Progress 09/01/15 to 08/31/20
Outputs
Target Audience:We reached several primary and secondary target audiences during the reporting period from September 1, 2019through August 31, 2020. Primary Audience 1. We have been successful in reaching adolescents and young adults in our community on the southside of Columbus, Ohio. The selected community is a high context community with high rates of poverty, substance abuse, and violence. The Urban GEMS program is becoming known throughout the larger community as people learn about the opportunities for growth we provide to teenagers to do something positive for their community. Primary Audience 2. In terms of our school-based audience, we worked closely with the middle school students who express an interest in enrolling in the Urban GEMS "special" twice weekly. Initially, we started with the 8th-grade class at the Millennium Community School (MCS) (initially 34 students). By the second year, the 6th and 7th-grade students were asked if they could join the program. We added another section of the class and moved enrolled from mandatory for all 8th-grade students to demonstrate your interest selection process. The entire student body at the school has beenexposed to the Urban GEMS project through the placement of indoor vertical aeroponic gardens in the school cafeteria, lobby, 5th-grade class, and middle school science room. The food production in the cafeteria is visible to all parents and visitors to the school. The students even sold their produce at a monthly African culture market starting in 2019. We provided Urban GEMS for a summer camp that was hosted at MCS during the summer of 2020. We pivoted our instruction methods to teach the youth virtually via Zoom, grow-at-home kits, and later social distance in-class small groups. Forty families got grow kits. Primary Audience 3. We established an Urban GEMS exploratory club at three public urban high schools that are the neighborhood schools for our geography area. Science students have been growing food in their classroom at one high school for the past four months under the guidance of the classroom teacher and Urban GEMS staff. Students who are interested in gardening and entrepreneurship have been engaged at the other high school. The tower gardens were set up in the conference room area with visibility to visitors and students. Secondary Audience 1. We continue to work with community stakeholders and parents through the Urban GEMS advisory board. The Advisory Board consists of about 30 adult members with the leadership team from both community sites sending 3-6 youth representatives to each quarterly meeting. Secondary Audience 2. The OSU student community has been engaged for the past few years in exciting ways. We had several groups of students engaged in volunteer service-learning projects and an engineering design project. Secondary Audience 3. We have provided food for those in need and youth-led educational workshops on healthy living. Our youth planned and implemented quarterly service projects to provide food for disabled seniors by setting up a food give-away market in their residential space. Secondary Audience 4. We have been asked to join several networks of food production and positive youth development programs across the country. We share our knowledge whenever possible. Exhibiting a large science exhibit and the Ohio State fair also expanded the reach of our message. Changes/Problems:We were having a great year before the pandemic hit. We quickly shifted our mode of instruction to virtual and worked closely with our community partners to figure out how best to keep the youth engaged and learning. We were unable to hire the typical summer crew of undergraduate assistants who would supervise food production, marketing, and sales as well as work with the teens in the program. All in-person activities shut down abruptly on March 14th. On March 11th, the students at MCS had planted hundreds of seeds in soil-blocks that they made as part of the lesson on sustainable square-foot gardening. We would have grown the seedlings at the school under lights but instead, I took all of the plastic shoeboxes home and devoted time and energy to nurturing their growth with the hope of being able to return to the school for the late spring/summer gardening season. My basement became a seedling production center. By late April, we had hundreds of large plants ready to be transplanted in the two outdoor garden spaces. We lost all indoor crops at the school when the governor ordered a complete shut down to flatten the COVID-19 curve. Many teens who had been participating at the school site were struggling to show up for school once it went online. We would plan a great lesson and then have two-three students show up. The teachers were having the same problem for the core classes. For some students it was a digital access issue, for others it was a lack of structure/supervision at home as low-income parents were struggling to keep working without the benefit of reliable childcare. We were unable to complete the implementation of the curriculum. Thus, we did not give students a post-test survey for the evaluation. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Seven members of our team attended the CYFAR annual conference in 2019 including two youth. Duringquarantine, the team began reading, watching, and discussing pedagogy for effective distance teaching and learning. Dr. Wilkinson enrolled in several courses, webinars, and workshops to gain competency in technology-enhanced learning. We enrolled in two 20-hour long courses from the Next Level professional development company --both workshops were held over Zoom with a focus on Leadership and Positivity and entrepreneurship. We also took several self-paced courses on Linkedin focusing on student mental health, youth engagement and preventing educational regression. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We make a monthly presentation to our community stakeholders during the M4M 1st Sunday community march and service.Urban GEMS continues to be active on social media with a greater emphasis on connecting with youth rather than advertising to the broader community. More teens are on Instagram, Tick Tock, and YouTube compared to Facebook. The placement of our posts dependson the purpose of our communication. Until the pandemic hit, we continued distributing program brochures to communities of interest as we seek new partnerships, funding sources, and student recruits. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goal 1. Urban GEMS staff used the CYFAR common measures to assess nutritional habits and behaviors.Our analysis of the pre-post data from 179 matched pairs-- reveals that students have gained knowledge about the benefits of healthy eating (t= 5.884 ***). At post-test, 93.1% reported they knew more about healthy eating, 81.3% said the program helped them to eat more fruit, and 63.5% said that it helped them eat more vegetables. Four nutrition items from the common measures showed a significant change in ease of eating fruit for an after-school snack (t =2.332*) and drinking less soda (t=2.463*). Participants reported consuming less soda (t2.086*) and drinking less milk (2.396*) but did not report eating significantly more vegetables or fruit at the post-test. During the program, the youth learned to prepare healthy options from their harvests. Whole fruit, fruit salad, and collard greens were the most liked (89-94%) while dill pickles were liked by 60% of teens who tried them. Urban GEMS participants put together and sold a cookbook of 26 recipes that featured vegetables they grew. They showcased their knowledgeby finding recipes that were tasty plant-based dishes low in salt and bad fats. Ourteam grew and distributed approximately 5,000 pounds of leafy greens and vegetables over the five years of CYFAR funding. In year 5, 90 participants began growing their own fresh vegetables with "Grow-at-home" Urban GEMS provided. Goal 2. GEMS participants made gains in their perception of the desirability to attend college, their interest in learning, but no measured change in school engagement outside of GEMS activities was seen. One encouraging outcome that we found is a significant increase in persistence for educational pursuits -(Duckworth, 2015). Youth participants in year 3-5, had many opportunities to chat with college students and work through the growth mindset activities to set SMART goals in the education domain.Most students made visible gains in self-confidence, public speaking, and working cooperatively with others in a team situation. Goal 3. GEMS youth had many experiencesconnecting with caring adults during the program. The youth had the benefit of learning with 19 OSU undergraduate students who volunteered with Urban GEMS as part of a service-learning course Dr. Wilkinson taught. The OSU students volunteered at various times throughout the year to mentor and guide the GEMS participants. Project assistants worked closely with the PI and project coordinator to get to know and develop a network of caring around each youth. Participantshad opportunities to teach workshops to adults, workshops to other teens, do direct sales and marketing, and help in neighborhood gardening projects when volunteers were needed. Youth also have had the opportunity to get to know other farmers who market their products at the various farmer's market events we attend. Participants reported a significant improvement in neighbors noticing and acknowledging when a youth is doing a good job (t=2.745**). Goal 4. GEMS youth have become very knowledgeable about gardening in aeroponic systems, using the square foot gardening method, and growing vertical outdoor soil-based towers. Participants are able to explain how the Tower Garden works from initial set up, maintaining Ph and nutrient levels, harvesting effectively to promote more growth, managing pests, accessing crop lifecycle stages, and proper cleaning of equipment for the next crop cycle. Youth "teach" interested visitors about how they grow food. Youth can explain the difference between growing in soil and growing with aeroponic methods. They have learned which vegetables and fruit are most appropriate for each garden type.Youth demonstrated specific competencies in each of the eight facets. When asked about what they know and what they can do, most participants either strongly or somewhat agreed they were competent and knowledgeable. Eighty-two percent reported they agreed (strongly or somewhat) that "If someone needed my help setting up a Tower GardenTM I could show them." About 56% reported strongly agreeing they knew how to check the water levels and add water/nutrients with 44.4% somewhat agreeing. About 73% reported strongly agreeing they know what pH is and how to test for it. About 74% reported strongly agreeing with the statement "I know that the crops use light, water, air, and nutrients to grow" and 12% somewhat agreed. Close to 89% reported they strongly agreed "I know how to safely harvest food from the Tower Garden." Most youth (63%) agreed strongly that they understand the basic science behind gardening (25% somewhat agreed). The youth felt most confident about food safety in packaging with 78% reporting strong agreement. All participants reported knowing the importance of handwashing for food safety. 78% reported strong agreement that record-keeping related to crop production is critical for business success. When asked hypothetically if a student could give a 3-5 speech about Urban GEMS without any programs or issues 88% agreed. Mostparticipantsreported strong agreement regarding recommending Urban GEMS to a close friend. And finally, 89% reported they would want to stay involved in GEMS in the future. Goal 5. In years 4-5, our youth-focused on two issues--the benefits of plant-based diets for reducing health disparities among African Americans compared to whites. Youth have made oral presentations, posters, flyers, and newsletter articles to share their knowledge about healthy eating and healthy living. They have recorded video messages for social media to promote eating leafy greens and avoiding junk food and drink. They have also taken these messages seriously by reducing soda intake. RHH4L youth participated in the 12th annual National African American Male Wellness Walk. Goal 6. Youth at RHH4L have continued to implement workshops with community adults to encourage healthy eating habits and beginning tough conversations related to obesity-related health problems within the church community. Youth worked with OSU students majoring in nutrition and pre-med to research topics of interest to them in developing solution-based strategies for community change. Goal 7. We have noticed participants respect and appreciate the Parsons farm space as a safe teen space. Youth continue to use information technology to input and analyze data for decision-making. We have continued to teach engineering design for problem-solving -we built "grow-at-home kits" for 40 families. Youth have continued to learn virtually, stay engaged with Tiffany through Zoom calls, texts, facetime calls, and social media updates. They enjoy sharing photos of their garden progress, plan preparation, and cooking successes. Before the pandemic forced us to be distant youth were tracking their workflow activities in a team management software application. Goal 8. We tracked food production on the Tower Gardens and the outdoor raised-bed and vertical gardens during the reporting period although not all months were tracked. In year 5, we gave food to families experiencing food insecurity. Youth were offered healthy fresh vegetables and fruits during our weekly programming at RHH4L. Twenty-six youth had the experience of setting up and selling our crops at a local farmer's market during the summers of 2017, 2018, and 2019. We have set up the farms to be welcoming spaces for youth and have made sure they understand that the plants depend on them for care. Goal 9. We have not tracked this goal. Goal 10. Since our first cohort started in 2016, we have seen 100% success with older teens graduating from high school.We are in touch with eight youth who have or are currently attending college. Many participants were 8th graders in AY17-18 with an anticipated 2021 high school graduation date. Unfortunately, one former student was murdered this year.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Wilkinson, D.L, Groce, T., and Gaither, T.J., The Urban GEMS Evaluation Results. OSU EHE Research Forum. February 13.
|
Progress 09/01/18 to 08/31/19
Outputs
Target Audience:We reached several primary and secondary target audiences during the reporting period September 1, 2018 through May 6, 2019. Primary Audience 1. We have been successful in reaching adolescents and young adults in our community on the southside of Columbus, Ohio. The selected community is a high context community with high rates of poverty, substance abuse, and violence. The Urban GEMS program is becoming known throughout the larger community as people learn about the opportunities for growth we provide to teenagers to do something positive for their community. Primary Audience 2. In terms of our school-based audience we worked closely with the entire 8th grade class at the Millennium Community School (initially 34 students). The entire student body of 603 at the school was exposed to the Urban GEMS project through the placement of indoor vertical aeroponic gardens in the school cafetria, lobby, 5th grade class, and middle schoolscience room. The food production in the cafetria was visible to all parents and visitors to the school. The students even sold their produce at a monthly African culture market starting in 2019. Primary Audience 3. We established an Urban GEMS exploratory club at two public urban high schools that are the neighborhood schools for our geography area. Science students have been growing food in their classroom at one high school for the past four months under the guidance of the classroom teacher and Urban GEMS staff. Students who are interested in gardening and entrepreneurship have been engaged at the other high school. The tower gardens were set up in the conference room area with visibility to visitors and students. Secondary Audience 1. We continue to work with community stakeholders and parents through the Urban GEMS advisory board. The Advisory Board consists of 34 adultmembers with the leadership team from both community sites sending 3-6 youth representatives to each quarterly meeting. Secondary Audience 2. The OSU student community has been engaged this year in new and exciting ways. We had several groups of students engaged in volunteer service-learning projects and an engineering design project. Secondary Audience 3. We have provided food for those need and youth-led educational workshops on healthy living. Our youth planned a service project to provide food for disabled seniors by setting up a food give-away market in their residential space. Secondary Audience 4. We have been asked to join several networks of food production and positive youth development programs across the country. We share our knowledge whenever possible. Changes/Problems:We had no major problems in year 4 although we did not reach our targeted number of participants. The number of participants at the Millennium Community School was lower due to the size of the 8th grade class this year (down to 33 from 45). We were only able to get parental consent for 25 of those students and at least 3 left the school since the beginning of the year (therefore won't be available for our scheduled post-test next week). We will open Urban GEMS to 7th and 8th graders next year in an effort to reach our 60 student goal. Our CYFAR coach suggested to revise our goal to 40 youth. We hesistate to do so as we can see that many younger students at MCS are interested but have not been afforded the opportunity. It seems that the gardening and entrepreneurship activities we do in Urban GEMS appeal to children of all ages. We are committed to working with teens rather than younger children because research and experience show that opportunities for low- or no-cost positive youth development become scarce once a child reaches age 13. At our RHH4L site, we have experienced a turnover in the project coordinator position which resulted in less participation for several months until we found a new coordinator. The good news is that Urban GEMS played an important role in the professional development of Fainisha Hampton (community educator) which helped her to secure a full-time professional community outreach health advocate position. The OSU team including project coordinator Tiffany Groce (community educator) filled in to keep the program going but was not able to devote the neccesary time to outreach and recruiting. We hired a recent college graduate from the community who also works as a counselor for teens placed at high risk. Throughout the academic year, we consistently had 12 preteens and teens participate. We see the same issue of greater interest among families with children under age 10 and more difficulty sustaining the availability of preteens and teens.We have come to recognize that teens are interested in the program but they are also interested in earning money by having a job. We have greater success in keeping teens engaged in our Urban GEMS Youth Work program as they are "paid" a small stipend for their time each week. They have to show up and participate fully to receive the stipend. We know from talking with parents that the money helps the families because teens can pay for some of their own expenses and earning money through their effort promotes self-efficacy. Adding three new program sites will spread our team pretty thin but also force us to streamline our implementation so that others can implement the Facets Curriculum without extensive involvement from a dedicated OSU Urban GEMS staff. The partnerships we have nurtured can be used to expand the reach of 4-H and other extension programming. We need to figure out how to integrate Urban GEMS into OSU extension effectively while maintaining the qualities that have made the program successful thus far (community partnership focused and research driven). What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Four members of our team attended the CYFAR annual conference in 2018. Twenty-six staff members and volunteers were trained in the Urban GEMS Facets curriculum including the use of technology such as Google Classroom, Nearpod, and the Urban GEMS mobile app for lesson delivery and academic enrichment to improve student outcomes. Staff were encourged to participate in CYFAR webinars. The Project Director presented in one CYFAR networking webinar. Staff received training in human subjects protection, sexual harrassment, culturally responsive teaching, the OSU minor policy, and protecting institutional data. The team worked together to co-author posters and are working on a few journal articles. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Urban GEMS continues to be very active on social media. OSU undergraduate students took over posting and maintaining our social media presence. The undergraduates made progress on growing our Instagram presence. We continue to update our Urban GEMS website to keep the information available on the program current. We have distributed newsletters to people who follow us on social media or via email list. We continue distributing program brochures to communities of interest as we seek new partnerships, funding sources, and student recruits.The program has received attention from local television, newspapers, and a national TV network. We have been active in publishing an article, teaching a webinar, and presenting an Ignite session at a national community engagement conference. We have made presentations to the community via a community health fair (audience was central Ohio families), a science festival (attracted an estimated 30,000 visitors), and a summer community resource fair (organized at an urban high school for students). The best dissemination about Urban GEMS comes from our youth. They have helped to promote the program with friends and potential partners alike. Our educational garden at the Millennium Community School won the 2018 Franklin Park Conservatory Growing to Green Education Garden of the Year Award and Ty'Keice Cox, a 16-year old GEMS leader won the 2018 Youth Leader of the Year award. We also were recognized in the category of higher education contributions by the Social Justice awards in 2019. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Building on our progress in Years 1-4 and remaining mostly consistent with our original implementation timeline, our plans Year 5 build on what worked previously. We will implement Urban GEMS with approximately 30-40 students at the Millennium Community School holding classes twice weekly throughout the academic year. We will work with 15-20 additional MCS youth during the summer of 2019. We will implement Urban GEMS at RHH4L with 30-40 students during the summers of 2019 and 2020. Some of these youth have been involved in Urban GEMS since the beginning. We will be able to report on the long-term benefits of Urban GEMS participation by analyzing the survey responses of those youth overtime.We have timed our project-based learning activities to the growing cycle of vegetables and fruits growing in three formats: indoor vertical aeroponic gardening, outdoor vertical gardening, and outdoor raised-bed gardening. Youth have been and will continue to be engaged in multiple ways of using the food they are growing to solve problems facing their community. Our experiences with selling the produce we grow at the farmer's market has opened another avenue for youth and community engagement. Representing Urban GEMS and telling the Urban GEMS story has also become an essential part of what youth find most rewarding about participating in the program. Urban GEMS youth write a newsletter--GEMS News BEET--online at https://urbangems.ehe.osu.edu/student-blog/. We also plan to implement Urban GEMS in two Columbus City School high schools. We ran an exploratory Urban GEMS club in each of these schools in 2019 and garnered much student interest. We look forward to building out the full program at the high school level in Year 5. We have several other schools and community agencies interested in becomiing an Urban GEMS implementation site. One of our youth leaders has convinced his charter high school to partner with Urban GEMS. We will begin an exploratory Urban GEMS club there starting in the fall. We are in the process of publishing our Facets curriculum so that it can be widely disseminated to others for replication. We will work in Year 5, to establish Urban GEMS clubs in various locations as non-traditional 4-H clubs. We have begun the process of doing this by attending a training at our local county extension office but need to continue down this path. We will devote time toward networking with extension professionals in other urban counties in Ohio and other states with an interest in expanding our reach. We are confident that we have the right relationships in place and have gained knowledge and expertise in vertical gardening and entrepreneurship. Although five years seems like a long time, it goes by quickly. We have gone from a simple idea to a thriving positive youth development program that has been recognized in our local community as an important and meaningful resource to the community. In year 5, we will devote time to grant writing and development for sustainability, advisory board engagement; staff training and support career development; youth recruitment and retention; curriculum implementation; building up our capacity to become a small business; evaluation data collection and formative assessment for continuous quality improvement; and, finally reporting and dissemination.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goal 1. As we implement the Urban GEMS program we are tracking student growth and learning. The first cohort reported positive gains as reported earlier. Our preliminary analysis of the pre-post data from year 3 - 53 matched pairs-- reveals that students have gained knowledge about the benefits of healthy eating but did not report eating more vegetables or fruit at post-test compared to the pre-test. There is encouraging evidence that students have made signifcant knowledge gains. Youth demonstrate specific competencies in each of the eight facets. When asked about what they know and what they can do, the majority of participants either strongly or somewhat agreed they were competent and knowledgeable. Seventy-eight percent reported they strongly agreed that "If someone needed my help setting up a Tower Garden I could show them" and 22% reported they somewhat agreed. About 56% reported strongly agreeing they knew how to check the water levels and add water/nutrients with 44.4% somewhat agreeing. About 78% reported strongly agreeing they know what pH is and how to test for it. About 56% reported strongly agreeing with the statement "I know that the crops use light, water, air and nutrients to grow" and 33% somewhat agreed. Close to 89% reported they strongly agreed "I know how to safely harvest food from the Tower Garden." Most youth (63%) agreed strongly that they understand the basic science behind gardening (25% somewhat agreed). Youth felt most confidence about food safety in packaging with 78% reporting strong agreement. All participants reported knowing importance of hand washing for food safety. 78% reported strong agreement that record keeping related to crop production is critical for business success. When asked hypothetically if a student could give a 3-5 speech about Urban GEMS without any programs or issues 44% strongly agreed and 44% somewhat agreed. All participants in reported strong agreement that he/she would recommend Urban GEMS to a close friend. And finally, 89% reported they would want to stay involved in GEMS in the future. Goal 2. The survey results showed that GEMS participants made gains in their perception of the desirability to attend college, their interest in learning, but no measured change in school engagement outside of GEMS activities was seen. Youth participants in year 3, had many opportunities to chat with college students and work through the growth mindset activities to set SMART goals in the education area of their development. Year 3 data show that increases in students positive attitudes toward science though the differences were not statistically significant. Most students made visible gains in self-confidence, public speaking, and working cooperatively with others in a team situation. Goal 3. GEMS youth had a wide range of opportunities and experiences connecting with caring adults during the program. Youth had that benefit from learning along side nineteen OSU undergraduate students who completed service learning projects on the southside of Columbus. The OSU students volunteered at various times throughout the year to mentor and guide the GEMS participants. Project assistants worked closely with the PI and project coordinator to get to know and develop a network of caring around each youth. Participants had opportunities to teach workshops to adults, workshops to other teens, do direct sales and marketing, and help in neighborhood gardening projects when volunteers were needed. About eleven GEMS participants helped to host a networking event at our farm that was attended by Dr. Williams. Youth also have had the opportunity to get to know other farmers who market their products at the various farmer's market events we attend. Goal 4. GEMS youth have become very knowledgible about gardening in aeroponic systems, using the square foot gardening method, and growing vertical outdoor soil-based towers. Participants are able to explain how the Tower Garden works from initial set up, maintaining Ph and nutrient levels, harvesting effectively to promote more growth, managing pests, accessing crop lifecylce stages, and proper cleaning of equipment for the next crop cycle. Youth "teach" the interested guests and visitors about how they grow food. Youth can explain the difference between growing in soil and growing with aeroponic methods. They have learned which vegetables and fruit are most appropriate for each production type. Goal 5. In year 4, our youth focused on two issues--the benefits of plant-based diets for reducing health disparities among African Americans compared to whites. Youth have made oral presentations, posters, flyers, and newsletter articles to share their knowledge about healthy eating and healthy living. They have recorded video messages for social media to promote eating leafy greens and avoiding junk food and drink. Goal 6. Youth at RHH4L have continued to implement workshops with community adults to encourage healthy eating habits and beginning tough conversations related to obesity-related health problems within the church community. Youth worked with OSU students majoring in nutrition and pre-med to research topics of interest to them in developing solution-based strategies for community change. Goal 7. We lead youth through the facets curriculum focusing on building 21st century skills. GEMS youth are encouraged to voice their opinions and take on leadership tasks. They learn to communicate effectively with the program staff and volunteers. Although many adolescents prefer to spend time with other adolescents they seem to enjoy the attention and opportunities provided by the GEMS team. We are training the youth to understand the value and applications of data for decision-making. We are engaging them in engineering design problems. We are engaging them in healthy meal planning and preparation. They are gaining experience working in project management software. Goal 8. We tracked food production on the Tower Gardens and the outdoor raised-bed and vertical gardens during reporting period although not all months were tracked. With a total of 62 Towers placed for growing by the end of August 2018, we produced a large quantity of food. Although we had a formula for distribution -60% sales, 40% donation. We did not have the personnel dedicated to sales and marketing. We sold about 15% of what we grew in Year 4. We learned quickly that building a CSA customer base when operating in a high poverty area is challenging. Although we would love to sell our produce to the target audience on the southside we need to have personnel in place for sales and customer relations. It is not a duty that can be handled by the youth or the program implementation team. Youth were offered healthy fresh vegetables and fruits during our weekly programming at RHH4L. They learned to make salads, pesto, salsa, cacciatore, smoothies, and stir fries from the food growing in our gardens. Twenty-six youth had the experience of setting up and selling our crops at a local farmer's market during the summer of 2018. We collected $1328 in donations from sales at the farmer's market. We sold another $612 to individual customers who placed orders for one or more weeks -September-April. The two larger growing sites that we call our "farms" has helped with improving program implementation and food production. Bringing the youth to the farms seems to create a new type of opportunity for engaging them. We have set up the farms to be welcoming spaces for youth and have made sure they understand that the plants depend on them for care. Goal 9. We have not tracked this goal. Goal 10. Since our first cohort started in 2016, we have had fourteen youth graduate from high school. We are in touch with six youth who are currently attending college or planning to attend starting in the fall of 2019.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Wilkinson, D.L. and Carroll, J.B. Inclusive scholarship: Extension program participants as poster co-authors. Journal of Extension.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Wilkinson, D.L. Successful strategies for working with urban teens: Urban GEMS. OSU Community Engagement Conference. Ignite Session. January 23. Columbus, Ohio.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Wilkinson, D.L, Groce, T., Hammond, K., August, E., Mattern, S., OHara, M. Beaver, M., and Connelly, L. Urban GEMS: Growing Pathways to Success for Urban Teens. OSU EHE Research Forum. February 14.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Wilkinson, D.L., Cisneros, W., Croarkin, S., Gaither, T.J., Midtlien, H., Murray, D., and Gooch, K.J. Urban Farming Device for Youth Development BME Senior design project. OSU EHE Research Forum. February 14.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Growing Healthier Lives: Urban GEMS teaches inner city kids critical life skills. https://insights.osu.edu/life/youth-urban-farming
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Wilkinson, D.L. CYFAR network program highlight: Urban GEMS. Webinar. CYFAR PDT network. March 2019.
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Progress 09/01/17 to 08/31/18
Outputs
Target Audience:We reached several primary and secondary target audiences during the reporting period September 1, 2017 through June 20, 2018. Primary Audience 1. We are currently engaging a new cohort of youth at the Reaching Higher Heights 4-Life implementation site during their 7 week summer day camp. There are a total of 90 children enrolled in the camp this year. Urban GEMS is being implemented twice weekly with the 35 youth ages 10 and up and once weekly with the 55 children 9 years of age and under. During the 2017-2018 academic year a total of 23 youth participated at the RHH4L site in weekly Urban GEMS activities. Fourteen youth had near perfect attendance with 9 other youth attending intermittently throughout the year. Primary Audience 2. We successfully introduced Urban GEMS at our new school implementation site to the entire 8th grade class (initially 44 students). The entire student body of 603 at the school was exposed to the Urban GEMS project through the placement of indoor vertical aeroponic gardens in the school cafetria, lobby, 5th grade class, and middle school science room. We got parental permission and youth assent from 32 students for the evaluation component of our work. All youth at the site were participated in the program activities even if they refused to participate in the evaluation. Urban GEMS was integrated into the 8th grade curriculum as a "specials" elective course. Primary Audience 3. We established an indoor aeroponic mini-farm in rental space as part of our effort to create a small business and workforce development program for urban teens. We worked closely with 32 urban youth in this program. Secondary Audience 1. We successfully engaged community stakeholders and parents in joining and supporting the Urban GEMS program through active participation in the Urban GEMS advisory board. The Advisory Board consists of 34 adult members with the leadership team from both community sites sending 3-6 youth representatives to each quarterly meeting. Secondary Audience 2. As we begin to establish the Urban GEMS program in the community we have started reaching out to community leaders, college students interested in volunterring, and other potential funders. In September 2017, the Urban GEMS program was recognized with two awards from the Franklin Park Conservatory Growing to Green board. The local gardening community has been very impressed with the work that we have been doing and all that we have accomplished in a short time. We started selling our produce again at the Conservatory's farmer's market in early June 2018. Our team has made presentations at local and regional audiences. We also were featured on the Big Ten Network for their LiveBig series. The one minute feature was broadcast on the BTN beginning on December 24, 2017 to households across the world who have BTN. http://btn.com/2017/12/24/growing-hope-and-opportunity-with-ohio-states-urban-gems-btn-livebig/ Changes/Problems:Dr. Meadows was not able to be involved in year 3 due to her fellowship. She is not available in year 4 so she has been removed from the team. We have not experienced any major problems this year. We would like to get the overall number of youth who complete the pre- and post-test survey up closer to 100 (40 at site 1; and 60 at site 2). Some families just simply do not want their children to participate in the evaluation study. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Five members of our team attended the CYFAR annual conference in 2018. Six staff members and volunteers were trained in the basic Urban GEMS curriculum including the use of technology such as Google Classroom, Nearpod, and the Urban GEMS mobile app for lesson delivery and academic enrichment to improve student outcomes. Staff were encourged to participate in CYFAR webinars. Several team members participated in one or more CYFAR webinars. Staff received training in human subjects protection, the OSU minor policy, and protecting institutional data. Two staff members and a youth leader were interviewed for the OSU student newspaper. Staff and students had the opportunity to have their work filmed by the Big Ten Network for a 1 minute video feature on the Urban GEMS program. The team presented a scholarly poster that was co-authored by 12 partners including four young people. Our full-time project assistant has gone through the HR goal setting and professional development review process. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have made several presentations to communities of interest including a food summit held at the local conservatory, an OSU outreach and engagement conference, the school community, the church community, and the advisory board. We continue to be very active on social media. The program feature on the Big Ten Network LiveBig series was broadcast world-wide in a rotation of program features. We have made a number of informal presentations to community stakeholders who are interested in supporting our work or replicating in some way. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Year 3 was a good year in terms of developing our team at new site and honing aspects of the curriculum for improved implementation. We plan to continue to implement our program in the same sites for year 4 with an eye toward overall quality improvement. We will also make at least one expansion into a local public high school with the hope of working with about a dozen teens in partnership with the 10th grade biology teacher. We will continue to recruit new youth as well as continue to nurture and engage youth who have been involved since the beginning.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
What was accomplished under these goals? In year 3, we refined our curriculum based on what was learned during year 2. We modified our lesson plans for middle schoolers rather than high schoolers. We presented a total of 108 lessons over a 36-week period at our school site and 34 lessons over a 36-week period at our community after school program site. We worked steadily and actively to make progress on each of these goals. Our most objective evidence come from the pre- and post-test evaulation data. The inputs and results are described below for each goal. Goal 1. We have not completed data analysis of the cohorts engaged in year 3 at this point in time. We just recently finished up post-test data collection. We are in the process of cleaning and analyzing cohort 2 pre- and post-test day. We have scheduled July and August 2018 as data analysis and journal writing tasks. Cohort 1 at RHH4L improved their knowledge of nutrition and made changes to their consumption of fruits and vegetables. Findings (pre-test to post-test) •11% increase in # of youth who eat 2 or more fruit each day •51.7% increased fruit consumption •62% plan to keep eating fruit •9% increase in # of youth who eat 3 or more vegetables each day •51.7% increased veggie consumption •55.1% plan to keep eating veggies •44.8% improved knowledge of heathy eating •51.7% plan to use new cooking skills We have completed analysis of the Urban GEMS Youth Work program which builds from the original Urban GEMS program. Urban GEMS Youth Work engages urban youth, who reside in some of the unhealthiest neighborhoods in Columbus, Ohio to grow their own food and futures guided by caring mentors. Youth are eligible for this program after they have successfully completed at least 16 weeks in the Urban GEMS program. We have worked with 32 participants to date. Most are female (62.5%), Black or African American (84.4%) or biracial (13.6%), and 13.6 years old on average (range 11-18). Some of the promising findings include: 38% increased fruit consumption 81% plan to keep eating fruit 76% increased vegetable consumption 81% plan to keep eating veggies 71% improved knowledge of heathy eating 81% plan to use new cooking skills The Urban GEMS team has worked very hard to get to know each intern as is necessary for effective educational practice. We grow over 140 pounds of leafy greens each month. School and community support for Urban GEMS has been outstanding. Each cohort helps to build our future. Goal 2. The survey results showed that Urban GEMS participants made gains in their perception of the desirability to attend college, their interest in learning, but no measured change in school engagement outside of Urban GEMS activities was seen. Goal 3. Youth who have participated in the Urban GEMS farmer market sales and the advisory board have benefitted from making new connections with professionals. Youth have also been invited to share their knowledage and perspectives with others as people learn about the program. Goal 4. Urban GEMS youth have become very knowledgible about gardening in aeroponic systems and using the square foot gardening method. Participants are able to explain how the Tower Garden works from initial set up, maintaining Ph and nutrient levels, and harvesting effectively to promote more growth. Youth "teach" the adult advisory board members and interested visitors about their knowledge during our monthly meetings. Youth can explain the difference between growing in soil and growing with aeroponic methods. They have learned which vegetables and fruit are most appropriate for each production type. Goal 5. Youth have made posters, flyers, and a newsletter to share their knowledge about healthy eating and healthy living. They have recorded video messages for social media to promote eating leafy greens and avoiding junk food. Goal 6. Youth at RHH4L have developed a plan for addressing obesity related health problems within the church community. Youth made a presentation to approximately 35 community members during a monthly community "chat and chew" workshop in March 2018. They explained the benefits of eating whole foods, shared salads they had grown and prepared with community adults, and demonstrated their command of technology and the healthier ways facts. Goal 7.The youth involved in Urban GEMS have improved their capacity as leaders in multiple ways. Throughout the year we have observed their growth as leaders as they demonstrate new capabilities for public speaking to large audiences, leading meetings, interacting with adult advisors, public speaking as knowledgible young people, and increasing their willingness to work with others in teams. Youth have taken on leadership roles in preparing healthy salads, smoothies, and wraps for community gathering at the request of adult advisors. Goal 8. We tracked food production on the Tower Gardens and the outdoor raised-bed gardens reporting period although not all months were tracked. We have continued to work to improve our crop production data collection methods. Each system we have tried during year 3 seemed to work somewhat but was not perfect. We keep improving. Our goal is youth-empowerment rather than adults doing the bulk of the work to make the process go perfectly. For the 2018 outdoor growing season we have all of our crops mapped out and have steps in place to get accurate measurement of our productivity. We have specifc data analysis lessons embedded into the curriculum. This strategy has been helpful in the indoor growing work. Youth were offered healthy fresh vegetables and fruits during our weekly programming at RHH4L and MCS. They learned to make salads, smoothies, and stir fries from the food growing on the Towers. They created a Cookbook with 26 recipes featuring their crops. We have already engaged 19 youth in setting up and selling our crops at a local farmer's market during the early 2018 farmer's market season. Youth also set up markets at several commuity events in partnership with other organizations. So far in 2018, we have collected $371 in donations from sales at the farmer's market -4 events. We have 10 markets remaining for the summer season and plans to sell at an indoor market throughout the fall and winter. Goal 9. We have not tracked this goal. Goal 10. There were positive but non-significant changes in Cohort 1's workforce readiness measures. Feedback from adults who interact with our youth at the farmer's markets and community events have focused on their passion and professionalism. Adult volunteers and experts who come in to assist or provide expertise have also reflected on how great the youth are doing in the program.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Wilkinson, D.L., Tiffany Groce, Frederick LaMarr, Tijuana Russell, Cecil Brown, Jerry Saunders, Bob Leighty, Megan Beaver,* Nasir Groce,* Sanyika March,* Jalen Payne,* and Jamal Sanfo.* (2018) Growing the Good with OSU Urban GEMS. OSU Community Engagement Conference. Columbus, Ohio. January 24. *=student authors
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Wilkinson, D.L. (2018). Urban GEMS program snapshot. Forthcoming feature on the Human Sciences at Work website.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Growing hope and opportunity with Ohio State's Urban GEMS: BTN LiveBIG
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Progress 09/01/16 to 08/31/17
Outputs
Target Audience:We reached several primary and secondary target audiences during the reporting period September 1, 2016 through August 31, 2017. Primary Audience 1. At the Reaching Higher Heights 4-Life implementation site the Urban GEMS program served 43 pre-teens/teens and 52 children ages 5-11 years twice weekly during the eight week summer camp 2016. Forty-three youth continued to participate weekly in the Urban GEMS after school program throughout the academic year 2016-17. Pre-test survey data was collected from 22 youth during the spring of 2017 once IRB approval was secured. Additional youth participated sporadically during the year. The Urban GEMS program was even more active in the 2017 RHH4L summer camp. About 50% of youth are continuing their involvement in Urban GEMS for a second summer and we recruited 15 new preteens/teen who participated in the 8-week Urban GEMS summer program after taking the Urban GEMS pre-test survey. We were successful in collecting pre-and post-test data from 32 youth (84.2% retention rate). Primary Audience 2. We recruited and engaged 75 high school students at our initial drop-out recovery charter school implementation site providing students will Urban GEMS lessons twice weekly throughout the autumn semester and through January 2017. Only 18 percentage of these students obtained parental permission to participate in the evaluation portion of the Urban GEMS project (14 students provided pre-test data). We were not able to collect post-test data from this site. Primary Audience 3. We established our new school implementation site during the summer of 2017. The Urban GEMS program is being implemented to all of the 8th grade students in the school and several 7th grade students also participate. During the last two weeks of August our team introduced ourselves and the program and began full scale implementation with 44 students. Secondary Audience 1. We successfully engaged community stakeholders and parents in joining and supporting the Urban GEMS program through active participation in the Urban GEMS advisory board. The Advisory Board consists of 34 adult members with the leadership team from both community sites sending 3-6 youth representatives to each quarterly meeting. Secondary Audience 2. As we begin to establish the Urban GEMS program in the community we have started reaching out to community leaders, college students interested in volunterring, and other potential funders. The Urban GEMS program was recognized with two awards from the Franklin Park Conservatory Growing to Green board. The local gardening community has been very impressed with the work that we have been doing and all that we have accomplished in a short time. Our booth was very popular at the farmer's market during the summer of 2017. Our youth have been invited to make presentations at local and regional conferences. Changes/Problems:We faced a major challenge during year 2 that resulted in terminating a relationship with an implementation site. This situation was previously described and reported to Dr. Williams. Here's a recap: By the beginning of Year 2, we had a major loss in terms of program personnel. The AUS implementation site project director and lead science teacher quit her job with only 5 days before the AY 2016-2017 school year started. Ms. Roe was the subject matter expert at the school. Launching Urban GEMS at AUS without a trained and motivated staff member resulted in a huge burden on the OSU team to get to know the school culture, the students, and challenges of working with the upper administration. The OSU team devoted about 20 hours per week for 16 weeks at the school in an attempt to successfully implement Urban GEMS. We recruited and engaged 75 high school students at our school implementation site providing students will Urban GEMS lessons twice weekly throughout the autumn semester and through January 2017. Only 18 percentage of these students obtained parental permission to participate in the evaluation portion of the Urban GEMS project (14 students provided pre-test data). Sporadic attendance, poor support from the school, and a lack of structure made it difficult to predict what would happen from day to day at the school. By January 2017, the Project Director determined that the AUS school was not a suitable environment for Urban GEMS. School officials refused to allow OSU to be in the school in February 2017. Steps to terminate the agreement with AUS were put in place in March and April of 2017. With only a short time left in the 2016-2017 academic year, it was not feasible to get a replacement site up and running before the start of summer. Instead, we established a new location that could be used to grow a larger amount of food in one space allowing us to bring youth in from various community sites to get hands-on experience in food production with aeroponic tower gardens. Youth and community adults joined together to build 9 Tower Gardens to create our first Urban GEMS Farm, an indoor food production facility. Urban GEMS youth visit the farm to feed the crops nutrients and water; trim and harvest the food, package crops for market or give away to the needy, and occasionally make a healthy salad or smoothie with the freshly grown food. RHH4L Urban GEMS participants traveled to the farm to take care of the towers. Many lessons related to gardening, sustainability, and entrepreneurship either take place at the farm or are enriched by the data that is collected regarding the care, harvest, and inputs to run the farm. New Implementation Site. The major change that resulted from the problems at AUS lead us to secure a new implementation site that we believe has great potential for both short- and long-term success as an Urban GEMS site. The Millennium Community School is a K-8 public charter school enrolling 600 students in its large campus on the east side of Columbus. Urban GEMS will be implemented twice weekly with 7th and 8th graders. The student body is 98% African American and 96% of families live below the poverty line. Food insecurity is a challenge of most of the families. Urban GEMS will place up to 12 Tower Garden in the school working closely with the school's science and math faculty and the school food service team. Millennium has had some experience with outdoor raised bed gardening. We are excited to partner with their team to make Gardening even more impactful for the school community. There is amble space indoors and out for the type of large scale production that Urban GEMS is posed to complete. The school's mission fits very nicely with the goals and objectives of Urban GEMS. Good communication will be key. The other change that took place in year 3 were with regard to staffing. We found that program implementation success required considerably more hours that they previous budget allocation would afford. The need for a near full-time Project Coordinator was painfully obvious. Other personnel assigned to the project (technology specialist Chris Walker for example) completed tasks that required his expertise (built our website). Dr. Wilkinson officially took over the role of evaluator for Urban GEMS when Dr. Meadows went on leave to participate in a prestigious fellowship program in North Carolina. Dr. Wilkinson was already doing most of the tasks associated with the evaluation study because Dr. Meadows responsibilities as a county extension director made it hard for her to attend Urban GEMS activities. She remains involved as a project advisor and connector. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Four members of our team attended the CYFAR annual conference in 2017. Six staff members and volunteers were trained in the basic Urban GEMS curriculum including the use of technology such as Google Classroom, Nearpod, and the Urban GEMS mobile app for lesson delivery and academic enrichment to improve student outcomes. Staff were encourged to participate in CYFAR webinars. The Project Director taught one CYFAR webinar. Staff received training in human subjects protection, the OSU minor policy, and protecting institutional data. A staff member had her first experience being interviewed for local television and was also quoted in local newspaper article. Staff and students had the opportunity to have their work filmed by the Big Ten Network for a 1 minute video feature on the Urban GEMS program. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Urban GEMS is very active on social media. We continue to update our Urban GEMS website to keep the information available on the program current. We have distributed newsletters to people who follow us on social media or via email list. We continue distributing program brochures to communities of interest as we seek new partnerships, funding sources, and student recruits.The program has received attention from local television, newspapers, and a national TV network. We have been active in publishing an article, teaching a webinar, and presenting an Ignite session at the annual CYFAR conference. The pre- and post-test results have been presented at a local community engagement conference (in year 3). What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We plan to continue to implement our program improving our consistency and team work. We have a number of great opportunities coming up for our Urban GEMS youth including one student giving a keynote presentation about his Urban GEMS work at a summit on gardening hosted at Franklin Park Conservatory to coincide with the grand opening of their new children's garden.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
In year 2, we conducted our first efficacy test of the Urban GEMS program. We worked steadily and actively to make progress on each of these goals. Our most objective evidence come from the pre- and post-test evaulation data. The inputs and results are described below for each goal. Goal 1. Cohort 1 at RHH4L improved their knowledge of nutrition and made changes to their consumption of fruits and vegetables. Findings (pre-test to post-test) •11% increase in # of youth who eat 2 or more fruit each day •51.7% increased fruit consumption •62% plan to keep eating fruit •9% increase in # of youth who eat 3 or more vegetables each day •51.7% increased veggie consumption •55.1% plan to keep eating veggies •44.8% improved knowledge of heathy eating •51.7% plan to use new cooking skills Goal 2. The survey results showed that Urban GEMS participants made gains in their perception of the desirability to attend college, their interest in learning, but no measured change in school engagement outside of Urban GEMS activities was seen. Goal 3. Youth who have participated in the Urban GEMS farmer market sales and the advisory board have benefitted from making new connections with professionals. Youth have also been invited to share their knowledage and perspectives with others as people learn about the program. Goal 4. Urban GEMS youth have become very knowledgible about gardening in aeroponic systems and using the square foot gardening method. Participants are able to explain how the Tower Garden works from initial set up, maintaining Ph and nutrient levels, and harvesting effectively to promote more growth. Youth "teach" the adult advisory board members and interested visitors about their knowledge during our monthly meetings. Youth can explain the difference between growing in soil and growing with aeroponic methods. They have learned which vegetables and fruit are most appropriate for each production type. Goal 5. Youth have made posters, flyers, and a newsletter to share their knowledge about healthy eating and healthy living. They have recorded video messages for social media to promote eating leafy greens and avoiding junk food. Goal 6. Youth at RHH4L have developed a plan for addressing obesity related health problems within the church community. Activities are planned for year 3. Goal 7.The youth at the RHH4L held elections for leadership positions in month 5 of the planning year. Throughout the year we have observed their growth as leaders as they demonstrate new capabilities for leading meetings, interacting with adult advisors, public speaking as knowledgible young people, and increasing their willingness to work with others in teams. Youth have taken on leadership roles in preparing healthy salads, smoothies, and wraps for community gathering at the request of adult advisors. Goal 8. We tracked food production on the Tower Gardens and the outdoor raised-bed gardens reporting period although not all months were tracked. With a total of 30 Towers placed for growing by the end of August 2017, we produced a good amount of food. We had several crop losses during the summer of 2017 with a major infestation of aphids. When the systems were healthy we were consistently growing an average of 8 pounds of leafy greens per Tower per month. The yield from the outdoor gardens was tracked less carefully as we allowed community members to harvest and eat from the gardens at their leisure. Youth were offered healthy fresh vegetables and fruits during our weekly programming at RHH4L. They learned to make salads, smoothies, and stir fries from the food growing on the Towers. Ten youth had the experience of setting up and selling our crops at a local farmer's market during the summer of 2017. We collected $582 in donations from sales at the farmer's market. Those funds were used to help pay for our mobile kitchen. The establishment of two larger growing sites that we call our "farms" has helped with improving program implementation and food production. Bringing the youth to the farms seems to create a new type of opportunity for engaging them. We have set up the farms to be welcoming spaces for youth and have made sure they understand that the plants depend on them for care. Goal 9. We have not tracked this goal. Goal 10. There were positive but non-significant changes in Cohort 1's workforce readiness measures.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Wilkinson, D.L. (2017). Growing Opportunity in the Inner City. Scientia. Issue 113: 104-107. Editor reviewed. May.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Wilkinson, D.L., (2017). Sustainability for Urban GEMS. Ignite Session. Lunchtime. National Children Youth and Families at Risk (CYFAR) Annual Professional Development conference. May 18-19.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Wilkinson, D.L. (2017 ). Successful Strategies for Engaging Vulnerable Youth and Families. Webinar Series. CYFAR National Network. CYFAR PDTA online. February 14. https://cyfar.org/resource/successful-strategies-engaging-vulnerable-youth-and-families-field-lessons.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Wilkinson, D.L. (2107). Mobile app for Urban GEMS: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.app.daennatestapp&hl=en. October.
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Progress 09/01/15 to 08/31/16
Outputs
Target Audience:We reached two primary target audiences and two secondary target audiences during the reporting period. Primary Audience 1.We engaged 34African American children between the ages of8 and 15inthe Urban GEMSgarden clubexploration and feasibility test by meeting once per week for a total of 31 weeks during the 2015-2016 academic year. Furthermore, 105 African American children between the ages of 5 and 18 participated twice weekly for 7 weeks in the Urban GEMS garden club summer camp program. Primary Audience 2.We engaged 26 African American students 14-21 years old in a 6-month exploration and feasibility test during our planning year. We began recruiting for year 2 full-scale implementation in August 2016 with the recruitment of 63students ages 14-20 year old for year 2. A total of 332 students at the Academy for Urban Scholars were introduced to the Urban GEMS program, invited to join group garden inspired art projects, group cooking demonstrations and meal preparation, and garden harvests. Secondary Audience 1. We successfully engaged community stakeholders and parents in joining and supporting the Urban GEMS program through active participation in the Urban GEMS advisory board. The Advisory Board consists of 34 adult members with the leadership team from both community sites sending 3-6 youth representatives to each monthly meeting. Secondary Audience 2. As we begin to establish the Urban GEMS program in the community we have started reaching out to community leaders, college students interested in volunterring, and other potential funders.We secured a new grant of the Aetna Foundation to expand Urban GEMS to place Tower Gardens in up to 12 community organizations who will provide internship opportunities forUrban GEMS students. Wereached a large audience of food security stakeholders through our poster presentation at the Buckeye Food Summit. Changes/Problems:There have been no major changes in approach after the initial change in program implementation site which was changed at the outset of the grant. We have encountered some problems related to very low levels of literacy among high school students in our AUS Urban GEMS programs. We have adapted our curriculum and evaluation data collection methods to make all accessible to students performing at a first grade reading level. We have also purchased a site license for MobyMax to offer Urban GEMS partipants a resource for academic recovery. We anticipate new opportunities to expand the Urban GEMS program to more locations thus allowing us to reach more young people. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Six members of our team attended the CYFAR annual conference in 2016. The RHH4L project coordinator regularly participates in CYFAR webinars. All AUS school employees participated in an Urban GEMS training session to increase buy-in and awareness of the goals of Urban GEMS at the drop out recovery high school. Two staff members were trained by the PI in Bridges Out of Poverty and the 7 Habits of Highly Effective teens. Six staff members were taught to use Google Classroom, Nearpod, and MobyMax for lesson delivery and academic enrichment to improve student outcomes. Students had the opportunity to present a poster at professional conference. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have successfully launched the Urban GEMS website http://urbangems.ehe.osu.edu. We have distributed program brochures to communities of interest as we seek new partnerships, funding sources, and student recruits. We made two presentations in the community about the Urban GEMS program. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We plan to continue to implement our program as previously outlined.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
We developed the engagement strategy and curricula inputs to be able to reach each of these specific goals during the planning year with the intention to test the efficacy of our program in years 2-5. Goal 1. Youth have a new knowledge about the health benefits of fresh, organic food that they are growing. We have observed youth who have been part of Urban GEMS for a while teaching other youth about the health benefits.We have documented the observed consumption of vegetables and fruits at Urban GEMS activities among youth and adult advisors. Goal 2. Attendance and participation in Urban GEMS activities has been steadily improving as youth become more involved in leadership positions and become efficacious asgardeners. Goal 3. Youth who have participated in the Urban GEMS advisory board have especially benefitted from making new connections with professionals. Goal 4. Urban GEMS youth are able to explain how the Tower Garden works from initial set up, maintaining Ph and nutrient levels, and harvesting effectively to promote more growth.Youth"teach" the adult advisoryboard membersabout their knowledge during our monthly meetings. Youth can explain the difference between growing in soil and growing with aeroponicmethods. Theyhave learned whichvegetables and fruit are most appropriate for each production type. Goal 5. We have not yet implemented our planned public health campaign approaches beyond the organic processes that participants take away from the activities we are engaging them in with evidence from parent volunteers and community elders that the program is "wearing off" on the children. Goal 6. No documented progress. Goal 7. The youth at the RHH4L held elections for leadership positions in month 5 of the planning year. Throughout the year we have observed their growth as leaders as they demonstrate new capabilities for leading meetings, interacting with adult advisors, public speaking as knowledgible young people, and increasing their willingness to work with others in teams. At the AUS site, strategies have been put in place to establish the youth leadership team in year 2. During the planning year, youth were asked to work in small teams to build an outdoor raised-bed garden, plan and implement harvest events making salads, smoothies, and stir fries. With staffing changes and the official cohort recruitment process happening in month 12 of year 1 many strategies were put in place to advance goal 7. The formal leadership team was elected on November 8, 2016 (year 2). Goal 8. We tracked food production on the Tower Gardens and the outdoor raised-bed gardens throughout the second half of the planning year. At the height of our production inApril 2016 we were growing an average of8 pounds of leafy greens perTowerper month. The yield from the outdoor gardens was tracked less carefully as we allowed community members to harvest and eat from the gardens at their leisure.Youth were offered healthy fresh vegetables and fruits during our weekly programming at RHH4L. They learned to make salads, smoothies, and stir fries from the food growing on the Towers. Youth at the AUS high school had harvest activities about once per month with the same type of opportunities for sampling healthy fresh vegetables and fruit. Our project plan calls for formally evaluating the curriculum in full during year 2. Year 1 did not include small business incubation activities. Goal 9. We have not tracked this goal. Students will take a group project to access the impact of Urban GEMS activities on community members near the end of year 2. Goal 10. During the planning year we did not focus explicitly on tracking student outcomes related to workforce or higher education ready. We did expose RHH4L student totour of the Ohio State University campus and brought four Urban GEMS to OSU to present our poster at the Buckeye Food Summit.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Wilkinson, D.L., (2016). Living Food Towers Spark Youth Recovery from Community Violence. Poster Presented at the annual meetings of the American Society of Criminology. New Orleans, LA. Nov. 17
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
http://urbangems.ehe.osu.edu
- Type:
Other
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Wilkinson, D.L. (2016) Living Food Towers Spark Youth and Community Wellness. Invited Seminar Speaker. Nationwide Children's Hospital Center for Injury Research and Policy. June 30.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Wilkinson, D.L. Living Food Towers Spark Youth and Community Wellness. Poster Presented at the Buckeye Food Summit: Convening for Change. April 14.
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