Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/24
Outputs
Target Audience: In Rhode Island, approximately 30 percent of youth are experiencing overweight or obesity and this is higher (36%) in core cities like Providence and Newport where poverty is more concentrated. In Providence and Newport, RI approximately 90 and 70 percent of students are eligible for free or reduced lunch, respectively, and state data indicates that these cities are far below the state average in math and science, underscoring the urgent need to address these disparities. Additionally, studies have shown the detrimental impact of summer vacation on academic progress. Project stRIde (Science and Technology Reinforced by Innovative Dietary Education; https://web.uri.edu/community-nutrition/cyfar/about/) is a summer camp that aims to address disparities in the STEAM-academic achievement gap and dietary behaviors and food related skills among youth. This program focused on rising 5th and 6th grade youth attending the Boys and Girls Club of Newport County and Boys and Girls Club of Providence summer programming. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Across the duration of the grant, project staff and students delivered the program in Newport and Providence communities. Staff and students were trained annually on the Project stRIde curriculum, including any program changes. To support the sustainability of this program in the communities served for future years, all sites were provided with Project stRIde book & bins kits as well as facilitator guides. Finally, project staff delivered a presentation at the CYFAR Professional Development Event in June 2024 on community-engaged research and unique evaluation strategies to other states interested in these approaches. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Overall, the Project stRIde staff has maintained a close relationship with communities across the duration of the grant period including seeking their feedback for program revisions to improve its delivery and acceptance among the youth participants served. As previously shared, we have disseminated the Project stRIde curriculum including book & bin kits and facilitator guides to ensure that the program can be sustained in future years. Finally, annual and 5-year impact reports on the program delivery, reach, and impact were distributed to participating sites. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Project stRIde: Science and Technology Reinforced by Innovative Dietary Education is a nutrition-focused STEAM intervention designed for youth out-of-school programs. It delivers nutrition-infused science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics lessons to youth in urban areas of Rhode Island. The goal of this intervention is to reinforce STEAM concepts learned in school through fun activities while promoting healthy dietary behaviors. Set in communities primarily with lower incomes, the program aims to engage and excite youth in STEAM and nutrition education. Project stRIde was originally intended to be delivered as a six-week curriculum in summer camp settings, as it was in the first three years of delivery. The program was delivered at two Boys & Girls Clubs in its second year, and three Boys & Girls Clubs in its third and fourth years. In its final year, the program was delivered as an after school program and during week-long school vacations. Project stRIde successfully delivered nutrition-centered STEAM lessons to youth from lower-income families. Project stRIde expanded in attendance rate over the first three years of programming. In the 5th year, the program expanded to include different settings and age groups. Each year, the program reached a racially and ethnically diverse population. Post-lesson survey data across Years 2 and 3 supported that participants understood the main ideas from each lesson. For example, over 75% of students correctlyanswered post-knowledge assessments for"Fruit, Veggies, & the Lifecycle of Plants" and "Healthy Eating and Engineering" representing the highest scores across topics. In year 4, participants were interviewed to identify their opinions of Project stRIde, STEAM knowledge gained, and intended nutrition-related behavior change. Three major themes from these interviews were: (1) Learned a new nutrition or STEAM concept; (2) Enjoyed hands-on activities; and (3) Intended to make a nutrition-related behavior change. Illustrative quotes include: "The different colors mean different things, like different things will help you. I didn't know it was the colors of fruits and vegetables" and "I'll start drinking more milk and and water". Project stRIde was adapted each year to better fit the needs of participants. It was intentionally delivered through different teaching and learning styles to help the research team identify the most engaging and effective format for program delivery. A final program model was finalized in year 4. In year 5, this model was successfully adapted to be delivered in after-school settings. It was also adapted for a younger audience, primarily grades 3-4. Participants were engaged in this final program model. In interviews, one participant stated, "We know how to cook better now. And now we know how STEAM relates to baking and careers." Supporting the fit of this program in the community, the program was rated as acceptable, feasible, and appropriate by community partners after Years 3 and 4. Overall, Project stRIde was successful in engaging and exciting participants in nutrition-focused STEAM activities. Youth enjoyed the hands-on, relevant lessons. They were engaged in learning and exposed to important concepts about healthy living. Project stRIde transformed into an out-of-school program for multiple settings and was adapted for a larger age range.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Potvin J. Evaluation of a Nutrition-Focused STEAM Summer Program for Urban Youth. Oral presentation at: Society of Nutrition Education and Behavior Annual Conference. July 30, 2024.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Potvin J, Chappell K. Implementing Community-Engaged Research and Unique Evaluation Strategies. Oral presentation at: Children, Youth, and Families at Risk Professional Development Event. June 11, 2024.
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Potvin, J. Implementation and Evaluation of a Nutrition-Focused STEAM Summer Program for Urban Youth (2024). Open Access Dissertations. Paper 1657.https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/oa_diss/1657.
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Progress 09/01/22 to 08/31/23
Outputs
Target Audience:In Rhode Island, approximately 30 percent of youth are experiencing overweight or obesity and this is higher (36%) in core cities like Providence and Newport where poverty is more concentrated. In Providence and Newport, RI approximately 90 and 70 percent of students are eligible for free or reduced lunch, respectively, and state data indicates that these cities are far below the state average in math and science, underscoring the urgent need to address these disparities. Additionally, studies have shown the detrimental impact of summer vacation on academic progress. Project stRIde (Science and Technology Reinforced by Innovative Dietary Education; https://web.uri.edu/community-nutrition/cyfar/about/) is a summer camp that aims to address disparities in the STEAM-academic achievement gap and dietary behaviors and food related skills among youth. This program focused on rising 5th and 6th grade youth attending the Boys and Girls Club of Newport County and Boys and Girls Club of Providence summer programming. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Two staff attended the May 2023CYFAR Professional Developement Event in Phoenix, AZ. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?During Fall 2022, we shared a Project stRIdeImpact Report with three community partner sites in Newport and Providencethat reflected successul Summer 2022 programming. This report includeda background of the program, topics learned, youth reached, program results (post-lesson questions), and youth anecdotes/feedback. DuringSpring 2023 a manuscript, entitled "Formative Evaluation of a STEAM and Nutrition Education Summer Program for Low-Income Youth" which captures the initial development of Project stRIdewas published inEvaluation & Program Planning.Weplan to disseminate a report that reflects Summer 2023 programming following data entry, cleaning, and analyses during Fall 2023. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?At the beginning of the next reporting period during Fall 2023, we intend to conduct semi-structured interviews withcommunity partners and staffto help fine-tune plans forexpanding Project stRIdeto afterschool settings and sustaining the program. Early in the fall, we will enter, clean, and analyze both quantitative and qualitative data from Summer 2023 programmingand provide an impact report to our three community partner sites in Providence and Newport.Given overallfeedbackfrom the CYFAR team that the curriculum would reach and positively impact more youth if it could be used in the afterschool programs with these BGC sites, we will spend the remainder of Fall 2023 and Winter 2024 planning to deliver Project stRIde at afterschool sites in Providence and Newport during Spring 2024. Thisimplementation plan aligns with the URI 4-H model and will allow us tolearn how the Project stRIde kits and resources can be sustained in both summer camp and afterschool settings. As we approach the end of the projectduring August 2024, we will report on the lessons learned and program impacts for delivering Project stRIde in summer camp and afterschool sites in Providence and Newport communities.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Project stRIde: Science and Technology Reinforced by Innovative Dietary Education is ahands-on and engaging summer camp program (grades 4-5) that reinforces STEAM (science, technology engineering, art, and math) content learned over the school year while helping youth to improve their dietary behaviors. Followingsuccessful summerprogramming at three Boys and Girls Club (BGC) sites, we gathered feedback from BGC staff and analyzed youth data. During Fall 2022, wecreated and shared an impact report of the Project stRIde Summer 2023 program that celebratedits success with theNewport and Providence sites.Project stRIde was delivered to 55 youth (43% female; 45% Hispanic/Latinx; mean age=10.6 years) at the Boys and Girls Club (BGC) of Newport County (n=17), BGC of Providence Fox PointBranch (n=19), and BGC of Providence South Side Branch (n=19).Project stRIde process measures (dose, reach, fidelity, reliability) alongside qualitative feedback from community partners underscored the success and acceptability of Project stRIde. There were no significant differences in the CYFAR youth resilience, CYFAR life skills, STEAM, or nutrition outcomes from baseline to post-assessment. However, post-lesson questions results indicate that students grasped lesson content with over 70% of the youth answering seven out of the 10 questions correctly. Community partner staff (n=4) at the three sites,agreed/or completely agreed about the acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility of Project stRIde. Edits and updates to the Project stRIde curriculum during Spring 2023 made it more simplified, youth-led, and engaging.Spring 2023 also involved communication and coordination with community partnersto prepare for summer programming attwo Providence BGC sites (BGC of Wanskuck and BGC of Fox Point)and the BGC of Newport Countyduring Summer 2023.Preliminary data from the Summer 2023 programming indicates that there are 57 youth participants (n=16 BGC of Wanskuck, n=20 BGC of Fox Point, n=21 BGC of Newport County). The majority of youth (42%) are entering 5th grade (46% female;39% Hispanic/Latinx;mean age=11.6 years) with preliminary qualitative feedback suggesting youth program acceptability and appropriateness. Entering Fall 2023, interviews will be conducted with all CYFAR and summer camp staff to gather final impressions of the program and help promotesustainability. Once quantitative and qualitative data is entered and analyzed, program impacts will be shared with community partners.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Potvin J, Chappell K, Balestracci K, Greene G, Sweetman S, Amin S. A Formative Evaluation of a STEAM and Nutrition Education Summer Program for Low-Income Youth. Evaluation and Program Planning. 2023; 97:102255. doi: 10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2023.102255
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Potvin J, Chappell K, Balestracci K, Greene G, Parker H, Sweetman S, Amin S. Pilot year evaluation of a STEAM and nutrition summer program for low-income, urban youth. Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior Annual Meeting. 2022.
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Progress 09/01/21 to 08/31/22
Outputs
Target Audience:In Rhode Island, approximately 30 percent of youth are experiencing overweight or obesity and this is higher (36%) in core cities like Providence and Newport where poverty is more concentrated. In Providence and Newport, RI approximately 90 and 70 percent of students are eligible for free or reduced lunch, respectively, and state data indicates that these cities are far below the state average in math and science, underscoring the urgent need to address these disparities. Additionally, studies have shown the detrimental impact of summer vacation on academic progress. Project stRIde (Science and Technology Reinforced by Innovative Dietary Education; https://web.uri.edu/community-nutrition/cyfar/about/) is a summer campthat aims to address disparities in the STEAM-academic achievement gap and dietary behaviors and food related skills among youth. This program focused on rising 5th and 6th grade youth attending the Boys and Girls Club of Newport County and Boys and Girls Club of Providence summer programming. Changes/Problems:It has been difficult to reach and engage parents/caregivers through programming due to the extended impacts ofCOVID. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Four staff attended the June 2022 in person CYFAR conference. Some staff also attended a 2-part training on health literacy and plain language for nutrition educators. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The pilot year data was submitted and accepted as an abstract to the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior 2022 conference. This information was provided to community partners. The current summer 2022 data will be providedto the community partners following analyses. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Now that COVID restrictions have been lifted, during the next reporting period (Fall 2022-Summer 2023),we plan to explore how we can further engage youth and their familiesbeyond the summer camp. We plan to implement our summer camp program at three community partner sites (including one sustaining site)and collect control group data.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
During Year 3, lessons learned from the Year 2 pilotled to modifications ofthe curriculum.The curriculum was condensed from 6 weeks to 5 weeks to meet the summer camp timeframe and also allow time for CYFAR pre/post data collection. The content shifted from videos to "bookand bin" sets that align more with a 4-H modelto provide latitude in the educator's background knowledge of the topic and make teaching concepts fun, digestible, and feasible while ensuring that the lesson has options for meeting different time and group size characteristics. Five books, either story books or activity books, were created to explain a complex topic in an easy-to-understand way.Some of the hands-on activities were altered based on youth understanding of complex topics, observations of youth engagement, and ease of duplicating theactivity for sustainability purposes. To expand and reinforce thebook content, the bins containdirections and equipment for hands-on activities that relate to the STEAM and nutrition topic of the lesson. The"book and bin" sets not only removethe screen time, which youth have become disinterested in due to school distance learning, but also makethe curriculum more sustainable forfuture educators with varied background knowledge. This revised curriculumwas utilized duringSummer 2022 at three sites: twonew sites and one"sustaining" site, engaging 55 youth over the 5 week period. The "sustaining site" useda train-the-trainer method to engagethe community partner staff champion in teaching the lesson. Baseline and post-assessment surveys, process measures capturingdose andfidelity of the curriculum, and interviews with camp staff were collected and will be analyzedin Fall 2022 to inform the feasibility and sustainability of the curriculum in future summers. A one-time family engagement event aimed to sign youth up for summer programming occurred at the Boys and Girls Club of Newport County in Spring 2022. Twenty-nine parents/caregivers and youth attended the Project StRIde table, engaging in a "Think Your Drink" activity, MyPlate bean bag toss, and/or engineering towers with spaghetti and marshmellows. The table was promoting the summer program and highlighting some activities.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Potvin J, Chappell K, Balestracci K, Greene G, Parker H, Sweetman S, Amin S. Pilot Year Evaluation of a STEAM and Nutrition Summer Program for Low-Income, Urban Youth. Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior Conference. 2022.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
"Rebuilding: Renewing Social Capital for Improving Outcomes, Engagement and Sustainability" CYFAR 2022 presentation in conjunction with Colorado State University Extension.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Under Review
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Potvin J, Chappell K, Balestracci K, Greene G, Sweetman S, Amin S. Formative Evaluation of a STEAM and Nutrition Education Summer Program for Low-Income Youth. Evaluation & Program Planning. Under Review.
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Progress 09/01/20 to 08/31/21
Outputs
Target Audience:In Rhode Island, approximately 30 percent of youth are experiencingoverweight or obesityand this is higher (36%) in core cities like Providence and Newport where poverty is more concentrated. InProvidence and Newport, RI approximately 90 and 70 percent of students are eligible for free or reduced lunch, respectively,and statedata indicates that these cities are far below the state average in math and science, underscoring the urgentneed to address these disparities. Additionally, studies have shown the detrimental impact of summer vacation on academic progress.Project stRIde (Science and Technology Reinforced by Innovative Dietary Education) is a summer camp and family program thataims to address disparities in the STEAM-academic achievement gap as well as dietary behaviors and food related skills among youth who are at higher risk. Changes/Problems:Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the Family Night Program 4-part series was not able to be held in the Fall of 2020. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?All staff attended the October 2020 and June 2021 CYFAR conference. Some staff participated in relevant networking calls throughout the year. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The expert content review formative evaluation was submitted and accepted as an abstract to the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior 2021 Conference. This information will be disseminated to all expert content reviewers, including our community partners. Based on the expert content review and the unexpected time (due to COVID-19 restrictions) to amplify the curriculum through video content, the final curricula was sent to both the BGC of Providence and BGC of Newport County for review, comments and suggestions. Results of the pilot will be shared with the community partners in the upcoming months after the summer youth program finishes and data is analyzed. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next reporting period (Fall 2021-Summer 2022), we plan to pilot a modified version of our Family Night Program that will include virtual programming. This modification is due to COVID-19 restrictions by the community partners. We also plan to fully implement our summer youth program at twocommunty partner sites and collect control groupdata as well.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Despite social distancing, we maintained communication with community partners, the CYFAR team, and experts in the field to cultivate lasting relationships and collaboratively develop a sustainable program.There were a number of accomplishments under our project goals, listed below. (1) Project stRIde logos and a website were created and updated. Logosincludethe Project stRIdeacronym spelt out (Science & Technology Reinforced by Innovative Dietary Education) and one more public-friendly version that reads "STEAM + nutrition = making stRIdes!". The website: https://web.uri.edu/community-nutrition/cyfar/ provides an overview of the project, details about involved community partners, curriculum content, and the status of the project to date. This website will continue to be updated with curriculum content for facilitators, handouts for participants, and general information for the public. (2) During our extensive formative evaluation, which included surveys and interviews with community partners, we learned a few key themes including: how to effectively promote youth engagement, where increased guidance or lesson support is needed, activity level of difficulty, confidence in teaching lessons, time required for lessons, and cultural appropriateness. These themes were accounted for in our curriculum development to ensure that it best meets the needs of underservedand racially/ethnically diverse youth.One such change was reducing the curriulum from its intended 8 weeks to 6 weeks in length.Another important way we involved our community partners was by having three youth from the BGC of Newport County participate in our Lesson 2 video: "Food Group Scientific Explanations". (3) During this period, regularcommunication occurred with each community partnerto keep them abreast of our progress and to elicit feedback on the summer camp curriculum, Family Night Program, and other program logistics. Meetings provided answers to key details for successful recruitment and programming at each site. Discussions about the summer camp program entailed: social distancing restrictions, space and equipment at the site, program duration, youth participation estimates, summer camp sign-up logistics with families, strategies for communication with parents/caregivers, and summer dates/times for the series. Discussions about the Family Night Programs included locations, lesson topics, and effectively retaining families. While our original CYFAR grant proposed holding the Family Night Program the Providence Children's Museum, community partners felt that the BGC sites may be a better location to increase family involvement and attendance. (4) Our 6-week summer camp program is currently being piloted this summer (Summer 2021) at the BGC of Newport County and BGC Providence with data collection underway. Overall, our community partners were actively engaged in Project stRIde development and our relationships were strengthened during this planning and pilot implementation phases.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Potvin, J., Chappell, K., Balestracci, K., Greene, G., Sweetman, S., Amin, S. A Formative Evaluation of a STEAM and Nutrition Education Summer Program for Low-Income Youth. Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior Conference. 2021
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Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/20
Outputs
Target Audience:This project focuses on low-income, racially and ethnically diverse youth in grades 3-5 who attend summer programming at our community partner sites. The community partners are located in the city of Providence and city of Newport. In Providence, 85% ofyouth are FRPL-eligible, 64% Hispanic, 17% non-Hispanic Black, and 5% Asian. In Newport, 71.4% of youth are FRPL-eligible, 25% Hispanic, 16% non-Hispanic Black, and 2% Asian. These youth are at the forefront and focus while planning programs and creating content during this planning year. Changes/Problems:There were two significant changes occurred in Year 1 of the project. The first change was an adjustment in community partners. After receiving the news of the award, the community partners were contacted. One partner, the YWCA of Rhode Island, indicated that their summer camp structure had shifted since writing the letter of support and that it would not be feasible for the CYFAR program to be delivered. This was unfortunate, but the fortunately the Boys and Girls Club of Newport County was interested and excited to participate in the program. The second change was due to COVID-19 and the restrictions that URI Cooperative Extension placed on all face-to-face programs from March 2020-December 2020. Due to in-person restrictions, the summer youth pilot program could not be provided. While COVID-19 and Cooperative Extension restrictions havedelayed the timeline of the pilot and implementation/data collection of the programs, staff worked to create sustainability/technical support resources that were planned for in later years of the grant. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?In Year 1, professional development opportunities included relevant research articles and opportunity to virtually attend the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior 2020 conference. In addition, a graduate student has received further training towards community engagement programs. Lastly, the Co-PDs also participated in scheduled meetings with our CYFAR Coach to enhance our project planning goals. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?A website (https://web.uri.edu/community-nutrition/cyfar/) will serve to keep community partners informed of how Project stRIde is progressing and provide updated results. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the time period that COVID-19 restricts any in-person programming, CYFAR staff will continue to develop and finalize all curriculums of the multi-level program, core staff will meet monthly, full committees will meet as needed to plan and prepare for programming, and sustainability/technical support resources will be produced. This will ensure a smooth start when in-person programming can resume and have sustainable/technical support resources done for future grant years. The goal is to pilot the summer youth program in the spring of 2021 as an afterschool program; if in-person is still restricted during that time or community partners do not advise of piloting in the afterschool setting, to offer the pilot in the summer of 2021.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The planning and development year (Year 1) of the RI CYFAR grant led to the creation of an innovative and interactive 6-week youth STEM curriculum, Project stRIde: Science & Technology Reinforced by Innovative Dietary Education. Through the development of this curriculum, we strengthened our relationships without community and Cooperative Extension partners who participated in an Expert Content Review Panel and not only provided invaluable input on the curriculum and program branding, but also worked collaborativelyto inform how Project stRIde could be effectively delivered to at risk youth. Committee participantsincluded the core CYFAR staff of primary investigators, nutrition educator, graduate student,and evaluation specialist;Cooperative Extension partners from 4-H; and the Boys and Girls Club of Providence and Boys and Girls Club of Newport County who are the community partners involved in the project. Committee meetings involved planning surrounding the curriculum development and project pilot. In addition to full committee meetings, the core CYFAR staff met monthly throughout Year 1 to make sure goals and objectives were accomplished. Per community partner input, the summer youth curriculum was designed to be 6 weeks in length. A team of nine Expert Content Reviewers reviewed a draft of the developed curriculum. Expert Content Reviewers included classroom science teachers, a nutrition educator, a curriculum development specialist, a STEM expert from 4-H,a cultural relevance expert, and out-of-school program leaders and educators.After reviewing the curriculum, these experts completed feedback forms and participated in an interview in order to collect comprehensive information to best improve the curriculum. In order to make the project easily identifiable to the audience and to show cohesiveness acrossthe various pieces of the project, the project was named "Project stRIde: Science & Technology Reinforced by Innovative Dietary Education" and a logo was created. This logo goes on all participant materials and the newly designed website for the project. Due to COVID-19 and restrictions that URI Cooperative Extension placed on face-to-face program delivery from March 2020-December 2020, a pilot of the summer youth program was not possible and virtual lessons were deemed by the community partner and core CYFAR staff to not be feasible. However, the CYFAR team continues to work hard towards the sustainability aspect of the project by creating digital train-the-trainer professional development and technical support resources (i.e. activity videos for lessons). In the future, these resources will allow community partners to effectively and consistently teach the curriculum material without CYFAR staff being present.
Publications
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