Progress 05/15/23 to 05/14/24

Outputs
Target Audience:The primary target for recruitment was Career and Technical Education (CTE) program grade 9 - 12 instructors, in particular those teaching the ProStart curriculum and involved with SkillsUSA. Any secondary instructor teaching culinary, hospitality, and family and consumer sciences classes is eligible for the program and will be given priority for enrollment. There were no specific demographic targets for the program. Teachers of all ages, genders, races, and levels of culinary, hospitality and teaching experience were eligible for it. These teachers are targeted by the grant as they have the need for education regarding how their culinary, hospitality, and family and consumer sciences curriculums can be improved by connecting them with sustainable agricultural systems. In turn, they can educate and influence their students on these topics. Applicants submitted a letter of support from their principal and/or career and technical. Due to availability in the first and second cohorts and genuine interest in learning more about culinary arts and agricultural connections, three middle school Family and Consumer Sciences teachers were admitted to the first cohort and one was admitted for the second cohort. Recruiting for the first cohort was limited to New Mexico. Participants were recruited through the local CTE directors in the major school districts, the ProStart NM and Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) teachers lists, and the SkillsUSA NM director. Participation in the other two cohorts was advertised on a national basis. The grant program director emailed the program information to the ProStart Coordinator in all 50 states, SkillsUSA NM, AZ, NV, and TX Directors, and the FCCLA AZ Director. CAFÉ - The Center for Advancement of Foodservice Education (CAFÉ) provided free advertising on its website. Information was also sent to the American Culinary Federation Education and Accreditation departments. Changes/Problems:The only problem we encountered to date has been the higher attrition rate from Cohort One than expected. The hope was that since the program is at no cost to the participants and they receive stipends, the rate would be low. But life happens. 19of 21 teachers recruited for Cohort one, actually registered for Course One.18 completed the course. 16 teachers started Course Two in January 2024. 15 completed the course. 13 teachers started Course Three in March 2024 and completed it.The participants who dropped from the program cited health, time conflicts, pursuit of master degrees, and retirement as the reasons for it. None indicated it was because ofconcerns about the content or design of the program. The program director compensated by admittingmore students to Cohorts Two and Three. The grantwill still have over 60 teachersstarting the program and taking at least one course and should have close to that complete the full program. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?All teaching aides and curriculum and the activities of developing and teaching the first three courses funded by the grant provided professional development for the participating teachers. In order to improve their knowledge of sustainable agricultural systems, the faculty teaching the first three courses participated in professional development activities. Dr. Jean Hertzman, Dr. Keith Mandabach and Chef Pete Mitchell attended Field Days at the NMSU Agricultural Science Centers in Los Lunas and Alcalde in August 2023 and Fabian Garcia Center in October. Each attended several webinars and Zoom meetings regarding agriculture and sustainability held by the USDA, EPA, and American Culinary Federation. Although not funded by the grant in Year One, Dr. Hertzman attended the Center for Advancement of Foodservice Education Deans and Directors and Leadership Conference in Charleston, SC in June 2023 which included several sessions about the topic. She spoke about this grant as part of a larger presentation about securing grant funding for secondary and post-secondary programs. Again, not funded by the grant, Dr. Hertzman and Dr. Mandabach attend many sessions about sustainability at the International Council of Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education (CHRIE) conference in Phoenix in July 2023 and West Federation CHRIE conference in Denver in February 2024. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Specific results of the program evaluation have not been disseminated yet. The grant faculty discussed the program with consitutents at the activities discussed above under professional development as well as at School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management Board of Advisors meetings, College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Science meetings, and multiple outreach and recruiting events to both the community and potential students, such as Tourism Day in Santa Fe in January 2024. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The next year of the grant will be very busy. It will include the following activities: Immersive Workshops - The first immersive workshop will be held in Las Cruces, June 9 - 14, 2024. Due to attrition in Cohort One, the program director gave students in Cohort Two the option of attending this year instead of in June 2025. Five of the participants accepted that offer. 17 teachers are expected to participate in the first workshop. The SOAR group will evaluate the workshop. Participants will receive a $500 stipend and reimbursement for any applicable travel and subsistence expenses. In Spring 2025, the grant personnel will plan all activities for the second two workshops to be held June 1 - 6, 2025 and June 8 - 13, 2025. Online Courses -During Summer 2024, Ms. Sandi Ringwood will develop Course Four - Agricultural Innovation and Entrepreneurship and Dr. Christina Dimitriou will develop Course Five - Agricultural, Culinary, and Rural Tourism. They will teach the courses for Cohort One in Fall 2024. This will complete Cohort One's full grant program. Teachers who complete both courses will receive their final stipend of $500 and a Certificate of Content Mastery. During Summer 2024, Dr. Hertzman will teach Course One for Cohort Three and Chef Pete Mitchell will teach Course Two for Cohort Two. In Fall 2025, Chef Mitchell will teach Course Two for Cohort Three and Dr. Keith Mandabach will teach Course Three for Cohort Two. In Spring 2025, Dr. Mandabach will teach Course Three for Cohort Three and Ms. Ringwood will teach Course Four for Cohort Two. Networks and Collaboration - In Fall 2024, we will set up a social media platform specifically for the grant on Facebook and Instagram. The program director also plans to schedule some informal Zoom sessions open to participants in all three cohorts to encourage collaboration across the Cohorts. Website - Work will begin in Summer 2024 to expand the information on the grant website to showcase the course curriculum, provide more resources about agriculture, agricultural organizations, and pedagogy for teaching about agriculture and culinary connections. This will make it a better source for collaboration among grant participants and for expanding the reach of the materials developed to the general public. Publications - Dr. Jean Hertzman will present specifically about the grant program at the CAFÉ Leadership conference in San Antonio, TX in June 2024. By the end of 2024, two or three classroom lesson plans developed by the grant participants will be submitted for possible publication in either the National Agriculture in the Classroom Curriculum Database or the CAFÉ Gold Medal Classroom website. Program Evaluation - SOAR will continue to collect survey evaluations from the participants at the end of each course and the immersive workshop. The group will also develop evaluation instruments and procedures to start assessing participating teacher's actual use of the grant course materials and immersive workshop knowledge in their classrooms and students' change in attitudes and knowledge of the connections between culinary arts and hospitality management and sustainable agricultural systems.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The grant personnel made great progress on the primary objective of this project to increase the number of secondary educational instructors trained in the food and agricultural sciences. 42 teachers in Cohorts One and Two completed one online course, 15 in Cohort One completed two courses, and 13 in Cohort One completed three courses and earned their first stipend of $1,000. The original Year One Activities in the grant application were: Year One Activities - 1) Develop marketing plan and materials; 2) Develop application and registration process and NMSU On-Demand Portals; 3) Recruit participants for Cohort One; 4) Develop Courses One Two, and Three; 5) Start developing Immersive workshop; 6) Set up program website and social media groups; 7) Teach Course One for Cohort One in Fall 2023 However, this was based on the grant year starting in January 2023. The grant was approved in March 2023 and funded in May 2023. We performed all activities except establishing a a social media group for the grant separate from the HRTM Facebook and Instagram page. In other areas, we accomplished more than expected as in Year One we recruited participants for all three cohorts and taught Courses Two and Three for Cohort One, and Course One for Cohort Two. We are pleased that the grant project was received so favorably by the target audience as indicated by the number of initial contacts who promoted the program, the numbers of applicants, and the reactions to the press release. The grant reviewers were skeptical about the grant key personnel having enough personal agricultural knowledge to implement the program. A major accomplishment is that we have forged better relationships with the faculty in the Animal and Range Sciences, Plant and Environmental Sciences, Agricultural Education and Extension, and Family and Consumer Sciences departments who have all provided content and support for the courses. The program evaluation conducted by the SOAR group has provided valuable, very positive feedback about the courses taught in Year One. SOAR had participants complete an initial pre-program survey during the Zoom sessions for Course One for each cohort. They emailed post-course surveys to all participants who consented to be part of the evaluation process. 10 people in Cohort One completed the post-surveys for Course One. All indicated their knowledge of the Pillars of Agricultural Literacy, UN Sustainable Development Goals, and the Chef's Manifestohad increased either a lot or exceptionally. While some respondents had previous knowledge of plant production methods, the majority also respondedthat their knowledge of plant and animal production methods had also increased a lot or exceptionallyu. Qualitative comments were positive with participants being very appreciative of the meaningful and informative resources provided and their intention to use them in their classrooms. For Cohort Ones responses regarding Course Two on Purchasing with Emphasis on Local and Sustainable Foods, participants showed the most improvement in their knowledge of puchasing practics and procedures. They complimented the instructors professional and informative videos and how they were linked to the discussion topics. For Course Three on Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle, the most important finding was how much the participants said that their confidence in their ability to teach the concepts had improved. 16 people in Cohort Two completed the evaluation at the end of Course One in May. Results were similar to those for Cohort One with knowledge increasing for a lot or exceptionally fro all topics and very positive qualitative comments,.

Publications