 29.2%Male living Alone: 11.9%Female Living Alone: 13.1%

Employment/Unemployment statistics:

○ 45.7% Employed ○ 10.2% Unemployed

About the Community

Why This School?

○ Only 6th graders are receiving Health Class

○ We do not have a Wellness Team

○ Gym time and space is limited/at a minimum due to shared space in the building

○ 30% of students stated they are not offered opportunities to be physically active before, during and after school

○ 80% of students receive free lunch (not that healthy)

○ Activities such as Dance and Theatre are not offered to students

○ Health has become a national concern and it is not being addressed at BECA

School Strengths

Strengths - Lots of community partnerships that can assist with networking and resources.

Community Based Organizations: ○ City Year○ LEAP○ Fordham Scholars Tutoring Program○ American Museum of Natural History ○ NYC Teaching Collaborative○ College Now – Lehman○ College Bound Initiative (CBI) ○ International Baccalaureate (IB)○ New York Cares

Assessing the Community

Issues: Obesity and being overweight is common in residents of all ages in the South Bronx.

a. Nearly 1 in 4 children in public elementary schools is obese, and nearly 4 in 10 are overweight or obese.

b. About 1 in 6 public high school students is obese, and more than 1 in 3 is overweight or obese.

c. The prevalence of obesity among public high school students and adults 45 to 64 years of age, however, is higher in the South Bronx than in the city as a whole.

Assessing the Community

Needs:

Based on the neighborhood walk, there is only one farmers markets in the local area of the school. The times and dates the market is open is unclear.

Limited health food stores.

40.3% of population is below the poverty levelOut of a population 25 years and over 45.9% are less than high school graduatesHigh School graduate: 31%Some College, Associate’s degree: 27.3%Bachelor’s degree or higher: 19.4%

Education Statistics:

Poverty and poor health worldwide are inextricably linked. The causes of poor health for millions globally are rooted in political, social and economic injustices. Poverty is both a cause and a consequence of poor health. Poverty increases the chances of poor health. Poor health in turn traps communities in poverty.

Poverty and Poor Health

http://www.who.int/topics/poverty/en/

Community Assessment (cont)

Strengths: Lots of local resources such as the courthouse, police stations, schools, places of worship, food banks, in-school health clinics, high transit area (quick access to buses and trains), NY Public Library.

The Program

Building the School Community Bridge

FYI – Feed Your Intellect

FYI is a program in which students are educated about mindful eating and developing lifestyle changes when it comes to the way we think and feel about food. In addition, we will expose students to a variety of eating options and healthy choices available to them.

Goals & Objectives

○ Our main goal is to cultivate awareness in eating and develop principles of mindful eating.

○ Our objective is to become more aware of what we are eating, why we are eating it and how we feel when we eat it. Our core beliefs of Mindfulness, Habits and Lifestyles are part of our objectives as well.

○ Mindfulness cultivates the possibility of freeing yourself of reactive, habitual patterns of thinking, feeling and acting.

○ Mindfulness promotes balance, choice, and wisdom.

Targeted Student Population

All middle school students, grade 6-8

CBO’s involved:

○ Partner with the local farmer’s market. They can come in and speak with the students about picking produce in relation to the season.

○ New York Cares Volunteer opportunities related to health

○ Partner with local gym to provide students with access to facilities

FYI:

• This program will be integrated into the health curriculum and will be it’s own unit. Health topics will be infused into the curricula of the other content areas.

• It will have year-long ongoing activities, such as health journals, bulletin boards, showcasing healthy eating habits and trips to the farmer’s market, activities with CBOs and monthly check-ins as a class.

Logistics

Logistics (cont.)

•

• Students will promote how they have applied their knowledge of mindful eating and lifestyle-changes.

• Students will turn-key information they learned in class to their families and then keep their school and classes informed on the changes their families have made in their own homes.

Health Topic: Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)

Social Studies: Study of articles and documents that support or oppose the use of GMOs. Students write a persuasive essay using evidence from the documents.

Science: Students experiment and analyze how GMOs effect the foods they eat as well as the molecular changes that occur as a result of the use of GMOs.

Math: Students can track and solve the rate at which food grows as a result of using GMOs to create functions, comparing those that do not use GMOs.

ELA: Students read Omnivore's Dilemma and Eat This, Not That and participate in Socratic Seminars discussing topics from the text.

Infused Curricula

Communication

Program Branding and Advertising:

Opening assembly to unit – similar to Kotter’s book and the sense of urgency – not just a unit but a new way of thinking

Flyers around school

Brochures

Stickers and pencils for each kid to promote branding and participation

Staff Recruitment Process

○ All health and science teachers will be involved, as well as a brief overview to other teachers about infusing health topics into their curricula

○ Training for all health teachers with specific curriculum and core values – bring in a nutritionist

Student Recruitment

Student health committee : 2 student volunteers from each grade to maintain bulletin boards, shout-outs during morning announcements, assemblies, and collecting volunteer journals

Methods:

○ Invited to initial meeting that explains program

○ Students turn-key information to parents

○ Trip chaperones with CBOs

○ Advice with cooking

○ Cultural cookbook with healthy alternatives to native food

Family Outreach

Assessment

A) Formative Data: observations of students, food journals

B) Summative Data: Student and parent survey after unit & projects, before & after videos, creation of music video or animation

C) Performance-based Data: Recipe from cultural background and create alternative, healthy form which will be turned into a cookbook

Resources

• http://stateofobesity.org/states/ny/

• http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/dpho/dpho-bronx-obesity.pdf

• http://www.choosemyplate.gov/food-groups/downloads/TenTips/DGTipsheet21SchoolDayJustGotHealthier.pdf -

• http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/downloads/pdf/crime_statistics/cs042pct.pdf

• http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/community_facts.xhtml#none

• http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/app/new-york/2015/rankings/bronx/county/outcomes/1/snapshot

• healthiernyc.org

• http://data.nysed.gov/profile.php?instid=800000059609