Progress 10/01/12 to 09/30/17
Outputs
Target Audience:We targeted intermediate and high school students experiencing school adjustment problems, and their parents and other family members. During the final 5 years of the project we worked, each week of the semesters, with an average of 12 intermediate school students, 10 high school students and 25 family members. Thirty-three students from Halau Ku Mana, and 48 students from the SEEQs school attended our field trip programs on a rotating, regular basis across the years. A number of other schools participated in single fieldtrips to our sites, bringing 15-25 students each visit. Twelve Micronesian intermediate and high school students (whose families were homeless) participated in our summer programs. Changes/Problems:We encountered many challenges in carrying out this project. These were in the areas of how to: recruit enough, adequately skilled "teens as teachers" each semester; effectively train teens and staff in workplace standards; effectively manage a mixed-age, mixed-experience and -ability staff; effectively convey work-place standards to college age mentors; efficiently set up and carry out field trips and community open houses; complete public safety and animal safety protocols; organize and pay for transportation of students from school sites; deal with the academic and personal problems of college-age mentors; cope with the onerous administrative duties. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Training was targeted at four different age groups. Undergraduate and graduate students and other staff received extensive training in subject matter and in how to teach concepts to children at different levels of schooling, as well as community adults. College age students worked as mentors. They spent two hours/week in supervision meeting focusing on improving lesson plans and interactions with the youth; and two hours a week in meetings in which they reviewed and discussed videotapes of their sessions teaching youth and others that week. Practicum and internship students from UHM, Chaminade and Hawaii Pacific University worked in our programs and received weekly supervision. Participating teens and intermediate students were mentored in small groups on subject matter, school projects, research projects, team work and how to manage and teach younger students. Participating parents were trained in family leadership, family interactions, teamwork with other families in the community (in the context of performing permablitz activities to help others start their home gardens). Participants taught others how to garden, cook from the garden and build garden structures. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Our methods and results have been presented at NACTA conferences each year, at Hawaii Educational Research Conferences and in various UHM courses. Three youth gardening programs in the state use our draft curriculum. Two schools use the curriculum. Two curricula stemming from the project are in pre-publication format, with a submission date to publisher of February 2018. We present results of this project at national and state academic associations, such as NACTA, Hawaii Educational Research Association, Hawaii Psychological Association. We conduct regular tours of gardens and farm for school groups and host activities of other nature organizations. Products This grant has resulted in a textbook curriculum (280 pp); and a teacher's lab and field guide (150 pp.) that describes lab and field activities that teachers can use while teaching this curriculum. Under the grant, teens, college students and community members designed and built12 "Regions-of-the-World Gardens". Martini taught a weekly cooking course with 3-4 families per week, and lectured on the culinary history, common fruits and vegetables, and cooking practices of that evening's focal culture. These lectures, garden designs and recipes resulted in drafts of 15 short books on the culinary history, garden vegetables, and cooking practices in different regions of the world. Each book, currently in draft form, is from 120-170 pages in length, with numerous photographs and maps. Xlibris Press wrote a contract with PI Martini in November 2017, to turn these materials into a series of 14 short books on culture, gardening and cooking. The process is expected to occur over the course of the next two years. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Our goals were to: increase STEM knowledge, skills and test scores; improve school grades; improve academic engagement; improve school conduct; increase participants' interests, passions and self-direction; increase rates of high school graduation, application and acceptance into college; increase preparation for entry-level learning in agricultural science course; increase group participation, team work and leadership; and increase interest in pursuing degrees in science. Each year of this project, students showed statistically significant increases in knowledge (using pre- and post-tests for each unit) in the 10 unit areas. They demonstrated significant changes in their understandings of: 1) different forms of farming and CSA-farm business skills; 2) human nutritional needs and processes and how sustainable, organic farming addresses these; 3) fundamentals of soil science and their application to amending soil; 4) planning and planting out a CSA farm, including fundamentals of botany and propagation of tropical food plants; 5) the role of water in plant growth, including fundamentals of water chemistry; 6) composting, the science of decomposition, vermi-casting and the use of effective micro-organisms as soil amendments; 7) the nutrient requirements of plants, how to diagnose nutrient deficiencies, and how to amend the soil as a corrective; 8) How to: grow plants in water; set up hydroponics and aquaponics systems; and conduct research in these areas; 9) Integrated Pest Management, how to diagnose and treat pest and disease problems; and 10) How to conduct research in sustainable, organic farming. Each year of the project, participating students gained introductory knowledge of content and methods that prepares them for 25 entry-level undergraduate courses at our university. We shaped our teen internship curriculum to include topic matter from these courses, with that preparation purpose in mind. These courses included: The science of human nutrition; Culture and cuisine; Introductory biology; General botany; General chemistry; Plants for People: Hawaii vegetables, beverage plants, herbs, spices and tropical fruits; Introduction to plant science; Fundamentals of soil science; Organic food-crop production; Vegetable crop production; Plant propagation; basic biochemistry; Introduction to molecular cell biology; and Marketing perishable products. Students attended the annual CTAHR Research Conference poster sessions each year. Each semester, CTAHR graduate students conducted workshops on their dissertation topics, with the program youth. Each year of the project, students showed statistically significant improvements in the following Hawaii Department of Education Science Standards, as measured with evaluations of their science projects as well as pre- and post-tests in these 7 areas: Standard 1: Discover, invent and investigate using the skills necessary to engage in the scientific process; 2. Understand that science, technology and society are interrelated; 3a. Understand the unity, diversity and interrelationships of organisms, including their relationship to cycles of matter and energy in the environment; 3b. Understand the metabolism, anatomy and physiology of plants (cells, tissues and metabolism); 3c. Understand the relations between the structure and function of the human body; 3d. Understand different states of matter; 4a. Understand the structures and functions of living organisms and how organisms can be compared scientifically in terms of cells, tissues, organs and organ systems; 4b. Understand interactions between plants, the environment, and humans; 4c. Understand the interaction of animals with their environment; 4c. Understand properties of the periodic table, atoms and bond formation; 5a. Understand plant classification, genetics and evolution; 6. Understand forms of energy and energy transformations; 7. Understand how chemical reaction rates are affected. Students participating in this project demonstrated significant increases (using observational skills assessment measures, pre and post) in hands-on trade skills in: 1) carpentry related to building raised beds, hydroponic tables, seeding structures, and other projects; 2) Basic irrigation plumbing; 3) Soil preparation; 4) Plant propagation; 5) Diagnosis and treatment of pests and plant diseases; 6) Hydroponics and aquaponics; 7) Cooking, culinary history and culture in different regions of the world; 8) Preparing instructional materials; 9) Teaching mixed age groups of children and adults (as in giving tours of the farm to visiting children and adults; and 10) Team-work in large-scale projects (such as, building the CSA farm, designing and building regions-of-the-world gardens, and helping families build home gardens). Pre- and post-program parent questionnaires showed statistically significant increases in students' school grades, interest in pursuing science in high school and college, completion of college applications, hands-on skills, self-confidence, initiative and cooperation with adults in team-work activities, and, for the first cohorts of students, high school graduation and acceptance into college. Parents of participating youth completed questionnaires and showed significant increases, pre to post, in these areas: how confident the parents are about their parenting abilities; how much they trust their children; how strongly they believe youth should be allowed reasonable autonomy in day-to-day functioning; reduction of their worries about their youth; how skilled they feel in leading their families; how much initiative their youth show; how cooperative their youth are; how passionate their youth are about some interest in their lives; how passionate the parents are about some interest or activity in their lives; reduction of conflict in the family; how well the youth does at school; reduction of the youth getting into trouble at school; how well the youth gets along with others; how confident they are that their children will have good lives; and how healthy their family's life style is. The final years of this project saw an increase in the number of intermediate school students coming to the farm and gardens for weekly field trips. For two years, Halau Ku Mana charter school in Makiki transported 8-12 interested students to the farm each Wednesday afternoon. For the past two years, SEEQs charter school transported 10-12 interested Intermediate school students to the farm site, weekly. Teachers of field-trip participants reported high interest and engagement of their students in the field trip activities, positive comments by students and generalization of curiosity about the topics to subsequent classroom learning. Among participants across the years of this project who became old enough to graduate high school, our programs resulted in a 95% success rate in: graduating from high school; applying to college; being accepted into college and beginning their freshmen years. This included several students who were failing high school, failing science classes and/or threatening to drop out or be expelled from school when they first started the program.
Publications
- Type:
Books
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Martini, M., Kurosawa, T., Baker, M., Baker, A. (to be submitted in Feb, 2018) Sustainable, Organic Farming with Youth. Xlibris Press.
- Type:
Books
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Kurosawa, T., Martini, M. (to be submitted in March, 2018) Lab and Field Guide for Sustainable, Organic Farming with Youth. Xlibris Press.
- Type:
Books
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Martini, M. (to be submitted in April, 2018). Middle-Eastern Culinary History, Gardens and Cooking. Xlibris Press.
- Type:
Books
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Martini, M. (to be submitted in June, 2018). Mediterranean Culinary History, Gardens and Cooking. Xlibris Press.
- Type:
Books
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Martini, M. (to be submitted in July, 2018). Western European Culinary History, Gardens and Cooking. Xlibris Press.
- Type:
Books
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Martini, M. (to be submitted in August, 2018). Eastern European Culinary History, Gardens and Cooking. Xlibris Press.
- Type:
Books
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Martini, M. (to be submitted in September, 2018). Central Asian Culinary History, Gardens and Cooking. Xlibris Press.
- Type:
Books
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Martini, M. (to be submitted in October, 2018) Chinese Culinary History, Gardens and Cooking. Xlibris Press.
- Type:
Books
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Martini, M. (to be submitted in November, 2018). Japanese Culinary History, Gardens and Cooking. Xlibris Press.
- Type:
Books
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Martini, M. (to be submitted in December, 2018). Korean Culinary History, Gardens and Cooking. Xlibris Press.
- Type:
Books
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Martini, M. (to be submitted in January, 2019). South-East Asian Culinary History, Gardens and Cooking. Xlibris Press.
- Type:
Books
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Martini, M. (to be submitted in February, 2019). Indian Culinary History, Gardens and Cooking. Xlibris Press.
- Type:
Books
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Martini, M. (to be submitted in March, 2019). Indigenous Central American Culinary History, Gardens and Cooking. Xlibris Press.
- Type:
Books
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Martini, M. (to be submitted in April, 2019). Indigenous South American Culinary History, Gardens and Cooking. Xlibris Press.
- Type:
Books
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Martini, M. (to be submitted in May, 2019). Indigenous North American Culinary History, Gardens and Cooking. Xlibris Press.
- Type:
Books
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Martini, M. (to be submitted in June, 2019). West African Culinary History, Gardens and Cooking. Xlibris Press.
- Type:
Books
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Martini, M. (to be submitted in May, 2018). Arabian Culinary History, Gardens and Cooking. Xlibris Press.
|
Progress 10/01/15 to 09/30/16
Outputs
Target Audience:We targeted intermediate and high school students experiencing school adjustment problems, and their parents and other family members. During this last year of the project, from 9/30/16-9/30/17, we worked, each week of the semester, with an average of 12 intermediate and high school students, and an average of 25 family members. The students attended 5-8 hours a week, each. The family members attended 3 hours per week. Thirty three students from Halau Ku Mana School, and 48 students from the SEEQs school attended our field trip programs, on a rotating, regular basis across the years. A number of other schools participated in single fieldtrips to our sites, bringing 15-25 students each trip. A group of 12 Micronesian intermediate and high school students whose families were homeless, participated in our summer program. The field trips were planned and taught by program teens, with staff support. Changes/Problems:We encountered many challenges in carrying out this project. These were in the areas of: recruiting"teens as teachers"each semester; training teens and staff; conveying work-place standards to college age mentors;setting up and carrying out field trips andcommunity open houses; completing public safety and animal safety (aquaponic fish) protocols, site inspections and reports; organizing transportation of students from school sites. We had expected easier procedures in conducting widespread public school field trips and found it more productive to serve a limited number of schools, in depth, training and presenting to adifferent groups of students each year. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Training was targeted at four different age groups. Undergraduate and graduate students and other staffreceived extensive training both in the subject matter and in how to teach these to high school, intermediate, younger siblings and mixed age groups (including participants' parents and grandparents, and other community participants). College age students spent 2 hours/week in meetings focused on reviewing and improving their lesson plans for the week; and 2 hours/week in meetings reviewing and discussing videotapes of their sessions teachingyouth and others that week. The field trip programs served as a semester-longpracticum and internship site for college students from UHM, Chaminade and Hawaii Pacific Universities. These students received additional, weekly supervision. Staff attended and team-taught in a UHM undergraduate course on effective methods of instruction with youth, and in two video workshops, in addition to public safety, first aid training. Participating teens and intermediates were mentored in small group and individual settings, on subject matter, school projects, research projects for this program, team work, and methods for managing andteaching younger students at field trips. Participating parents received training in family leadership, parent-parent and parent-childcooperation, organic, home gardening, community level teamwork,cooking from the garden, and culinary history and culture in 12 regions of the world. Participating youth and their siblings received training in the organic farming topic areas as well as in team work, leadership and positive group cooperation. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Our methods and results have been presented at NACTA conferences, Hawaii Educational Research Conferences and in various courses at UHM. The draft of our curriculum "Sustainable, Organic Farming with Youth" is used by 3 organic gardening programs in the state. It is being reviewed for publication by Hawaii agricultural research groups. Two schools use the curriculum to guide their development of school gardens and coordination of multidisciplinary teaching around organic farming topics. Two curricula stemming from this project are in pre-publication format: Sustainable, Organic Farming with Youth; and, Culinary History, Cooking and Gardening in Twelve Regions of the World. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?1. Conduct follow-up evaluation of all participants (college-age mentors, teenage-teachers of field trips, school aged visitors, visiting teachers, parents, siblings) involved in the five years of the project, with design and analysis input from a professional program evaluator. This will include Likert scale and retrospective "before" and "after attending the program or field trip" questions on: the project activities (what are seen as most and least useful or informative activities); the skills participants felt they or their children/students developed; observed adjustments to school, family, peers and self; attitudes toward science, learning in general, schooling, college and career plans; and outcomes (high school graduation; GPA; college applications; acceptances; planned majors; planned occupations) 2. Complete and submit two books for publication: a. Sustainable, organic farming with youth, and b. Culinary History, growing vegetables and cooking in twelve regions of the world. 3. Submit NACTA conference presentations 4. Continue Teen, Family and Field Trip Programs 5. Partner with Master Gardeners in conducting school and community field trips and tours of the Youth CSA Farm and of the Energy House Regions of the World Gardens, constructed by these teens and staff."
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goals were to: increase STEM knowledge, skills and test scores;improve school grades;improve academic engagement;improve school conduct;increase participants interests, passions and self-direction;increase rates of high school graduation, application and acceptance in college;increase preparation for entry-level learning in agricultural science courses;increase group participation, team work and leadership; and, increaseinterest in pursuing degrees in science. Each yearof this project, students showed statistically significant increases in knowledge (using pre- and post-tests for each unit) in the 10 areas, namely: 1. understandingdifferent forms of farming and gaining farm business skills; 2. human nutritional needs and processes and need for sustainable, organic farming; 3. fundamentals of soil science; 4. planning and planting a CSA farm, including fundamentals of botany, and propagation oftropical food plants; 5. the role of water in plant growth, including fundamentals of water chemistry; 6. composting, science of decomposition, vermicasting and use of effective micro-organisms; 7. Plant nutrient requirements, diagnosis of nutrient deficiencies, and organic methods of amending the soil; 8. Growing plants in water: hydroponics, aquaponics and conducting research in these areas; 9. Integrated Pest Management, including pest and disease diagnosis and intervention; 10. Conducting and reporting on research in sustainable, organic farming. Each yearof the project, participating students gained introductory knowledge of content and methods that prepares themfor 25 entry-level undergraduate courses at our university, including: The science of human nutrition; Culture and cuisine;Introductory biology; General botany; General chemistry; Plants for People: Hawaii vegetables, beverage plants, herbs, spices and tropical fruits; Introduction to plant science; Fundamentals of soil science; Organic food-crop production; Vegetable crop production; Plant propagation, Basic biochemistry; Introduction to molecular cell biology; and Marketing perishable products. Students attended the annual CTAHRResearch Conference, andinvited workshops by two CTAHR graduate students per semester. Each year of the project, students showed statistically significant improvements in the following Hawaii Department of Education Science Standards, as measured with evaluations of their science projects as well aspre- and post-tests in these 7 areas: Standard 1: Discover, invent and investigate using the skills necessary to engage in the scientific process; 2. understand that science, technology and society are interrelated; 3a. Understand the unity, diversity and interrelationships of organisms, including their relationship to cycles of matter and energy in the environment; 3b. understand the metabolism, anatomy and physiology of plants (cells, tissues and metabolism); 3c. Understand the relations between the structure and function of the human body; 3 d. Understand different states of matter; 4a. Understand the structures and functions of living organisms and how organisms can be compared scientifically in terms of cells, tissues, organs and organ systems; 4b. Understand interactions between plants, the environment, and humans; 4c. understand the interaction of animals with their environment; 4c. Understand properties of the periodic table, atoms and bond formation; 5a. understand plant classification, genetics and evolution; 6. understand forms of energy and energy transformations; 7. understand how chemical reaction rates are affected. Students participating in this project demonstrated significant increases (using observational skills assessments, pre and post) in hands-on, trade skills in: 1. carpentry related to setting up gardens, hydroponics and farm systems; 2. irrigation plumbing; 3. soil preparation; 4. plant propagation; 5. diagnosis and treatment of pests and plant diseases; 6. hydroponics and aquaponics; 7. cooking and culinary history and culture in different regions of the world; 8. preparing instructional materials; 9. teaching mixed age groups of children and adults; 9. group leadership and participation in large-scale projects (building a CSA farm; landscape design of regions-of-the-world gardensand conducting a field-trip program). Pre- and post-program parent questionnaires showed statistically significant increases in students' school grades, interest in pursuing science in high school and college, completion ofcollege applications, hands-on skills, self-confidence, initiative and cooperation with adults in team-work activities. Parents of participating youthshowed significant increases, pre and post, in these areas: how confident they are about their parenting abilities; how much they trusttheir children; how strongly they believeyouth should be allowed reasonableautonomy in day-to-dayfunctioning; reduction ofhow worried they areabout their youth; how skilled they feel in leading their families; how much initiative their youth show; how cooperative their youth are; how passionate their youth are about some interest or activity in their lives; how passionate the parents are about some interest or activity in their lives; reduction of conflict in the family; how well the youth does at school; reduction of the youth getting into trouble at school; how well the youth gets along with others; how confident they are that their children will have good lives; and how healthy their family's life styleis. Teachers of field-trip participants reported high interest and engagement of their students in the fieldtrip activities, positive comments by students and generalization of curiosity about the topics to subsequent classroom learning. Among participants across the years of this study who became old enough to graduate high school, ourprograms resulted in a 95% success rate in: graduating from high school; applying to college;being accepted into college and beginning their freshmen years. This included a number of students who were failing highschool, failing science classes, and/or threatening to drop out or be expelled when they first started the program.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Awaiting Publication
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Martini, M., Wall, L., and Terem, K. 2016. Teaching healthy lifestyles and cultural appreciation to youth by building and cooking from regions-of-the-world gardens. Oral presentation at the NACTA annual meeting, Honolulu, HI, June 2016.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Awaiting Publication
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Martini, M., Terem, K., and Wall, L. 2016. Teaching Sustainable Gardening by Modeling a Family-Sustaining System. Poster Presentation at the NACTA annual meeting, Honolulu, HI, June 2016.
|
Progress 10/01/14 to 09/30/15
Outputs
Target Audience: The PI conducted programs training 40 teen-interns, in the Fall 2014, Spring 2015, and Fall 2015 semesters. In addition, we trained 70 members of community families in the Fall 2014, Spring 2015 and Fall, 2015 semesters. These participants attended either 4 hours per week (families) or 6 hours per week (teen interns) for 12 week sessions each semester. We continued the site-fieldtrips with these participants, conducting tours of the sustainable farm, sustainable urban garden and Permiculture Food Forest. An additional 5 undergraduate students and 2 graduate students were trained in working with teens and family members, as hands-on instructors of sustainable agriculture. The PI analyzed data from the previous year's findings on this Fieldtrips in Sustainable Agriculture grant and wrote up and presented those results at a national conference. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?We train a significant number of graduate and undergraduate students in the sciences, each year. During this period, 2 graduate students were employed as assistants; 15 undergraduate students worked in our programs; we taught 1-2 training courses (16+ weeks) each semester, training 7-20 students in each course. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Via NACTA conference papers at the national level; via presentations to schools at the local level. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Expand our field trips to include working intensively with a 6th grade class at La Pietra school on hydroponics projects.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
We generated a number of useful outputs including: 1) a field trip instructional model of experiential sustainable agriculture education ; 2) a sustainable agriculture curriculum at the intermediate and high school level, using the hands-on field trip model; 3) a mindfulness curriculum that complements the sustainable agriculture program, and that is culturally relevant and appropriate for Native Hawaiian youth; 4) implementation manuals for these curricula; 4) evaluation reports of the effectiveness of these programs in producing desired outcomes; 5) lay-person guides, with input from participants, in backyard gardening, market mini-farming, and cooking from the sustainable garden. Our teen interns, who guided the field trips, showed improved school conduct and grades; improved engagement in science study at school, as well as in other subjects; significant advances in their knowledge on post-tests for each unit of study that was presented during field trips. Classes and visiting groups were pleased with the field trip experience.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Martini, M., Kurosawa, T., and Sakai, K. 2015. Effectiveness of an experimential agriculture internship program with at-risk Hawaiian Teens. Presented at NACTA Conference. Summer 2015. https://www.nactateachers.org/images/stories/AB279.pdf
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Martnin, M. 2015. Strengthening Families Through Sustainable Agriculture. Presented at NACTA Conference. Summer 2015.
|
Progress 10/01/13 to 09/30/14
Outputs
Target Audience: The PI conducted programs under two related grants, training 44 teen-interns, in the Fall 2013, Spring 2014 and Summer, 2014 semesters. In addition, we trained 84 members of community families in the Fall 2013 and Spring 2014 semesters. These participants attended either 4 hours per week (Families) or 6 hours per week (teen interns) for 12 week sessions each semester. We continued the site-fieldtrips with these participants, conducting tours of the sustainable farm, sustainable urban garden and Permiculture Food Forest. An additional 10 undergraduate students and 4 graduate students, were trained in working with teens and family members, as hands-on instructors of sustainable agriculture. The PI analyzed data from the previous year's findings on this Fieldtrips in Sustainable Agriculture grant and wrote up those results for three posters presented in early 2015. Changes/Problems: We conducted projects for training community members in sustainable gardening and CSA farming. As enumerated earlier, 44 Intermediate and High school teens were trained, 5 hours+ per week in sustainable, organic CSA farming. 84 members of families from the community were trained 3+ hours per week in sustainable home gardening, cooking from the garden and cooperative family-group process. We guided these program members through the model garden, farm and permaculture food forest and conducted 4 fieldtrips for UHM and community members as well. These human resources will be engaged in organizing and conducting intermediate school fieldtrips in the future. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? We trained 10 undergraduate interns or practicum students in methods of working with youth during fieldtrip events. Graduate student staff of 4 were trained in these areas. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Results have been presented to the Hawaii School Gardens association and Hawaii Educational Research Association. Four additional informational "open-houses" were conducted at the Energy House, UHM, and at the FETCH Farm at Hale Tuahine, for members of the UHM and the surrounding community, serving approximately 75-80 participants each time. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? We plan to conduct school fieldtrips, with community schools in the next year. We are working with the School Garden Association to encourage widespread school gardening in Hawaii schools and have provided a high school curriculum for such.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The PI conducted studies under two related grants and wrote up results from the Sustainable Agriculture fieldtrips grant. We continued to conduct pre-tests and post-tests of teens and family members served under two other grants, who were guided through fieldtrips at our sites and recorded significant increases in their knowledge of the sustainable science material, after the fieldtrips.
Publications
|
Progress 10/01/12 to 09/30/13
Outputs
Target Audience: Twenty-five fieldtrips (2-5 hours each) were conducted with funding from this grant, serving 394 intermediate, high school or elementary students and 40 teachers or other adults. Most visiting youth were from urban, middle or high schools serving students at-risk for educational under-achievement. During the field trips FETCH/UH teen interns taught the visiting Hawaii youth aspects of sustainable, organic farming at their Hale Tuahine CSA farm, the UH Energy House, Koa Ridge Ranch, or, on one occasion, at a Makaha farm. During most fieldtrips, visiting students, teachers and parents rotated in small groups through 3-5 learning centers, where teen interns led hands-on activities. Fieldtrip locations, visitors and activities are listed, below: 1. 10 secondary-school students participated in a 3 day workshop to learn how to: design a CSA, subscriber farm, select crops, rotate crops, recruit subscribers, market the farm, harvest and pack vegetables, keep records and construct farm structures (raised bed gardens, aquaponic systems, etc.). Teens, staff and Scott Kelland, a CSA-farm expert, taught hands on activities; 2. 30 Waianae HS students and teachers learned aspects of "green building" at the Energy House and how to plant fruit trees and install drip irrigation on a "non arable," nearby hillside to form a permaculture, food forest; 3. 20 intermediate students and adults learned hydroponics, seeding, transplanting into a high density soil garden and planting starches, such as sweet potatoes and cassava; 4. 20 students and adults worked in groups to construct, set up and plant hydroponic grow beds. FETCH teen interns organized and taught the lessons; 5. 25 teens from outer islands built insect cages, trapped insects, studied bug damage and developed organic means of repelling and killing pests; 6. 27 students from the mainland and outer islands completed the same activities listed above; 7. 20 Mid Pacific Institute students from the eXplorations program worked with Teen interns to prepare a garden plot that would be used by families to grow their own food; 8. FETCH teen interns visited Halau Ku Mana school and met with teachers and 15 younger students to plan their school garden; 9. FETCH teen interns returned to HKM school later in the year to observe the progress made by the younger students in growing plants in hydroponic, soil and permaculture systems; 10. 20 Waianae elementary school students learned how to build a raised bed garden, plant seeds, transplant seedlings and assemble a small hydroponic system; 11. The same 20+ students returned to learn how to build a compost frame, assemble a worm composting system and make worm tea fertilizer; 12. 22 members of a 4H gardening club from Kapolei rotated through 4 learning centers taught by FETCH interns on their farm. They learned aspects of human nutrition, farm planning, integrated pest management, plant nutrient deficiencies and aquaponics; 13. 12 Mid Pacific Institute students learned the science behind hydroponics and aquaponics systems. FETCH, teen interns then attended the Mid-Pac students' event in which they presented their table-top aquaponics systems; 14. 30 Mid-Pac students from the eXplorations program learned how to set up aquaponics systems; transplant seelings into a cinder bed; set up a seedling nursery and plant perennials in a permaculture, food forest; 15. FETCH teen interns led youth through clearing, mulching and planting a fruit tree orchard; 16. FETCH interns led participants through clearing and planting a second band of the orchard, above. 17. FETCH interns helped other youth at a fieldtrip and campout at Koa Ridge Ranc. The students pitched tents, built fires, cooked, groomed and cared for horses; rode horses; observed horse shoeing and veterinarian services. 18. On a second fieldtrip/campout, FETCH interns helped other youth clean, cook, ride horses, make fishing poles, hike, fish and plan and carry out campfire activities. 19. FETCH teen interns helped other youth at a fieldtrip to a Makaha farm. They engaged in traditional methods of planting, harvesting, pounding poi, churning butter and making mats and hats. They planted taro. 20. 12 members of a Kapolei 4H club visited the youth farm and rotated through 4 learning centers taught by teen interns: integrated pest management, aquaponics, lab science and cooking from the garden; FETCH teen interns led activities at 5 other community-service, PermaBlitz events at families' home gardens in the community. Each PermaBlitz involved 12-20 learners. 21. At the first PermaBlitz, they cleared, tilled, amended and shaped rows to form a garden plot; 22. at the second, they helped build a garden enclosure and trellis and weeded, tilled, amended soil and planted seedlings; 24. at the third PermaBlitz, they built a composting frame from split bamboo; planted a banana circle; removed dead trees and built a kitchen garden; 25. At a fourth PermaBlitz, teen interns helped family members build a composting frame; remove invasive vines and mulch vegetation. Changes/Problems: We found we needed to change our primary site of operation from a rural site in Waimanalo, to an urban site (the Magoon Agricultural Research Station in Manoa). Construction of a covered meeting place, a farm structure, was blocked due to insurance and liability concerns. We quickly established an alternate site--renovating an existing classroom and building the farm with youth on this research station. We have worked hard in the past year to find a rural site on which to build a permaculture food forest/tropical orchards on "non-arable" land that will provide fruits and perennial vegetables for CSA baskets, grown and sold by youth. We plan to develop this site on the North Shore in the summer of 2014, and to open field trip opportunities for rural schools in the area. During the reporting period, we developed three forms of "field trip" dissemination of agricultural methods by youth: 1) field trips in which classes and groups come to the farm or sustainable energy house; 2) field trips in which the FETCH teen interns go to a school to meet with younger students there and to advise them on how to build their school garden or a CSA farm; and 3) PermaBlitz events in which teens and other youth volunteer their expertise and labor at events in which a group works together to jump-start a family's garden, orchard or aquaponics system. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Our sustainable agriculture youth and family programs employ undergraduate and graduate students from CTAHR, as well as interns and practicum students from both agricultural and social services disciplines. Workers receive 15 hours of training at the beginning of each semester in both the science content and in teaching and mentoring teens and their families. Workers are supervised weekly in a one hour, group supervision meeting focusing on mentor/mentee relationships and teaching methods. University students gain experience teaching and mentoring as well as presenting agricultural knowledge to the public. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Results have been disseminated through weekly newsletters to participating youth and their families; summary reports to the participating schools; workshop presentations; newspaper articles on the projects; presentations to participating and related groups. Approximately 10 PowerPoint presentations were made to academic and lay audiences in the reporting period. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? In the next reporting period, teen interns will directly guide organic farm training at one Hawaiian-focused school, Halau Ku Mana. Teen interns will work with younger students at their school, to help them develop their own sustainable, school garden, modeled after the FETCH/UH youth CSA farm. Teen interns will also focus on research methods as they develop and present science fair projects and teach these methods to younger students as well. In addition, we plan to open a rural, CSA farm site on the North Shore of Oahu. This will enable us to serve rural intermediate and high schools in that area.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Parents completed pre- and post-program questionnaires concerning their children. Analyses revealed: 1) improved academic/school engagement in terms of youths' interest in intermediate and high school science classes; 2) improved grades of participating youth; 3) improved school conduct (e.g., discipline, attendance) of participating youth; 4) improved scores on school-administered standardized science and math tests of participating youth. Statistically significant improvements were: 1) increased willingness on teen's part to eat healthy meals; 2) increased interest and participation in science and nature related activities; increased sense of initiative; increased sense that the family is living a healthy lifestyle; Improvement in the resolution of differences in the family. Improvements were also noted in: 1) the teen's science grades; 2) regular completion of homework; 3) interest in growing plants; 4) interest in construction; 5) performance on standard science tests at school; 6) engagement in learning; 8) cooperation with adults; 9) cooperation with peers; 10) passion for some interest or activity; 11) reduced level of conflict in the family; 12) overall performance at school; 13) reduction in amount of trouble the child is in; 14) improved interaction with peers, teachers and parents; and 14) parent's confidence that the child will have a good life. Other accomplishments, such as activities, events, curricula, lay-person guides and implementation and lab manuals, have been listed in other sections, above.
Publications
- Type:
Books
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Sustainable, organic farming by youth. Ex Libris Publishing Company
- Type:
Books
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Cooking with the family from the garden. Ex Libris Publishing Company
- Type:
Books
Status:
Submitted
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Laboratory and Field-trip manual for Sustainable, organic farming by youth. Ex Libris Publishing Company
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
The power of 'belonging by contributing' for families. North American Society of Adlerian Psychology conference, San Diego, CA, June 20-23, 2013
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
The power of 'belonging by contributing' for youth. Poster presentation at the NASAP conferences, San Diego, CA, June 20-23, 2013.
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