PY21-New-Mexico-Service-Site-Descriptions

Service Activities Description SWOP’s FoodCorps members will assist with Whittier Elementary's after-school programming, garden club and nutrition education.. Service Activities Descrip

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FoodCorps New Mexico Service Site Descriptions

Below you will find detailed descriptions of all of the service sites located across New Mexico Each description includes details about the community where the service site is based, the overall work and mission of the organization, and what an incoming service member can expect

to do on a day-to-day basis

We hope this document will help you to best determine where you are most interested in

serving! Please note that this is a list of FoodCorps service sites in the 2020-2021 year and is likely to change for the 2021-2022 service term Some of the sites listed here may no longer host service members next year, and new sites may come on board

SouthWest Organizing Project (SWOP)

Albuquerque, NM

Community Description

The SouthWest Organizing Project (SWOP) is located in Albuquerque, NM The communities in which they work are very diverse, with lots of poverty, and many tight knit extended families with multiple family households There are many young people dealing with a lot of issues Albuquerque is a very urban

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community with lots of refugee and international families The International District, located in southeast Albuquerque hosts our Project Feed the Hood community garden, which is about to start its 11th growing season.

Organization Description

Project Feed the Hood is the food justice and education initiative of Southwest Organizing Project They work to empower communities to work for racial and gender equality and social and economic justice. FoodCorps is key to our increased capacity at our school programming Our work with Foodcorps is based

on our goals of providing food access and leadership development opportunities for youth and their families.

Service Activities Description

SWOP’s FoodCorps members will assist with Whittier Elementary's after-school programming, garden club and nutrition education This member will also assist with work and workshops at SWOP's International District community garden.

Skills, Interest, Knowledge Preferences

Restorative justice background, established farmer training and community organizing skills Having their own transportation would be ideal It would be helpful if an applicant could speak Spanish, Swahili, Vietnamese, and/or Arabic.

Albuquerque Public Schools Wellness Dept - APS

School Gardens Albuquerque, NM

Two thirds of our students are Hispanic and nearly two out of 10 students are English Language Learners.

We also serve many students in need: two thirds of our students qualify for the federal school lunch program and more than 70 of our schools have been identified as high poverty Title I schools that qualify for federal funding APS has selected two new schools Hawthorn Elementary and Rudolfo Anaya

Elementary for the service member to serve at in 2020-2021.

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Some factors used for consideration:

● Required by FoodCorps: At least 50% of the student population are eligible for the free breakfast and lunch program In many schools, 100% of the school population is eligible.

● Title I Schools - must be identified at 40% or higher economically disadvantaged.

● Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) schools

● Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) schools

Albuquerque Public Schools is among the top 40 largest school district in the nation and the largest in New Mexico, serving nearly 84,000 students in 143 schools scattered across nearly 1,200 square miles Our students live in the city of Albuquerque and the towns of Corrales and Los Ranchos; the counties of

Bernalillo and Sandoval; and the pueblos of Isleta and Laguna Another 7,100 students attend

APS-authorized charter schools.

Two-thirds of our students are Hispanic and 16.6 percent are English Learners We also serve many

students in need: nearly two-thirds qualify for the federal school meals program Another 17 percent of students have disabilities The district continues to experience a surge in monolingual immigrants and an increasing concentration of refugee families With this concentration of poverty comes exceptional

challenges in providing all students with an education that prepares them for college and career.

The Superintendent established top Five Priorities for all grades throughout the district:

• Early Learning - Essential and the foundation for school readiness in developing literacy, numeracy skills, and social and emotional skills.

• College and Career Readiness - Students obtaining the academic and technical knowledge necessary for a career beyond the classroom.

• The Whole Child - Ensuring every child is healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged.

• Attendance - Preventing and reducing chronic absenteeism.

• Family and Parent Engagement - Promoting positive and enduring change for children, families and community.

Many APS students miss or struggle in school because there are other things going on in their lives

including hunger, unemployment, poverty, illness, trauma, or lack of transportation The Whole Child approach includes policies, practices, and relationships that ensure each child, in each school, in each community, is healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged.

The FoodCorps program will help us connect students to healthy food and to school gardens to learn through experience about the cultivation of food According to the Centers for Disease Control, healthy students are better learners! Poor nutrition, lack of physical activity and an overall unhealthy lifestyle can lead to poor academic achievement in children Studies have shown that healthy children get better grades, attend school more often and behave better in class.

Hands-On Learning: The service member will plan and implement learning lessons appropriate to

students’ ages and grade levels They will utilize FoodCorps information and resources including trainings,

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lesson plans and support from the Program Manager and other service members The service member, after delivering lessons, will reflect on what worked and what did not work and, if necessary, modify lesson plans Whenever possible they will promote diversity within the lessons.

Healthy School Meals – The Coordinated School Health Department meets monthly with the Executive Director of the Food and Nutrition Services Department (FNSD) The Site Supervisor will introduce the service member to FNSD leadership, area managers and the school cafeteria managers to build a positive working relationship with the school food staff The service member will work directly with the school cafeteria manager to offer food-tasting opportunities and messaging about healthy eating.

School-wide Culture of Health – The service member will provide an “Introduction to FoodCorps”

presentation for school staff at the beginning of the school year They will participate in the school

health/wellness/garden committees, if such teams exist Some schools hold family events in the evenings and the service member will be encouraged to participate to provide healthy eating information, food tasting or other related activities.

Skills, Interests, Knowledge Preferences

Experience teaching elementary age or middle school students with the ability to plan, implement and modify lesson plans Having your own transportation is required It would be helpful for applicants to speak Spanish.

Bernalillo Public Schools

Bernalillo and Algodones, NM

Bernalillo Public Schools (BPS) serves a diverse New Mexico community that is rich with history and culture Several early Pueblo and Spanish colonial sites, some dating back almost a thousand years, are nearby The Rio Grande River winds through the heart of the school district and the Sandia Mountains rise

to the east Our district consists of a population of 2990 students who learn in a safe, secure and

stimulating environment Bernalillo Public Schools serves the communities of Algodones, Bernalillo, Placitas, Pena Blanca, Sile and the Native American Pueblos including Cochiti, Santo Domingo, San Felipe,

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Santa Ana, Sandia, Zia and Jemez The District has approximately 1,375 Native American children (320 BHS, 193 Algodones Elementary, 219 Cochiti Elementary/Middle School, 139 Bernalillo Middle School, 95 Bernalillo Elementary School, 315 Santo Domingo Elementary/Middle School, 87 Carroll Elementary, 7 Placitas Elementary School) Pre K-12th grade according to our last count for the 2015-2016 school year.

Bernalillo Public Schools is made up of (10) schools One high school, three middle schools and six

elementary schools The total enrollment for the district is 2990 The elementary, which includes Preschool

is 1690, middle school is 520 and high school is 780 We have Bilingual programs with Spanish and Keres classes and special education programs With the surrounding Tribal communities, it is important that we bring the culture into our schools One way of doing that would be to provide programs such as FoodCorps into the district and our schools.

The service members will serve students at Bernalillo Middle School(6-8) and Algodones Elementary (Pre-K

- 4th) We would want the service members to provide lessons on healthy eating, start a garden, work with the communities that surround the school Possibly cook meals with the students The district works closely with the surrounding communities and we have Impact Aid meetings monthly and would like for the service members to give updates on how they are working within the schools and ask how the

communities can help in the schools that would be to bring in the community to work with the children and bring in their traditions and culture so all students can learn, not just our Native American students.

● Knowledge of the students represented by the district (Hispanic, Native American)

● Have worked with farming or gardening

● Works well with students

● Helpful if speaks Spanish and/or Keres

● Having own transportation is helpful

La Plazita Institute Albuquerque, NM

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LPI service members serve Albuquerque's most vulnerable youths and their families Most of our

participants are of Hispanic/Latino, Chicano, and Native American heritage, are previously incarcerated and/or gang involved, and come from families with multi-generational legacies of poverty, gang

involvement, trauma, physical and substance abuse, and addiction.

La Plazita Institute, Inc is a non-profit grassroots organization in Albuquerque, NM La Plazita engages New Mexico's youth, elders and communities in a comprehensive, holistic and cultural approach Designed around the philosophy of La Cultura Cura or culture heals, La Plazita's programs engages New Mexico's youth, elders and communities to draw from their own roots and histories to express core traditional values of respect, honor, love, and family.

Since 2004, LPI has provided cultural healing services to Albuquerque's most vulnerable youth, adult populations and their families Most of our participants are of Hispanic/Latino, Chicano, and Native

American heritage, are previously incarcerated and/or gang involved, and come from families with

multi-generational legacies of poverty, gang involvement, and substance abuse addiction.

There is an enormous need for this work as our population tends to fall through the cracks of conventional social service institutes We provide whole family, culturally appropriate support to facilitate healing and development of core identify and self-esteem LPI is a cultural hub for urban Native American families who attend weekly Inipi ceremonies, language, arts, and crafts programs.

La Plazita has made huge strides in establishing a significant footprint in the South Valley and throughout the state of New Mexico in reducing violence, addiction, incarceration and recidivism amongst the most overrepresented youth and adults in detention and those considered high-risk populations within the community.

The seeds, successes and sustainability achieved in strengthening the social, physical and cultural capital

of the South Valley, can be attributed to the expertise and diligence of La Plazita staff, community

leadership, volunteers and students, as well as funding support provided by many public and private donors and community partners committed to LPI's mission and vision In addition, collective impact, coalition building, systemic and social change are central to the efforts La Plazita Institute is engaged in.

Organizational Goals:

Improve the health and well-being of Latino/Chicano, Native American youth and adult inmates through traditional cultural services, and facilitate healing, core identity and self-efficacy.

Reduce incarceration, recidivism risk and adjudication of Latino/Chicano and Native American youth and adult inmates through innovative, drug-free income generating activities that promote entrepreneurship, art and educational development of high risk area youth and inmates by increasing the exposure of these individuals and families to LPI activities.

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Increase the organizational capacity of La Plazita to sustain its healing services while retaining its

community-based and indigenous healing philosophy.

Reduce race-based and ethnic disparities of Latino/Chicano and Native American inmates through

engagement in critical prevention work and systemic policy efforts collaboratively with local, state and national stakeholders Such strategies include reducing the school to prison pipeline through development and implementation of culturally appropriate strategies and best practices to reform the juvenile justice system and address key barriers for Chicano/Hispanic and Native youth and families.

Native American Community Academy-Members will apply the FoodCorps Curriculum to teach K-12 students how to make healthier food choices and will also impact and create a school wide culture of health by providing important support in teaching healthy food workshops, classes and school garden activities.

Bernalillo County Youth Detention Center School-Native American Community Academy-Members will apply the FoodCorps Curriculum to teach K-12 students how to make healthier food choices and will also impact and create a school wide culture of health by provided important support in teaching healthy food workshops, classes and school garden activities.

Works well within a school environment and Bernalillo County Detention Center Works well with youth who are currently adjudicated Able to work with outdoor gardening area, and travel for special events concerning La Plazita Institute Helpful if applicant has their own transportation and can speak Spanish.

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La Semilla Food Center

Anthony, NM

The Paso del Norte (PdN) region is a culturally diverse area rich in tradition, with a population reflecting Mexican, Indigenous, and European backgrounds The region includes Doña Ana County, the city of Las Cruces- the urban heart of southern New Mexico, and the state's second largest city with 101,324 residents- and crosses the Texas state line to include El Paso, Texas, delineated by the U.S.-Mexico border and Ciudad Juarez 40 miles to the south.

Las Cruces and El Paso both feature vibrant opportunities for dining, entertainment, theater, farmers' and crafts markets, community events, etc Service members at La Semilla have access to two universities, New Mexico State University (NMSU) and University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), as well as two community colleges, El Paso Community College (EPCC) and Dona Ana Community College (DACC) for opportunities in continuing education, graduate school, and ample programs and events open to the community.

Outdoor enthusiasts can enjoy hiking, biking, rock climbing and camping on vast public lands throughout the region including the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, White Sands National

Monument, Dona Ana Mountains, Franklin Mountains State Park, Hueco Tanks State Park, Gila Wilderness Area and many others.

La Semilla's mission is to create a fair, sustainable, healthy local food system in the Paso del Norte region

of southern New Mexico and El Paso, Texas We are a social change organization focused on root causes of inequity in the food system and our work happens through programming and policy work We work

through food access, education, and community based economic development, focusing on getting food and farm-based resources and capital to communities that have historically been divested of those

resources Our programming includes a 14 acre community farm, a mobile farmers market bus, community cooking and gardening education, school based edible education, food and farm business development and policy advocacy.

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La Semilla works diligently at identifying young leaders in our community and offering mentorship and leadership development to help their roles grow within our organization and community In addition to their role within our Edible Education Program, FoodCorps service members have opportunities to

participate in and learn about all of La Semilla's programs that interest them or align with their career aspirations These opportunities include healthy food policy, direct food marketing, program

development, community health, small-scale diversified vegetable farming, and developing their own farm

or food business through La Semilla's workshops, among others.

FoodCorps service members have been integral to developing our Edible Education Program in local schools Our Edible Education Program is currently staffed by 4 former FoodCorps service members who have grown our program based on the experience and training the were afforded during FoodCorps and placement at La Semilla La Semilla tremendously values the commitment individuals make to our

community through FoodCorps service, and the training opportunities it provides service members both through national and state professional development Several FoodCorps service members have

completed their terms and been offered full time employment at La Semilla Currently, a total of 6 former FoodCorps service members are employees of La Semilla, representing 1/3 of our current staff.

In the current 2019-2020 school year, La Semilla's Edible Education Program is serving 30 schools who are actively participating in school garden, classroom cooking, and nutrition education Because we serve a large, rural region spanning from Hatch, New Mexico, to El Paso Texas, which encompasses four major school districts, we typically like to see who our service members are before we make final determinations

of schools where they will be serving in order to reduce commute times and ensure service members feel that they are serving at schools in their own communities Currently, we have one service member serving

at one school in the Gadsden Independent School District (GISD), North Valley Elementary and one school

in Las Cruces Public Schools (LCPS), Valley View Elementary Our second service member lives in Juarez,

MX and is serving at two schools in El Paso Independent School District (EPISD), Rusk Elementary and Cooley Elementary.

All of the schools in our program have functioning school gardens and will have access to Edible Education program activities such as classroom cooking through our farm box program, professional development training for teachers and on-site technical garden assistance We place service members at schools in order

to strengthen relationships, improve teacher's skills and confidence in growing and teaching in the school garden, and reinvigorate Edible Education programming as a whole at these schools Programming at some schools lose momentum when there are key teacher and administration changes and Food Corps service members bring enthusiasm and support to schools that has proven to be very successful in

maintaining teacher participation and buy-in.

FoodCorps Service Members placed at 4 schools support hands-on learning by co-teaching in 2-4

classrooms per school In these classrooms FoodCorps service members will connect teachers with La Semilla, FoodCorps, and other Farm to School resources, design and co-teach lessons, guide school teams

on garden planning and provide necessary supplies to ensure the school garden is successful Through

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hands-on activities in school gardens, classrooms, and cafeterias, FoodCorps service members serve a healthy role models for students and teachers.

We are excited about FoodCorps Service Member's role in supporting Healthy School Meals at each of their school sites Both GISD and LCPS are participating in Farm to School programming through NM PED to strengthen local sourcing in both school districts La Semilla plays an active role in the education and promotion of these efforts in the school cafeterias where we offer programming as well as provide lessons and materials district wide In addition to the progress around procurement being made at both school districts, each district has exciting improvement in other arenas This year, GISD increased the number of salad bars to ensure there was one in every school district wide, and a Food Corps service member piloted

a Garden to Cafeteria program at one school in Las Cruces and is creating a protocol that can be used at future sites This progress means there is a new, more active role for FoodCorps Service Members in participating in, and promoting healthy school meals and locally-sourced produce in cafeterias Formerly, this has been one of our weakest areas as a FoodCorps service site and we are excited by these new

opportunities.

Finally, FoodCorps Service Members will work with school teams to promote a Schoolwide Culture of Health where the healthy choice is the easy choice for teachers, students and staff In September 2020, La Semila's FoodCorps Service Members will meet with schools to complete the FoodCorps Healthy School Progress Report to set goals and guide their service plan at the school Food Corps will continue to meet with their team of teachers throughout the year to check in on goals and make recommendations to more easily enact a schoolwide culture of health La Semilla is excited to work in conjunction with school

districts to identify gaps in awareness about healthy school programs and resources available to schools, teachers, and students and to be developing new resources promoting all of the healthy living and

wellness initiatives available at individual schools and throughout districts and our communities.

FoodCorps Service Members will be primarily working to implement efforts at the school-level, and their perspective and experience provides valuable information to La Semilla staff working to implement larger district-wide improvements.

La Semilla Food Center works in partnership with many great organizations in our region, however, La Semilla's unique programming offers a whole systems approach to creating a more fair, self-reliant food system For this reason, we are able to offer resources and opportunities to FoodCorps service members with a wide range of interests including farming, small business development, youth education from K-12, policy, and others Therefore, we view FoodCorps service as an opportunity to provide valuable training, travel, connection and expertise to individuals in our community who might not otherwise have access to this type of unique experience We prefer candidates who express an interest in gardening, working with youth, nutrition, food justice, cooking, etc however prior experience in these are not required We seek candidates who are able to communicate in Spanish, and have grown up in this area or have demonstrated

a commitment to the community We hope that a year of service with FoodCorps at La Semilla Food Center will open doors to individuals in our community and give them resources to further pursue their interests. Having own transportation is required.

Tiêu đề	FoodCorps New Mexico Service Site Descriptions
Trường học	University of New Mexico
Chuyên ngành	Food and Nutrition
Thể loại	Bài luận
Năm xuất bản	2020-2021
Thành phố	Albuquerque

Định dạng
Số trang	14
Dung lượng	1,47 MB