Progress 09/01/16 to 08/31/21
Outputs
Target Audience:All cohorts are representative of rural, at-risk youth. Within this population, a total of 367 youth participants were served by the Sowing Young Sprouts (SCRATCH) program. Changes/Problems:The major change in the final year of this program was the transition from an in-person delivery mode, to a virtual one. An unexpected outcome of this transition was the fact that the program actually thrived in a time when most programs were having a challenging adjustment.This transition to a hands-on approach with virtual support proved wildly successful in Raleigh County, expanding the program from 48 youth to 367. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?School staff at the 3 locations that had garden beds installed were trained in how to maintain their monarch weigh stations and wildlife habitats, how to utilize their composters in order to mitigate the cost of replenishing soil in their raised beds, and how to start seed libraries. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The Sowing Young Sprouts (SCRATCH) program made a drastic transition from in-person, to virtual programming with a hands-on component in the final year. This switch meant that the programming was being disseminated directly to the communities of interest and stakeholders. This program shifted to working directly with libraries and parents in the community. A website and Facebook page were created to host virtual information sessions about the SYS curriculum and to ensure that youth was staying engaged with the program. This program flourished because team members didn't assume that what they did was working. They followed up every session asking what could they do better? How can they better support them? There was constant communication and dialogue between community members and the program team. In addition, the program team informed community stakeholders about seasonal topics such as tapping maple trees, starting seeds and transplanting in a video series. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Prior to the onset of the pandemic, Sowing Young Sprouts reached 48 youth through direct service; staff built local school gardens with small after-school programs at Crescent Elementary and Cranberry Prosperity Elementary and provided JMG activities for youth to each school. After pandemic restrictions were in place, the program adapted by offering grab-and-go garden activities such as Grow Your Own Herb Garden, Toad Abodes and Butterfly Puddler. These were just three of the 30 activities provided as pandemic adaptations. These activities were provided through sign-up at the library as well as through a non-library program in which parents could pick-up items directly from our offices or other pre-arranged locations throughout the county to increase accessibility. This allowed the program to continue reaching youth on a monthly basis without breaking CDC guidelines. The team designed and delivered pre- post activity surveys to acquire feedback with each activity. At times, these activities were accompanied by how-to videos published on the Sowing Young Sprouts Facebook page. This hands-on approach with virtual support proved wildly successful in Raleigh County, expanding the program from 48 youth to 367. According to the Common Measures 2.0 surveys, after participating in programming, the majority (69%) of youth changed their minds about the difficulty level of eating a vegetable as a snack, making it clear that it would not be as hard as they originally thought. Seventy-six percent of youth also indicated that science was not as difficult as they originally thought as well and 54% (7 of 13) said that they "strongly agreed" that they enjoyed science-related activities in the post-survey. This reflects an overall improvement and enjoyment of science. The findings from the pre-post activity surveys report that 54% of students increased their knowledge around animal science, 100% reported that they learned something new about animal science, 50% of students responded that they learned more about nutrition, 29% of students increase their knowledge around plant science, and 66% of students reported that they learned something new about plant science. In addition, 80 raised beds were installed across 3 schools in Raleigh county. Two monarch weigh stations and wildlife habitats were also installed. The data collected represents that the Sowing Young Sprouts program had a positive impact on participating youth. The program has reached a total of 367 youth in Raleigh county. A total of 55 youth completed an evaluation component for this program during COVID, with the most successful route of data collecting being through the pre-post activity surveys. COVID took a drastic hit on the evaluation process mainly because the program was entirely virtual. The data suggests that even given COVID conditions, the program was able to meet the short-term objectives of children showing a more positive attitude towards healthy food, and children increasing their science knowledge.
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Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/20
Outputs
Target Audience:All cohorts are representative of rural, at-risk youth. Within this population, a total of 110 youth participants were served by the Sowing Young Sprouts (SCRATCH) program. Changes/Problems:The Director of the YMCA Afterschool Program, who agreed to maintain the program after the end of the grant left the program. The current interim is still interested in keeping the program. However, to maintain sustainability, a second option for the program is being developed where STEM teachers in the school will be trained on implementation and will possibly serve as a feeder program into middle schools. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Emily Moore, the SCRATCH program coordinator has attended two professional development events, including the 2019 National Association of Extension 4-H Agents 2018 conference, and the 2019 CYFAR conference. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We hope to move the program into schools rather than the after school program for a more sustainable set up as well as reach a higher number of participants. The toolkit will be finished to implement and train instructors easier, and Junior Master Gardener training will be available as needed for teachers that need a more in-depth explanation.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Activities from the Junior Master Gardener (JMG) curriculum were implemented at three school sites Cranberry-Prosperity Elementary School, Crescent Elementary School, and Ridgeview Elementary School, as well as the YMCA's summer program and Shady Spring Branch Library. With these activities, students explored topics in environmental science as well as gardening and nutrition. Gardening activities discussed rules for the garden as well as how to plant and maintain using iPad apps such as Veggie Garden. Moveable garden bags were placed at the summer program and moved as needed to other sites.
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Progress 09/01/18 to 08/31/19
Outputs
Target Audience:Target audiences during this period include two cohorts of youth participants. 1) Cranberry-Prosperity Elementary School and 2) YMCA Summer Program, both located in Beckly, Raleigh County West Virginia. Cohort 1 included students with age ranges from 6 yrs to 11 yrs. Cohort 2 included students ages 5 yrs to 7 yrs and students ages 7yrs to 10 yrs. Both cohorts are representative of rural, at risk youth. Within this population a total of 67 youth participants were served by the SCRATCH program. The ratio of males to females is nearly 1:1 (17 males: 24 females). Demographics for cohort 2 7-10 yrs were not available at the time of progress report submission. These data are held by the YMCA manager and will be supplied at a later date. Youth ethnic identities include the following in decreasing order of frequency: Caucasion (n=26); African American (n=4); Biracial (n=3). Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Emily Moore, the SCRATCH program coordinator has attended three professional development events, including the 2018 National Association of Extension 4-H Agents 2018 conference, and the 2019 CYFAR conference. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next reporting period, the SCRATCH toolkit will be developed, tested, and revised as needed. A training for the toolkit will also be available to potentially expand beyond the sites already established. JMG trainings will be scheduled at local libraries for teachers in those areas and possibly at WVSU's office located in Beckley, WV.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Activities from the Junior Master Gardener (JMG) curriculum were implemented at three sites Cranberry-Prosperity Elementary School and Ridgeview Elementary School, as well as the YMCA's summer program. With these activities, students explored topics in environmental science as well as gardening and nutrition. Gardening activities discussed rules for the garden as well as how to plant and maintain using iPad apps such as Veggie Garden. Moveable garden bags will be placed at the summer program and moved as needed to other sites. Shady Spring Branch Library is a new site excited to host a JMG group as well as a garden site for the students. Within the next few months, the library group will be growing their own vegetables and participating in JMG activities as well as Bizworld entrepreneurship curriculum to sell their harvest and various goods at a booth set up around the library.
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Progress 09/01/17 to 08/31/18
Outputs
Target Audience:Target audiences during this period include two cohorts of youth participants. 1) Cranberry-Prosperity Elementary School and 2) YMCA Summer Program, both located in Beckly, Raleigh County West Virginia. Cohort 1 included students with age ranges from 6 yrs to 11 yrs. Cohort 2 included students ages 5 yrs to 7 yrs and students ages 7yrs to 10 yrs. Both cohorts are representative of rural, at risk youth. Within this population a total of 67youth participants were served by the SCRATCH program. The ratio of males to females is nearly 1:1 (17 males: 24 females). Demographis for cohort 2 7-10 yrs were not available at the time of progress report submission. These data are held by the YMCA manager and will be supplied at a later date. Youth ethnic identities include the following in decreasing order of frequency: Caucasion (n=26); African American (n=4); Biracial (n=3). In addition to these active site locations; SCRATCH information was disseminated at two community events. the Down on the Farm Festival in Rainelle, WV resulted in interactions with 102 youth and 60 adults. The Downtown Streetfest in Charleston, WV resulted in interactions with 40 youth and 6 adults. Although these events are extracuricular to the implemetation of the SCRATCH Raleigh project, these interactions are SCRATCH based, provide community outreach, marketing for future participation and outreach to at risk youth and further assimilation of SCRATCH principles by the Agent. These efforts also support the sustainability of the program beyond this specific project. Changes/Problems:During this reporting period there are no major changes or problems to report. Although the program had a rocky start and was moved from McDowel to Raleigh County due to difficulties in staffing and participation rates, the move has had a positive impact on the delivery of programming. While we are still working to meet and achieve the benchmarks identified during Years 1 and 2, considerable progress has been made and the outlook is positive that the program will be successfully implemented. Efforts have been made to manage expenditures and justify balances to date. There are no significant deviations from research or scheduled goals for this period. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Professional development for this period was obtained by the PI/PD and Agent through participation in CYFARs annual conference. In addition, the Agent has become adept at managing and working with the local community to implement SCRATCH and develop interest and buy in from individuals and organizations. The relationship with the YMCA has been integral to this success and the impementation of the progra has been a professional development opportunity for both the Agent and PI/PD. Support from the CYFAR coach has also been instrumental in assisting with challenges, offering suggestions and providing insights and guidance throughout. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?To date, results have not been disseminated. Once the evaluative tools are in place and sufficient data are collected, results will be disseminated accordingly. Results have been reported internally to the CYFAR coach on a montly basis. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Interactions will be continued and youth partcipants who have completed the initial JMG training and healthy food choices will move into production, technology and marketing programming. New site locations will be initiated in the fall at additional Raleigh County schools and these students will begin with the initial JMG Training Additional support staff will be added to assist in preparing and maintaining growing locations, provide additional support for data collection and initiate sustainability efforts so the program can continue beyond the funding period. As youth complete the growing season, a greater impact to the community will be achieved through the dissemination of youth-raised garden products.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The SCRATCH program has been successfully initiated at Cranberry-Prosperity Elementary School and at the YMCA Summer Program. Utilizing both of these venues offers consistent interactions and learning opportunities that extend beyond the academic period. Raised beds and trainings have been initiate at both sites. These trainings include plant biology, soil health and nutrition science. A greenhouse has been purchased and will be added to one of the sites so that participants will be able to start plants from seed and understand growth patterns, care and development of food plants. Volunteer participants inlude 1 teacher and 1 aid at Cranberry-Prosperity Elementary and 3 mentors per age group at the YMCA summer Program (n=6). In addition, a site assistant has been hired to maintin garden locations. This individual is a local resident and will foster community support and participation. A sustainability agent will be hired in August to initiate the development of curricula and toolkits so that educational institutions and community organizations can utilize the SCRATCH program with WVSUES support. Progress has been made with assessment tools. Coordination with the contracted evaluator has resulted in the incorporation of CYFAR required measures into surveys. While the program is still in a somewhat exploratory phase, there will be some difficulties achieving before and after participation data on these first two cohorts. As a result, some of the data recovere will be descriptive and include anecdotal observations. This will not hinder future measurements as the appropriate evaluative tools will be in place when the programming is reinitiated at Cranberry-Prosperity and other educational facilities this fall.
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Progress 09/01/16 to 08/31/17
Outputs
Target Audience:The SCRATCH McDowell Project has been developed to serve at risk youth in grades K-8 that live in rural McDowell County in West Virginia. The children participate in SCRATCH as part of their afterschool programming efforts, currently out of Southside Elementary School. Within this afterschool setting, 83% of the youth participate in the free and reduced lunch program. As the program further expands into Kimball Elementary and Welch Elementary, the 84% and 90% of those youth within the afterschool programs will be receiving assistance from the free and reduced lunch program. Many of the neighborhoods in which these youth live are blighted by a growing drug and crime problem, as well as unemployment and a lack of suitable housing. Changes/Problems:Initiating any new program in a new surrounding can be faced with challenges, and our project has encountered a few. Our most prevalent problem has been in regards to finding qualified staffing in the remote area of the state. As the program was to begin, a staffing change occured within the Extension Service and the Agent to be assigned to the project is no longer with the Institution. Arrangement were made within CYFAR to change how the staffing was developed for the first year of the project and this will also change the staffing structure of the program for the remaining years. Due to the degree requirements for the Program Coordinator role, it has been difficult to locate an individual to meet the criteria that currently resides in this portion of the state. Currently, the program PI and a program mentor are implementing the program along with assistance from the evaluator on the development of the program structure. Positions continue to be posted and we are working with other organizations in the area and the school system to search out qualified candidates. We aniticipate to secure someone in this position before school begins in the fall and look to be able to hit the ground running with programming at two sites at this time. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The program evaluator and the mentor on the project are participating in thePartnerships for Advancing Character Program Evaluation, PACE Project, at Montclair State University.This opportunity was promoted by the CYFAR Program and our team was selected to participate. It will enhance the overall evaluation process for the SCRATCH Project. The evaluator and the mentor attended the3 day, face to face training in Atlanta, Georgia in January 2017. They have continued to receive additional training with a webinar through the project in early May. The teamhas also participatedin threecheck-ins/phone meetings with the assigned coach within this time period. The PI, evaluator and program mentor recently attended the CYFAR Professional Development Meeting in DC in May of 2017. Sessions were attended on program evaluation and sustainability as well as time set aside for one on one discussions with our program coach. Monthly calls are scheduled with the CYFAR Coach and have been conducted by the project PI since June of 2016- before funding was secured. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Since this project is new, there has not been any dissemination of information as of yet to the public in regards to results. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?With the program in implementation phase in year 1, in the upcoming year of the program the team will look to add the needed staff in order to develop the program delivery as intended. Once fully staffed, the program will continue in the first afterschool program at Southside Elementary and expand its efforts into Kimball Elementary in the Fall of 2017. Garden builds will occur at both of these afterschool sites as well as consistent programming. In the Spring of 2018, the program will look to engage with the third site developing a plan for programming before installation of permanent gardens for production on site. Will the gardens on location, activities with the youth will become more hands-on garden based learning opportunities to get the youth more accustomed to basic growing practices. JMG activities will be paired with garden maintenance and planting in order to develop a more well-rounded approach to education. Health and nutrition topics will be interlaced through the use of the JMG Learn, Grow, Eat, Go Curriculum that combines this focus with hands-on growing techniques. The youth in the program will develop a baseline of education on these topics before moving forward with the entrepreneurial endeavors in the following years.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
As the project has been initiated, focus has been on developing a structure for interactions and introduction of the JMG based activities to develop a baseline of knowledge on production. With this said activities have been completed toward the 4th major goal of the program: 4) Youth will manage 3 school garden sites as well as one full production site with staff and volunteer oversight as measured by the number of hours volunteers, staff, and youth participate in garden and production related activities. Activities completed have targeted increasing the knowledge base of youth involved on the topics of soils and water as well as basic plant growth and development. Through Junior Master Gardener (JMG)curriculum activities, an average of 25 youth have increased their knowledge on these topics with 19 youth (11 females, 10 males) receiving JMG Certification in Chapter 2- Soils and Water. Garden builds are planned for the summer with the implementation of fall crops with the youth as they return to school this fall. Once the production garden spaces are developed the additional goals of the project will begin to be addressed.
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