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Feeding PA: On a Mission to Help Our Neighbors in Need Jul 27, 2021

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About this Episode Time Stamps Q&A About our Guests Resources With over 53,000 farms in Pennsylvania, it is hard to imagine that anyone may be dealing with food scarcity in their household. Yet over 1.5 million Pennsylvanians were facing hunger prior to COVID-19, and that number soared to well over 5 million at the start of the pandemic. Here to help, Feeding PA is one of several organizations across the commonwealth that make up the charitable food network, and its leaders and volunteers are working hard to ensure that no one is going hungry in the state. On today’s episode of Keystone Education Radio, host Annette Stevenson speaks with Jane Clements, chief executive officer of Feeding PA, on the programs and partnerships the organization has with farmers, schools and even county fairs to support those in need. Skip to: 00:52 Can you give us an overview of the hunger and food scarcity issues that exist in Pennsylvania? “In just the first three months of the pandemic, our food bank saw 5.5 million people come through needing additional resources.” “What we saw in the beginning was people like that, they don’t look at the charitable food network as something they need. The face of hunger wasn’t them. So you saw people hoping this was temporary, but flying through their savings. So the challenge or the objective for us really became to get the word out to people that this is for you. We are here for anyone who is temporarily unemployed and beyond.” Skip to: 03:13 Are there any programs that you’re aware of in existence that tie local growers to the organizations that can help get the food to those in need? “There’s 53,000 farms in Pennsylvania. I often say for anyone to be struggling with food is outrageous. Not only that, a lot of that food can end up going to waste, and this is such a great win-win for us and agriculture.” Skip to: 04:37 What does the data tell us about the correlation between hunger and student performance? “The statistics tell us there are more behavioral issues, there are more trips to the nurse and there are more absentees. So we’ve really worked with a lot of the schools, the Department of Education and USDA to really promote the fact that every child should be able to have access to nutritious food, especially during the critical time when they’re at school.” Skip to: 05:32 In addition to Hunger Action Month, what are some of the other programs of your organization that might impact K-12 students and their families? “We do a lot of advocacy work with the federal legislators and state legislators, but throughout the year, the things that we do, our food banks definitely partner with school districts. We have afterschool feeding programs that some of our food banks sponsor.” “Through the waiver we got for non-congregate feeding sites, as we call it, a child is able to take that home and it reduces food waste. We often find that they are sometimes sharing with their siblings as well. But it also sometimes it’s just a lot more comfortable for families.” Skip to: 07:31 Are there other ways that COVID has, and the circumstances surrounding the past 15 months, other impacts to the work of your organization? “We are fortunate to be part of the Feeding America Network. It really was quite a time in history, I think for everybody. I’m really proud of the work we were well to accomplish.” Skip to: 09:22 Where can listeners find out more information or what are some ways they can help and support this cause? Q: So can you start by giving us an overview of the hunger and food scarcity issues that exist here in Pennsylvania? A: Sure. So hunger has been a long-time issue, unfortunately, in Pennsylvania. Prior to COVID-19, we had about 1.5 million Pennsylvanians facing hunger. People kind of cycle in and out of poverty based on what’s going on in their lives. That’s why COVID-19 was such a big issue for our food banks, because in just about less than a month, 1.9 million Pennsylvanians had filed for unemployment and we were seeing this new constituency of people who had never needed the charitable food network before in their lives. So when I talk about people and about 2 million coming in and out of our pantries over a year, in just the first three months of the pandemic, our food bank saw 5.5 million people come through needing additional resources. Q: These were individuals that perhaps had no experience with this support system before, as you mentioned. A: Absolutely. I mean, and I talk about this a lot, I always use this example, I had a friend who was a hairstylist and her husband owns a gym. Now overnight, the two of them had a great salary together, and now their mortgage is still coming, insurance bills are still coming, the car payments, all of that, but they have zero income. So what we saw in the beginning was people like that, they don’t look at the charitable food network as something they need. The face of hunger wasn’t them. So you saw people hoping this was temporary, but flying through their savings. So the challenge or the objective for us really became to get the word out to people that this is for you. We are here for anyone who is temporarily unemployed and beyond. So I think that was probably one of the more interesting things for us to see. It was hard. I went to a drive-in distribution last May and I told people so many times nobody wants to be in that line. I’ll tell you 100%, nobody wants to be in that situation. We even saw people handing out a dollar or two from their window saying like, “I’ve never done this before. I’m just unemployed right now. But I promise I’ll be giving back to the food banks when I get back on my feet.” Q: Yeah. Really challenging and unique situation. So agriculture’s obviously a leading industry in Pennsylvania. Are there any programs that you’re aware of in existence that tie local growers to the organizations that can help get the food to those in need? A: Yes, absolutely. Actually, Feeding Pennsylvania administers one of the main programs. It’s called the Pennsylvania Ag Surplus System, better known PASS. It is a state allocated program through the Department of Agriculture, and then we subcontract with our food banks and the money is to acquire surplus product from Pennsylvania farmers and processors. So we’ve done anything from working with dairy farms to take surplus milk and process it into cheese or yogurt or other dairy products. We work with egg producers. Sometimes we have to pay as little as 15 cents a dozen just to pay for the cartons for surplus eggs. We’ve paid farmers to get surplus B-grade apples out of the orchard. Actually, we’re working with state fairs now, some of the county fairs, excuse me, on working with the 4-H livestock sales to be able to allow people to donate an animal and we can use the money to process that into family size packaging. So yeah, you talk about agriculture. There’s 53,000 farms in Pennsylvania. I often say for anyone to be struggling with food is outrageous. Not only that, a lot of that food can end up going to waste, and this is such a great win-win for us and agriculture. Q: So what does the data tell us about the correlation between hunger and student performance? A: Well, I often, when I talk about this, I say, “I know I don’t perform well when I’m hungry.” So you can imagine a child who is growing and trying to learn and focus on their school work and then beyond even doing sports, and if they don’t have the proper nutrition they need, the statistics tell us there are more behavioral issues, there are more trips to the nurse and there are more absentees. So we’ve really worked with a lot of the schools, the Department of Education and USDA to really promote the fact that every child should be able to have access to nutritious food, especially during the critical time when they’re at school. Q: Absolutely. During their learning time and daytime hours when they’re so active, you know? A: Yes. Q: I mentioned Hunger Action Month. So in addition to Hunger Action Month, what are some of the other programs of your organization that might impact K through 12 students and their families? A: Sure. So, I mean, Hunger Action Month is really just a time for the charitable food network to take a moment and really shine a light on the issue of hunger. We do a lot of different events. We do a lot of advocacy work with the federal legislators and state legislators, but throughout the year, the things that we do, our food banks definitely partner with school districts. We have afterschool feeding programs that some of our food bank sponsor. Most recently prior to COVID, we’re doing school pantries. So some schools actually designate a classroom to become a school pantry, therefore being able to serve not only families at the school, but people in the community at certain hours. We’ve been able to work with our federal and state legislators to advocate for the waivers that came through this year as part of COVID, which allowed more people to receive more free and reduced school lunch and breakfast. But also for afterschool feeding programs, it used to be the rule that if a child came to an afterschool feeding program, our summer feeding program, they had to receive their meal. They had to everything in the meal. If they didn’t finish, you had to throw it out. You could not take it with you and you had to eat it there. So through the waiver we got for non-congregate feeding sites, as we call it, a child is able to take that home and it reduces food waste. We often find that they are sometimes sharing with their siblings as well. But it also sometimes it’s just a lot more comfortable for families. Especially in the rural parts of Pennsylvania when it’s hard to get somewhere to pick up a meal every day when you had something like COVID where schools were closed, the waiver allowed them to take multiple meals home. So they were only dragging the kids in the car one day a week to pick up their meals rather than every single day. Q: That makes so much sense. So you mentioned the numbers of families that were in need of support due to COVID. Are there other ways that COVID has, and the circumstances surrounding the past 15 months, other impacts to the work of your organization? A: Absolutely. So typically, when you went into a pantry prior to COVID, it was kind of like a shopping situation. We call it the choice model. So you’d walk around and grab what you needed. Really, COVID made all of that a challenge when you were trying to do social distancing and there was a lot of misinformation about whether or not touching something could spread the virus. So we shifted to a boxed model, which was an enormous change to what we did and having to even work with our volunteers on the social distancing aspect and the disinfecting of even creating those boxes. But a lot of our food banks are still doing this boxed model. It allowed for what you saw on television, Pittsburgh Food Bank was pretty famous for this, you allowed families to do a drive-through non-touch distribution. You popped your trunk. We put the box of food in. USDA actually started taking on that role as well and did some of the Farmers [to] Families food boxes. In Feeding Pennsylvania, we got even extra money through the Cares Program, and we were able to create our own boxes with Pennsylvania agricultural products as well. So yes, it was definitely a challenge. It was a challenge in our own workforce in a lot of ways. I mean, we all have families. I have two children and everybody is trying to balance how they’re going to continue to provide the services we provide while also trying to balance our personal lives. But overall, we have a really strong network. We are fortunate to be part of the Feeding America Network. It really was quite a time in history, I think for everybody. I’m really proud of the work we were well to accomplish. Q: Much needed service and support that you all were providing as well as the national level. A: Yes. Q: So listeners to the podcast, where can they find out more information or what are some ways that they can help and support this cause? A: Sure. So our website is feedingpa.org where you can learn about all of our members, and then also a lot of our other programs. One of the programs I love is our Healthy Pantry Initiative. We actually have a registered dietician on staff and nutrition educators that are working with pantries on helping families kind of understand a little bit more about nutrition and how it supports you. During COVID, we actually did some kid-related, children-related recipes and little activities that you could do when you have your children at home and you’re like, “Well, what are we going to do together?” using products that you would receive in a food pantry. But I mean, I certainly am not someone that goes to a food pantry, but I found myself even having fun going on there and taking a look at it. So feedingpa.org is where you can find out more. Jane Clements, CEO of Feeding Pennsylvania Jane Clements is the Chief Executive Officer at Feeding Pennsylvania. She was appointed Executive Director in June of 2015. Serving as a statewide voice on hunger issues, Jane spends her time advocating for policies that support hungry families on both the state and federal levels. Under her leadership, Feeding Pennsylvania has launched a number of new initiatives, including Fill a Glass with Hope ®, the nation’s first statewide charitable fresh milk distribution program, the Mid-Atlantic Regional Cooperative (MARC), a produce cooperative that distributes 30 million pounds of produce annually to 25 food banks in the Mid-Atlantic region; and the Healthy Pantry Initiative, a new program in partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Health that will incentivize pantries to increase healthy food and beverages for the people they serve. In her role, Jane serves on the state’s Mass Care Feeding Task Force through the PA Department of Human Resources and oversees a Disaster Response Committee, responding to both in and out of state disasters. In 2017, Jane was appointed by the PA Secretary of Agriculture to serve on the Emergency Food Assistance Advisory Council and is active in Governor Wolf’s Food Security Partnership. Prior to joining Feeding Pennsylvania, Jane served as the Annual Giving and Fundraising Event Officer for The Guthrie Clinic, a nonprofit integrated health system located in north central Pennsylvania and Upstate New York. In this capacity, Jane was responsible for all aspects of the organization’s major fundraising events and internal annual giving campaigns. Before that, Jane worked for Chesapeake Energy, a major producer of natural gas in the United States, as a manager in corporate development, overseeing all community relations, outreach, and education in Chesapeake’s northeastern Pennsylvania operating area. Feeding Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Agriculture Surplus System (PASS) The post Feeding PA: On a Mission to Help Our Neighbors in Need appeared first on Keystone Education Radio.

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Language Differences: Harnessing Virtual Tools for Literacy Jul 13, 2021

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About this Episode Time Stamps Q&A About our Guests Resources When teaching a class full of students with diverse backgrounds, multiple home languages and varying literacy levels, the challenge for teachers is finding the best way to reach each student. Danielle Murray, a school-based teacher leader at Gilbert Spruance Elementary School in Philadelphia, specializes in coaching teachers to make sure students have the supports they need to build a strong literacy foundation, whether they are learning in school or from home. On today’s episode of Keystone Education Radio, host Annette Stevenson speaks with Murray on scaffolding literacy instruction using adaptive online programs for English learners, and the remarkable growth and achievement these programs are bringing to students’ thinking and reading abilities. Skip to: 00:54 What is your role within the district and what has your experience been like teaching English language learners? “My main parts of my job are coaching teachers to make sure that students have the supports that they need to be able to build a strong literacy foundation, whether they are learning from at school and at home.” Skip to: 02:39 Was it that early experience that you mentioned that led you to become a proponent of virtual instruction for students learning English? “Being able to provide them with those adaptive online programs that are giving them that immediate feedback, instead of that pencil and paper activity, it’s more engaging for the students. They’re getting that immediate feedback and they can be metacognitive about their thinking, about their reading.” Skip to: 05:22 What are some of the challenges of teaching in the virtual space? “How do we make sure that we’re meeting the social and emotional needs of our students? … They come with these different life experiences. And if we don’t hold them up, or at least recognize the struggles that they’ve been through, then they’re not going to be socially and emotionally ready to be able to learn within our classroom environment.” Skip to: 08:19 What virtual technology solutions have been or are being implemented to teach English as a new language? “As they’re listening to the teacher who is speaking in English, they’re actually being able to read what the teacher is saying in their native language, so kind of like bridge that gap.” Skip to: 10:00 Are there advantages to educational technology over print resources for English language learners “If we take anything out of this pandemic in our educational society, it should be that if we go back into our classrooms next year and we teach the same way that we were teaching pre-pandemic, then we’re doing our kids and we’re doing education such a disservice.” Skip to: 12:12 How do you target instruction to meet the needs of each student in a virtual environment? “So it’s just not taking that data … It shouldn’t just be collected and sit somewhere. I have to do something with it, I have to constantly be looking at it and looking at the student. But also, more importantly, is the student needs to know that data. What does it mean? What am I doing when I’m working or I’m engaging with these adaptive online programs? And then how is my teacher using that to make sure that I’m making significant progress towards reaching my goals?” “It’s real-time, right? It can tell me right then and there, if they’re thinking right or if their thinking is not right. And then as a teacher, I can kind step back and take a snapshot.” Skip to: 14:51 Was there anything that you found that was surprising about teaching English learners during the pandemic? “We can say that even though we were in this virtual environment, with all the supports that we provided and put in place for our students, they still grew almost the full academic year with learning, in literacy, by being able to support them with these adaptive online programs.” Skip to: 15:47 How do you suspect students learning English will transition back to the classroom full-time in the fall? What role will virtual technology play to support the kids? “We’re going to have to figure out how we continue to use all these tools with our students who are coming back in person.” Q: So could you start by telling us a bit about your role within the district and then perhaps sharing some background about your experience teaching English language learners? A: Absolutely. So currently I’m a school-based teacher leader at Gilbert Spruance Elementary School. And I focus mainly on literacy curriculum from K to eight. So my main parts of my job are coaching teachers to make sure that students have the supports that they need to be able to build a strong literacy foundation, whether they are learning from at school and at home. So throughout my 20 years at the school district of Philadelphia, I started as a teacher. I moved into a specialized position as a reading specialist, and I’m finally finished up as a school-based literacy lead. So I’ve supported the English language learners in many ways. When I first started with the school district, I taught at a bilingual school. And so our students were fluent in both English and in Spanish. So it was just one main language that we had as a secondary support for our students who were learning English. And so supporting those students would be about bringing in background knowledge. And then as I moved into Spruance Elementary School where our students speak 31 different languages, wow, what a shift that was, really. Because it wasn’t just Spanish that we could support. And our students came from all over the world, not just the central America location. And so, being able to adapt to those students and making sure that how we scaffold our instruction and how we differentiated it for the varied levels of learners, was really going to help those students to excel in their growth, not only in their foundational skills, but learning the English language — the print language, the spoken language, and the written language as well. Q: And so was it that early experience that you mentioned, before Spruance Gilbert, that led you to become a proponent of virtual instruction for students learning English? Where did that come about? A: So as a leader at Gilbert Spruance Elementary School, looking at, we have a motto of “Every Kid, Every Day, in Every Class.” And with a third of our students that are English language learners, we had to do something different than we had been doing in the past. So we shifted into this blended learning practice. And we got accepted for a blended learning grant and our students in six to eight, we were one to two with technology. So, wow, that was awesome. And then, so we brought in some adaptive programs to help support the instruction. So students were split, and they rotated around three separate groups to make sure that each student got what they needed. So it was teacher-led instruction, it was independent activities, and then it was an adaptive online-based program. And so, making sure that each student was getting what they needed in this virtual world, before we went to the pandemic piece, right? So, how do we make sure, as a teacher and as an educator, that I can provide all the students in my room with this instruction? So as a teacher, I’m working with a small group of students, or maybe even a third of the class. Now, what are the rest of the students doing? Being able to provide them with those adaptive online programs that are giving them that immediate feedback, instead of that pencil and paper activity, it’s more engaging for the students. They’re getting that immediate feedback and they can be metacognitive about their thinking, about their reading. So they can change their answers, they can switch their thinking a little bit. So that’s kind of where we shifted into this virtual instruction for students and making sure that it wasn’t just all pencil and paper, and that we tried to move our students into 21st century learning skills. Q: And you touched upon this, mentioning that this was prior to COVID and the world going virtual and remote. A: Yeah, so we had a head start, right? So we had at least somewhere to begin. So if we didn’t know where to begin, we could at least start with using our adaptive programs to help to meet our students’ needs, because our students knew about the programs, they knew how to navigate. And so if we weren’t doing anything, at least we knew in the beginning of the pandemic that our students were having access to this. And we were showing growth, using this blended learning type of model. And then the pandemic comes along and it just throws us into it. And so, if teachers were a little bit reluctant to it, they had no choice but to adapt this style now, based on the learning situation of the last year and a half. Q: Yeah, absolutely. What are some of the challenges, if there are any, that you’d want to highlight, of teaching in the virtual space? A: Wow, so there were so many challenges. So our first challenge that we actually had to face was access. Does everybody have equal access to technology? Does every student have a Chromebook? And so, the district worked really hard to make sure in the beginning that each student had access to technology and had access to Chromebooks. And then once we had that computer in the student’s hand, well, do they have access to reliable Wi-Fi? Do they know how to access those hotspots? So, it did take a little bit of time for everybody to navigate, and then making sure that we have all students. How do we make sure that all of our students are showing up every day? And then the next thing was the English language proficiency of our students. So our students really ranged from non-English speakers to completely proficient students. And so for our non-English speakers, it was not only, how do I navigate the regular school, but now how am I supposed to navigate these lessons when I’m unable to understand the spoken language that the teacher is telling me? In the real school space, at least we could be hand over hand, or we could be modeling and we could showing. So it took some time for kids to be able to A, log on to the Google Meet. B, be able to share their screen. Some of these technical glitches, that was really hard at first for our students. And then as we continued to move forward, and some of the other difficult challenges were the changes, and so now we were all virtual and then we went to hybrid instruction. And so we went through a period of about three or four months where we were constantly changing schedules. Okay, this is our schedule for this week, this is our schedule for that week. So the predictability pattern of what kids are used to in the classroom, they didn’t really have. So one of the things that, and then at the end with the state requirements of having their kids take the PSSA testing. There’s a lot of instructional time that was spent on giving the state testing and not instructing our students, is what they really needed. So that was one of the important cases. And then one of the other challenges, yeah, the last thing, it was just like, how do we make sure that we’re meeting the social and emotional needs of our students? So our students come to us, especially our English language learners, they come to us, but do we think about all the experiences and possible trauma that they’ve had in coming to this country? Or to making their journey into this education? Have they had any formal schooling from where they came from? Was schooling a top priority in the country that they had come from before, or were they just trying to survive? So trying to realize that all of our kids come, so A, they come with different language abilities, and then B, they come with these different life experiences. And if we don’t hold them up, or at least recognize the struggles that they’ve been through, then they’re not going to be socially and emotionally ready to be able to learn within our classroom environment. Q: You touched upon a couple of names of technology solutions, but I’m going to ask anyway if there’s others? What virtual technology solutions have been or are being implemented to teach English as a new language? A: So one of the greatest programs that we use is Achieve 3000 with literacy boost, and that helps us with sentence stems. And it also helps the teacher informing our small group instruction and being able to offer each student the same ideas about texts but giving it to them at different levels. We use the Google platform, so Google Meet, Google Classroom, Google Docs, Google Slides, and also the Google Translate became a huge feature for our students. So one of the things that our students learned how to do, all on their own, surprisingly, was they learned how to turn on the closed captioning within the Google Meets. And then they changed their caption into their own language. So that as they’re listening to the teacher who is speaking in English, they’re actually being able to read what the teacher is saying in their native language, so kind of like bridge that gap. Our kids also, we use i-Ready, SMART Learning Suite online, Jamboard, Desmos, and then Lexia Core5 and PowerUp. So, we were not short on the technology that we had used within this virtual environment, but all of these pieces, not all of them, but some of these pieces we had used pre-virtual environment as well. Q: Yeah, so that’s good. You had some foundational elements at least. Now, I think you touched upon this earlier, the difference, but maybe there’s more to go into, are there advantages to educational technology over print resources for English language learners? A: So let’s think about it. This isn’t going away. So if we take anything out of this pandemic in our educational society, it should be that if we go back into our classrooms next year and we teach the same way that we were teaching pre-pandemic, then we’re doing our kids and we’re doing education such a disservice. But let’s think about it. So being able to differentiate our instruction for our students. So how do we do that? We do that by meeting with our kids in small groups, and then these adaptive programs do it without even thinking. So we take A, the Achieve 3000 takes a text and it breaks it down into multiple levels. And then the kids are getting real-time feedback about their thinking. So it tells them, “Hey, your thinking is right, or no, your thinking’s not right, let’s try that again.” And then if they still don’t get the answer right, then on the third try, it’ll give them the right answer and the reasoning behind it, versus pencil and paper. Okay, I’m going to do my assignment, I’m going to fill in my answers, I’m going to turn it into the teacher. And then maybe a week or two later, she’s going to give me my responses back. But my brain is just like, not even on that. I don’t even remember what I read two weeks ago, let alone where my thinking was when I was trying to answer those questions. So that real-time feedback is great for our kids, as well as our students being able to take the online text and being able to convert it into their language. So this works more for your students who are proficient in both languages. So there might be a bit of text that they’re not sure of. So they copy it and they paste it into the Google Translate, so that they can read it in their own language. So it’s bridging that gap between academic vocabulary, because they know what it means in their own language. Or if they’re looking for a word or a phrase in their language, they can then convert it back and forth. So, just having those non-pencil and paper activities for students to do and to become engaged in is really going to help accelerate our kids’ growth. Q: So, next I’m going to ask you about the stages here of targeted instruction and then measurement and monitoring. So let’s start with the targeted instruction. How do you target instruction…

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Opening the Door to Curiosity: Learning in the Garden Jun 29, 2021

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About this Episode Time Stamps Q&A About our Guests Resources Sometimes, hands-on learning is just what children need – whether it is to give them opportunity for self-direction, a break from the structure of the classroom, or in the case of the endeavors of The Edible Classroom in Lancaster County, PA, a chance at exposure to the growing process that sometimes results in a newfound enjoyment of eating their vegetables. On today’s episode of Keystone Education Radio, host Annette Stevenson speaks with the non-profit’s founders Grace Julian and Beth Horst on their group’s mission to get kids out of the classroom and into the dirt. Skip to: 00:49 What is Edible Classroom and how did it get started? “We just knew the benefits of it and so, hence the Edible Classroom came to be formed.” Skip to: 02:14 What are the ways that you might work with a school district and K through 12 aged students? “We always incorporate the state standards and we’re very fortunate to be able to do that in a way that happens very organically, because everything that we do is really covered by a state standard.” “The beauty of it is a garden can cover so many different bases and there’s so many opportunities for a variety of programs so we kind of have a little bit of everything.” Skip to: 04:45 How does involving children in gardening improve self-esteem? “And as children are in a controlled environment, many times where they are scheduled to do things, the outdoor environment allows freedom of exploration, freedom of observation, that culminates just good mental health as they’re able to self-direct.” Skip to: 06:07 Is there a correlation between K-12 students being involved in such a program and then actually on the science achievement side? “We can see the learning take place in the garden through the students’ hands-on application of a topic that they heard about and now they’re actually seeing in real life.” Skip to: 09:29 What are some of the Edible Classroom’s biggest impacts or accomplishments? “We are giving the children the opportunity to participate in the garden and we find across the board that their investment in the process will not guarantee that they like everything, but it will open the door to curiosity, to maybe trying what it is that they’ve been tending and watering.” “We see the impacts all the time and just, those are very meaningful to us and what we do and reinforcing that what we’re doing is really good for these kids.” Skip to: 12:37 If a school district is interested in working with you to get a program started, how do they begin? “We love to meet with schools to try to facilitate whatever it is they want to do.” Skip to: 13:46 If parents want to begin gardening with their children at home, do you have any suggestions for how to begin that in sort of a manageable way? “Rather than head straight into a full-size garden, I think starting small will guarantee your success.” Skip to: 15:24 What is your favorite thing to plant and grow? “I love to plant and grow tomatoes and I always plant too many.” “I love … gardening simply and picking something straight from the vine and popping it in your mouth is a very simple way to eat. And I appreciate that in our very busy lifestyles.” Q: So let’s start by, if you wouldn’t mind telling us a bit about Edible Classroom and how you got started. A (Grace): We’re a nonprofit organization and we exist to teach children where real food comes from. We partner with schools and communities in the area to develop learning gardens where the students can see and touch and feel, smell, taste, whole foods. A (Beth): Yeah. So we got started, Grace and I had both independently started school gardens at our children’s elementary schools and served as the volunteer garden coordinators there. So we were able to see a garden start to finish from the ground up, which was incredibly important and influential in what we did later. But as we got through the process and saw not only the value of it, but also how much work it took, we realized that this could be more than just a volunteer position. And in fact, we started to research and found many organizations across the country, nonprofit garden organizations that we thought, “Okay, we need to bring this to Lancaster in a more formalized way.” And we just knew the benefits of it and so, hence the Edible Classroom came to be formed. Q: Great. In what year did Edible Classroom formally begin? A (Grace): That’ll be 2017, in the spring of that year. Q: Great. What are the ways that you might work with a school district and K through 12 aged students? A (Grace): Right. Many of our schools look at the school garden as an onsite field trip for seed to harvest activities, as well as that refreshing brain break from the inside the classroom to the outside the classroom for students to explore and observe what’s happening in nature. A (Beth): And so we provide regular garden education sometimes during the school day and we always try to… Well, we always incorporate the state standards and we’re very fortunate to be able to do that in a way that happens very organically, because everything that we do is really covered by a state standard, whether it be science. Even starting with a seed packet, when you look at the seed packet and we’re teaching the children to read the seed packet for the planting depth, for the days to harvest, and calculating that. The nutritional value of the vegetables covers a food science standard so we’re integrating the science, the math, the nutrition. We do a lot of literature-based reading, read alouds with the children. And there are just… Everything that we do is really just covered in the state standards without us having to really work to get it in there. It naturally fits, so we work in that way. A (Grace): And most of our programs culminate with the eating element, thus the Edible Classroom is our name and that’s something that all children enjoy. Q: Absolutely. It’s a motivator, even if they don’t, at the beginning understand that they might be interested in the other aspects of it. A (Beth): Right. And we also offer garden camps, afterschool garden clubs, and then a variety of programs that are customized to really whatever a school wants or to whether another organization, an outside organization might want. So we do a variety of programs and we always have those similar elements, that’s the aiding component is huge and the educational piece comes with the territory. As we’re talking about gardening, the kids are learning without even knowing they’re learning. So, really the beauty of it is a garden can cover so many different bases and there’s so many opportunities for a variety of programs so we kind of have a little bit of everything. Q: Neat. So, I think on your website, I read a bit about self-esteem, right. And so how does involving children in gardening improve self-esteem? How does it relate to that? A (Beth): Right. Well, there’s definitely research that shows that gardening and outdoor education promote self-esteem. I was just actually looking at a book that I had read a long time ago by Richard Louv called Last Child In The Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder. And he speaks to the way nature impacts just our emotional health and our emotional wellbeing by connecting us to the world around us. And as children are in a controlled environment, many times where they are scheduled to do things, the outdoor environment allows freedom of exploration, freedom of observation, that culminates just good mental health as they’re able to self-direct. And we all know, and I think people are coming to realize even more so, the mind-body connection. And so any wellness activity, anything that is good for our body health-wise is going to be good for our emotional and our mental health. And so we see it with the kids in the garden. We see when they make connections, how kids that may not normally love to learn by reading in a book or writing, make the connection by growing something, nurturing something and gaining confidence through doing that. Q: And also, let’s talk about the science achievement scores. Is there a correlation between K through 12 students being involved in such a program and then actually on the science achievement side? A (Beth): Yes. There are documented research studies that show a correlation between higher science achievement and learning in a garden or having the garden as a teaching tool. And so it’s actually one of the goals of ours to measure even more so, as we can, being relatively new and then with COVID taking some things out of the loop. We’re really working to see how we can better measure what we’re doing. And so, as we are having these opportunities to repeat with schools and spend more time within the schools, we hope to evaluate that for ourselves. But we do know that when kids are learning hands-on, they’re going to retain it so much better than if they’re just listening to it in a traditional classroom. And both of them are important and work hand in hand. So, we can see the learning take place in the garden through the students’ hands-on application of a topic that they heard about and now they’re actually seeing in real life. A (Grace): Many of our teachers that we work with comment how appreciative they are of, say, they just finished a lesson on seed germination and here we are out in the garden, watering our little seedlings that just germinated from the last week when they were out planting. And so, it’s a really nice layering of the education they’re receiving in the classroom. Q: And so we’ve talked about sort of the academic piece to some degree and the self-esteem piece. And then there is clearly a health benefit for the long term. This broader understanding of healthful foods that may or may not be something that’s being taught in every home, so it’s hopefully bringing that information into a child’s life for the long term, just from having that experience. A (Beth): I have to just say this morning, in one of our programs, we harvested lettuce and spinach and carrots and beets from the garden and we made salads and it was 23 children that came to this community garden space. And every single one of them tried the salad and seemed to enjoy it. Everybody finished their salad. We didn’t make them huge. And we were able to then connect and say, “Okay. Did it taste a little bit better because it was fresh from the garden?” And then we also were able to talk about the nutritional value of the things that we eat. And we talked about things that are good to eat all the time and things that maybe you want to reserve to some of the time so that the kids… I said, “Try to keep moving things into the things that I should eat all the time, fresh fruits and vegetables. And some of the things that you might really enjoy, the sodas or the McDonald’s or whatever, try to move those into the some of the time.” And so we were able to talk about the nutritional benefits and good fuel for our bodies that help us feel better. And they were very responsive to that. It was really neat. Q: A nice way to introduce those vegetables that some kids are not as fond of. And so, since you began in 2017, what are some of the Edible Classroom’s biggest impacts or accomplishments, if you have any that you can identify? A( Grace): Spring boarding off what Beth just said, I think some of our biggest impacts are evidenced in the conversations we have with children right out there in the school garden. Marley is a little fourth grader that last year said, “My mom’s going to be so surprised. I liked everything here and I never eat vegetables at home.” And so here we are giving the children the opportunity to participate in the garden and we find across the board that their investment in the process will not guarantee that they like everything, but it will open the door to curiosity, to maybe trying what it is that they’ve been tending and watering. We’ve been harvesting broccoli because tis the season here in our school garden and a little girl just this week said, “I like it this time.” She had tried broccoli before on other occasions, didn’t like it, but this time after we planted it, watered it, read a book about it, she was more inclined to try it and she ended up being the last to try it at the tasting table, because she was anxious to try more. Q: That’s pretty funny. I mean, first of all, the freshness, as you’ve mentioned before the freshness, I don’t think that can be beat. And then having her hands on the actual process of growing, I’m sure had some incentive there. A (Beth): That’s on the individual level, we see the impacts all the time and just, those are very meaningful to us and what we do and reinforcing that what we’re doing is really good for these kids. We knew it already, but just hearing that, but on a broader scale, when we look at the amount of produce we harvested last year over the summer and fall, almost 900 pounds of produce, 854 pounds. And we’ve harvested more than that in the past too. So, that is food that we are sending home with kids to their families, for them to enjoy. We’ve been able to share it with food banks. We’ve been able to share it with apartment complexes. We’ve been able to partner with other organizations to help meet that need as well. And we were able to offer an outdoor classroom in the fall during COVID for parents who were looking for something when their kids weren’t in school. Some kids were in school for two days and were out for three, so we offered an outdoor classroom so that they could have a meaningful place to go and could still do their schoolwork. We facilitated that, but then had the garden component as well. So, those are ways that we feel have been so beneficial to build our community too. It goes beyond, we have the micro level that Grace shared and it just kind of fingers out into the community with the families and then the broader organizations and businesses that might be interested in what we’re doing. Q: And so, that brings me kind of to my next question. If a school district is interested in working with you to get a program started, how do they begin? Where should they go? A (Beth): Well, on our website, there’s a contact form. They can look at WWW.THEEDIBLECLASSROOM.ORG, and there’s a contact form on there and our information is on there as well to reach out. And we love to meet with schools to try to facilitate whatever it is they want to do. We know that many schools want to get started and aren’t sure how, and it was actually a catalyst for why we started an organization because many schools want to do this and don’t have the time because they have so many responsibilities. So, we are able to come in and direct the conversation to do what they want to do and partner with them if they’d like our help, or if they’d like to go it alone, we can help facilitate that depending on their volunteer base. Or we can do a combination of the two and really customize to what they would like. So, it all starts at that first meeting and just hearing their vision and then putting the pieces together for them. Q: Okay. And you mentioned that there are summer camp programs, things like that. And then at home, if parents want to begin gardening with their children at home, do you have any suggestions for how to begin that in sort of a manageable way? And the reason I say manageable is if there’s a family that doesn’t already have a garden begun, how can they get started and kind of what’s the ideal month to begin? Do you have any suggestions in that area? A (Grace): Yeah. We think starting small is always a good thing to do. So your family could pick a favorite vegetable to grow this year. It’s not too late now. This is a good time too. You’re in the beginning of summer to start these warm season crops. Pick your favorite and either start it from seed or purchase a plant at a local nursery. And if you don’t have a…

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The Inseparable Tie Between Board Culture and Effectiveness Jun 15, 2021

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About this Episode Time Stamps Q&A About our Guests Resources Simply put, board culture defines how a group of leaders interact and how they get their work done. But how is culture established, and who is responsible for maintaining a healthy environment? Learn more about what it takes to operate a board effectively, efficiently and productively, and why leadership is the responsibility of seasoned board members and newcomers alike. In this episode of Keystone Education Radio, host Annette Stevenson speaks with two PSBA colleagues, Chief Legal Officer Stuart Knade and Senior Training Manager Will Smeltzer, about board culture, reorganization, and what to do when your board is facing a challenge. Skip to: 01:05 What is board culture? “When we think about board culture, we’re really thinking of team culture.” Skip to: 01:36 What’s the significance or impact of a school board’s culture on the overall school district? “One of the most important responsibilities of a school board is to ensure that the public has trust in their ability to provide the best education for students.” Skip to: 03:24 Who is responsible for keeping a pulse of the board’s culture and then addressing the issues as they arise? “I would say it’s everyone’s responsibility. Every member of the board’s responsibility to keep a pulse on the board’s culture.” Skip to: 04:16 How does [PSBA’s Principles for Governance and Leadership] support a board in their work and their culture? “Nobody has to start from scratch, building their board culture. You have this foundation that starts you off in a big head start.” Skip to: 07:55 What is the importance of establishing onboarding procedures and orientation for new members of the board? “We have to really consider our approach to welcoming and assimilating new members to the team because it has a huge impact on our culture. And it has a huge impact on our productivity and how successful we can be in supporting the district and providing the best education for all students.” “On September 27th, 2021, we are having our Start Strong onboarding event where every attending district will receive PSBA’s onboarding manual, the first year at-a-glance, some team building activities and some other supporting materials.” Skip to: 12:01 What is Robert’s Rules of Order and how do it fit into board culture? “I often say that the most important decision when you are deciding who’s going to be your board president . . . isn’t really which faction of the board they align with, what their personal philosophies are. But can they chair a good meeting? And do they have the courage to really protect, to be a defender of board culture and proper decorum?” Skip to: 15:03 How does school board reorganization and board culture fit together? “In the context of board organization, it’s also important to remember that you may elect a president annually but empowering that board president to do what needs to be done, both for the benefit of the board’s culture, the benefit of the board getting its work done, for the benefit of the district, that needs to be continuous.” Skip to: 17:10 In terms of board culture, all members are leaders. Tell us what is meant by that. “We consider all members a leader in keeping a pulse on the board’s culture and making sure that it’s a healthy, productive, successful, effective culture, ultimately for the success of the school district.” Q: Well, can you start by describing what is board culture? Define that term, if you would, please. A (Will): Sure. So when we think about board culture, we’re really thinking of team culture. And the common saying is culture is simply how we get things done. It’s really how the board operates. So in regards to a board culture, we’re really looking at is the board effective? Is the board productive? Is the board successful in meeting the responsibilities within its position in the district and supporting the district? Q: So Will, what’s the significance or impact of a school board’s culture on the overall school district? A (Will): Right. So a school board is part of the district’s leadership team of 10. It’s the nine locally elected directors and the superintendent working together as the team of 10. And when you think of culture, we often hear that culture starts at the top. Culture starts with leadership. There’s a great quote from the National School Boards Association. It comes from their Key Work of School Boards Guidebook and it says, “School district leadership needs to pay attention to the culture it exhibits and exemplifies because this culture permeates the classrooms directly affecting teaching.” So when we think about when a school board meets at a public meeting, the way in which they interact, the way in which they operate, the way in which they get things done has a real impact on the district — not only the board, the administration, the district staff, but the student’s learning and also the public’s trust and the board’s ability to get the work done. And that’s really important when we think about culture. One of the most important responsibilities of a school board is to ensure that the public has trust in their ability to provide the best education, or supporting the district in providing the best education for students. And when we have an ineffective culture and an unhealthy culture, it typically can lead to the erosion of the public’s trust, which then makes the board’s job that much more difficult. And then you’ll see that there’s people from the community that actively want to join the board because they think they can do a more effective job. A (Stuart): And dysfunction on a board, which happens when you don’t have a healthy culture or a productive culture, radiates downward into the administration and the district staff. And so those effects have an impact far beyond just the public’s perception. Q: Yeah. Broad reaching impacts, it sounds like from what you’ve described. Who is responsible for keeping a pulse of the board’s culture and then addressing, or at least helping to address the issues as they arise? A (Will): So as we think of a school board as a team of 10, I would say it’s everyone’s responsibility. Every member of the board’s responsibility to keep a pulse on the board’s culture. And then in regards to whose responsibility is to address issues as they arise, the leader of the board is the board president. So it is their responsibility to, again, make sure that issues are addressed when we’re thinking of a healthy, productive culture. We can’t sweep things under the rug and act like they don’t exist and they’re not there. So it’s really important for the board presidents to take that leadership role when there are issues in the way in which the board operates and works together to address it. But the first part of the question, everyone on the board, it’s their responsibility to keep a pulse of the board’s culture. Q: Yeah. Great. That’s good information. So, PSBA has something called PSBA’s Principles for Governance and Leadership. How does that support a board in their work and their culture? A (Will): Right. So the Principles for Governance and Leadership, we have seven principles with 31 associated actions. And it’s really a framework, a guide for effective, successful, productive school boards across Pennsylvania. And we really use this as the framework for our culture. I know Stuart had mentioned as we were talking, preparing for this podcast, that really the principles are the foundation of the board’s culture. And when we talk about issues arising as the board president, if you have to have a conversation with a director about an action, something they did, point it back to the principles. That’s really your guide, your framework, for successful school boards. A (Stuart): And to tie it into what we talked about a moment ago, everybody is responsible for helping to maintain and establish board culture. And using the Principles for Governance and Leadership as a foundation, give each member of the board something to point to to say, “Hey, we need to stick to these particular aspects of how our culture should operate. These are things we’ve agreed should guide us in our work and make us more successful.” So when there are deviations, anybody should speak up but primarily, the board president’s the first. And the members need to hold the board president accountable for doing that job, for doing that job effectively. A (Will): And I would like to add that we encourage boards across Pennsylvania to adopt the principles as part of their policy. To check to see if a board has adopted it as part of their policy would be the 011 policy within their local board procedures, their 000 section. Not to get too specific, but adopt the principles as part of policy. And then also any district or board that’s a member of PSBA can annually take our board self-assessment, which is centered around the principles. So, you take the board self-assessment survey. Each member of the board takes the survey, you get your results. And then you can have a conversation around what are our strengths and meeting of the principles and where are our areas for improvement and meeting what’s outlined in the principles. A (Stuart): So nobody has to start from scratch, building their board culture. You have this foundation that starts you off in a big head start. Q: Right. And that sort of annual confirmation or readoption is kind of making sure that boards keep it really front of mind as they operate. Is that correct? A (Stuart): Well I would say it’s even more than that. The self-assessment process is not just talking about the principles in the abstract. It’s a process by which the board self-examines and says, “Are we doing this? Do we have work to do to make sure we’re doing this the way it should be done?” Q: Making sure it’s put into practice. A (Stuart): Exactly. A (Will): I was going to say is what we recommend is after they take the survey, they get their board self-assessment results. And again, outlining where their strengths and their areas for improvement and then coming together and setting some board goals around how a board operates based on the survey feedback. Let’s say, there’s a principle known as communicate clearly. If the board scored low in that category, they could have a discussion and create some goals around how they can more effectively communicate clearly as a team with the administration, with the school community, and so on. So, board self-assessment centered around the principles is a great service that PSBA provides. And again, every member of district of PSBA can take it annually. Q: Great. Good to know. So each of the nine elected school board directors holds their seats for a term of four years, barring special circumstances. And with the superintendent of each district, that makes a team of 10. The team of 10 is changing regularly, cyclically. What is the importance of establishing onboarding procedures and orientation for new members of the board? And how about also mentoring programs? How does that fit in? A (Will): I’ll start with pointing back to board policy. If following PSBA’s numbering policy system, the 004 membership policy should outline orientation, new member orientation. Who is responsible typically is the superintendent and the board president and also the information they are responsible for providing. Reviewing that policy and thinking about all of the information a new director has to learn when they join the team of 10, simply put, more needs done. So we recommend starting with orientation, but then considering a comprehensive onboarding process. What I mean by that is start with orientation, but don’t end with orientation. Once someone’s seated after the organization meeting in December, have your initial new member orientation. But then have a three-month check-in, have a six-month check-in, a nine-month check-in, a 12-month check-in. We recommend that because if you consider how people learn, if I come to the board and I don’t know much about education, I don’t know much about the school board and the new member orientation, you tell me everything. Well, a lot of that information is in one ear, out the other. But after a three-month check-in and I’ve had experience in two or three board meetings, and then we review some information from orientation, but then maybe you add some more information, I can better grapple with it and grasp it and understand it because I have that experience. And then we made it a six-month check-in. Again, I have more experience to review previous information, but then to take in more information. So as I think about the team changing so often, we have to really consider our approach to welcoming and assimilating new members to the team because it has a huge impact on our culture. And it has a huge impact on our productivity and how successful we can be in supporting the district and providing the best education for all students. A (Stuart): And in my mind, a good onboarding program will also include what I like to call learning plan so that for each new member of the board, they are introduced and introduced to where many of the places they can learn more about the business of the school district, and the business of the board, the functions of the board, including all of the training programs that we have available from PSBA publications and other resources, as well as those that may exist at the local level. And if each new member of the board has a roadmap for saying, “Here’s what my goals are for learning over the next three months, six months or a year,” that will also contribute greatly to the success of that onboarding program. A (Will): And I will add that in 2019 PSBA created what’s called the new school director onboarding manual. And within that manual, we also created what’s known as the first year at-a-glance. And that at-a-glance is really a new director, a new member learning plan. So it outlines what should be covered at orientation, who’s responsible for covering which information, typically superintendent or board president. But then again, at each check-in, it identifies what information could be covered again as we think of providing information in increments, rather than all at once. I do want to plug that we are holding that event again this year. So on September 27th, 2021, we are having our Start Strong onboarding event where every attending district will receive PSBA’s onboarding manual, the first year at-a-glance, some team building activities and some other supporting materials. But as I go back to saying that what’s outlined in board policy simply isn’t enough, as the organization or the Association for School Boards in Pennsylvania, we have created materials to assist, to improve, to help in your approach to onboarding new directors. So again, September 27th, 2021, we’re holding our event where everyone’s going to receive the onboarding manual, first year at-a-glance, team building activities. And again, some other supporting materials as well. Q: Great. Thank you. So, switching gears a little bit. Stuart, I’m going to turn this one to you. What is Robert’s Rules of Order and how does this fit into board culture? A (Stuart): Well, Robert’s Rules of Order are not the only system of parliamentary procedure rules that boards can adopt. It’s certainly the most widely known and probably the most widely adopted. But the bottom line to any system of rules of parliamentary procedure really boils down to ensuring that the board is focused on one issue at a time and only one voice at a time is speaking. That’s really, basically what it’s all about. And they’re designed to allow the board to accomplish the business before it effectively and in a manner that is clear what happened so that things operate, you get your business to the board done. That’s the purpose of those. But they also have very important impacts on board culture becaus…

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Treating Recyclables as a Commodity: Understanding the Value of Recycling Jun 01, 2021

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About this Episode Time Stamps Q&A About our Guests Resources Did you know there are more than 66,000 direct jobs associated with recycling in Pennsylvania? Recycling in Pennsylvania means business — it means jobs for our neighbors, friends and relatives, and over $22 billion annually in economic gains that are contributed to the gross state product. Recycling is an integral part of our Pennsylvania economy. Meet a few leaders behind the commonwealth’s recycling industry in this episode of Keystone Education Radio. Host Annette Stevenson speaks with Jennifer Summers and Shelly Dreese of Professional Recyclers of PA (PROP), along with Larry Holley, Division Chief of Waste Minimization and Planning for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). They discuss how PROP and DEP serve residents, school leaders and recyclers across the state, as well as the environmental and financial impacts of recycling. Skip to: 01:10 What does the Professional Recyclers of Pennsylvania (PROP) do, and for whom? “Professionals in this role need both technical knowledge and basically the art of diplomacy.” Skip to: 03:12 In what ways do you educate the communities on the work that you do? Skip to: 04:51 So what should the residents of Pennsylvania know about recycling in Pennsylvania? “The important thing that all residents know about recycling is it is as you stated particular to your local area, and they need to become educated on how to manage those materials in their area.” “It’s an integral part of our Pennsylvania economy and environmental protection. For example, with regards to the economy, there are in excess of 66,000 direct jobs associated with recycling in the commonwealth.” Skip to: 07:45 What do you see as the biggest challenges in the current recycling chain or services in PA and what can be done to improve those areas? “People don’t think about what they put in the bin all the time, and then they many times increase the cost of recycling.” Skip to: 10:04 How can educators, parents and school leaders use your programs to teach students the importance of recycling? Are there in-school initiatives that PROP works on for the PA public schools? “Our goal is to provide best practices to the districts and the decision-makers, give them recommendations on how to manage the recyclables and organics and share the successes of those schools.” “County recycling coordinators they have access to both great classroom training activities that they themselves can come into the school and do a hands-on activity, kind of give the teacher a break for an hour and let somebody else come in and do a class.” Skip to: 12:27 PROP worked with the PA Department of Environmental Protection earlier this year to sponsor a poster and a video contest for students. How did that initiative go? Skip to: 13:40 The DEP, did they get involved in joint partnerships like this, such as the poster and video contest to educate Pennsylvania’s youth? Is there any other kind of initiatives that are in that space? Skip to: 15:22 Are there other PROP in-school initiatives? Skip to: 15:50 What are some of the challenges that school leaders might face when trying to incorporate large-scale recycling programs in their schools? “The success of your program shouldn’t be based on minimizing cost or a recycling rate. It should be based on how you better manage your materials.” Skip to: 19:31 Where can listeners get more informed and find answers to their questions? “The county recycling coordinators can come out and do an assessment. That’s actually a free resource, so make sure to take advantage of that.” Q: What does the Professional Recyclers of Pennsylvania do, and for whom? A (Jennifer): Basically the Professional Recyclers of Pennsylvania is an association of over 360 individuals and businesses representing both public and private sectors. Our members are involved in the management of residential and commercial recycling programs throughout Pennsylvania. For example, we have members who work for Republic Waste Management, Penn Waste, solid waste authorities, cities, townships, Newman Paperboard, Westchester University, the DEP, just to name a few. As you can see, there was quite a good representation. I’ll just clarify and say that while each of these individuals is enthusiastic about environmental protection, it’s actually their job. That’s why the professional recyclers, as opposed to the hobby recyclers. Q: That makes sense, Jennifer. A (Jennifer): Yeah, there’s sometimes a distinction there. Our members host a number of projects. Their primary responsibility is to work with residences, commercial entities, haulers and vendors to make sure that material that has been designated for recycling is collected cleanly, efficiently and is marketable on the other end. As you can guess, professionals in this role need both technical knowledge and basically the art of diplomacy. They have to be able to work with everybody and negotiate different situations. So PROP provides a network of industry professionals that can help the beginner and the long-time professional to develop and improve their knowledge and to basically sustain a successful recycling program in their region. Q: Okay. This is a statewide organization. In what ways do you educate the communities on the work that you do? A (Shelly): PROP answers any questions that come into the PROP office via phone and email, and we also work closely to assist our county and municipal coordinators if they receive a question from their community that maybe needs a little bit more or further clarification, and maybe they don’t have the exact answer to it. That’s pretty much what PROP does to educate the professionals so that the professionals can then go educate their community. A (Jennifer): Just in addition to what Shelly pointed out, PROP runs a nationally recognized certification program. Basically what we do is we train the county and municipal coordinators on how to carry out their specific responsibilities. For example, they cover everything from contracting to understanding recycling economics, markets, data management, grant applications, education practices for when they are trying to educate the residents, zero waste programs, special collection events. So as you can see, there is quite a host of responsibilities that our folks are involved in. Basically PROP is in a support and resource role. We provide specialized education for the county and municipal recycling coordinators, and then the county and municipal professionals in turn educate the community. Q: Okay, that makes sense. There’s a lot of intricacies to recycling it seems. For example, the different types of plastics, some of which are recyclable and some are not, and additional challenges, the recyclability varies from location to location. So what should the residents of Pennsylvania know about recycling in Pennsylvania? A (Larry): The important thing that all residents know about recycling is it is as you stated particular to your local area, and they need to become educated on how to manage those materials in their area. One of the things that we worked towards moving is moving towards more uniformity for recycling at work, home and at play. And as we continue to grow the program, we expect that it will become more uniform and make it easier. Also, things that Pennsylvania residents need to know about recycling is it’s an integral part of our Pennsylvania economy and environmental protection. For example, with regards to the economy, there are in excess of 66,000 direct jobs associated with recycling in the commonwealth. A lot of people don’t know that. It’s pretty safe to say that you have a relative or you know somebody that works in the recycling industry. So that’s very important. The amount of economic gains that are contributed to the gross state product, are in excess of $22 billion annually, which is very important for people to know. They need to know that their recycling means business, it means jobs for their neighbors, their friends and their relatives. From an environmental standpoint, they also need to know that it helps fight the environmental challenges we’re facing with regards to greenhouse gas emissions, reducing those directly improving and impacting climate change. Importantly, it saves nearly 300 million BTUs of energy each year by using recycled content. Those are some of the important environmental factors that they need to know. As they look to optimize their material, it’s very important that they only recycle what’s part of their program. They clean and dry before they put it in the bin. They also secure their bin at the curb. By doing those things, making sure those items are free of food and liquids, it creates a good product that will be recycled and come back to them in the form of a new product. Q: So what you just described has to do with the optimal reuse of discarded items. That’s sort of the optimal scenario then. A (Larry): Yeah, that’s correct. Preparing it, so you lessen the amount of work needed to prepare it to go into a new product. By removing those foods and liquids, you help the process along. Q: That’s I think so important to know and to note just that little step of rinsing and cleaning out the items ahead of time, that can help the process. I think that’s so important for the public to know. What do you see as the biggest challenges in the current recycling chain or services in PA and what can be done to improve those areas? A (Larry): One of the biggest challenges is people want to recycle, the emergence of single stream recycling tech collection, which encourages people to put a bunch of things in the bin. With that said, people don’t think about what they put in the bin all the time, and then they many times increase the cost of recycling. The number of single stream facilities to process those materials that are collected single stream, is limited. There might be 15 to 17 facilities in the commonwealth, and we need to continue to expand that infrastructure so as we strive to collect more, it works. And of course, as noted, plastics are a particular challenge because people want lighter packaging. Packaging is not being designed for recyclability; it’s being designed to provide security from retail associations and to catch the eye of consumers. So one of the things that we need to do is start to look towards designing plastics to be recycled. You don’t need one million and one colors in your plastic. You don’t need all these different shapes and sizes of plastic. You most certainly don’t need unnecessary packaging. So I think as we move to get plastic under control, that will be a big plus. When you look at the other materials, they’re readily recyclable. There’s certain challenges with glass. The thing to note about glass is we’re not generating more than we were a couple of years ago, we’re not generating less. We’ve kind of come to that equilibrium where once we master managing the amount of recycled glass we collect, we’re there. Q: So plastic is kind of a leading challenge it sounds like. A (Larry): Yeah, plastic is a huge challenge. Others would say glass, but the big thing with glass is that you collect it properly and manage it properly. I would say overall with recyclables that we collect, treat them as a commodity, not a waste. You have to treat them very differently than you treat your trash, and if everybody does that, we’re headed in the right direction. Q: Okay. So bringing it into school space, how can educators, parents and school leaders use your programs to teach students the importance of recycling? Are there in-school initiatives that PROP works on for the PA public schools? A (Jennifer): I will start by answering that PROP is currently doing a school recycling study. We’ve sent a survey to all public schools in Pennsylvania. And through that survey, we are gathering information on what recycling looks like right now in each school. We know that there is going to be model programs, and we know that there will be schools that need some help. Basically by completing this survey, that will help us get a better idea of what schools need. In the end we’ll recognize the model programs and reach out with assistance to those that need it. Through that, our goal is to provide best practices to the districts and the decision-makers, give them recommendations on how to manage the recyclables and organics and share the successes of those schools. As part of this initiative in the classroom, we did conduct a poster and video contest for the kids. We’re looking forward to seeing what some of those admissions look like. But more specific to your question, county recycling coordinators they have access to both great classroom training activities that they themselves can come into the school and do a hands-on activity, kind of give the teacher a break for an hour and let somebody else come in and do a class. There’s also curriculum available specific to recycling. As far as accessing that, the first thing to do would be to search for Pennsylvania county recycling coordinators and the DEP webpage, where all of those contact information is listed will come up. At the same time, if you need help reaching out to your coordinator or getting connected to the right people, the PROP office can help get you there as well. Q: Great. Now you mentioned the poster contest. Let’s hear a little bit more about that. PROP worked with, I understand the PA Department of Environmental Protection earlier this year to sponsor a poster and a video contest for students. How did that go? How did that initiative go? A (Shelly): We did have a poster and video contest for the students. The poster contest was to demonstrate the environmental benefits of recycling and the video contest was for them to demonstrate which items can be recycled and how. We hope that students understand the benefits that they can gain from recycling, such as the environmental benefits and the economic benefits. We also hope that they learned how to recycle items properly. We did get a pretty decent quantity of the poster contest entries. We got a few, I would say probably about anywhere between five and 10, of the video contest entries. We are in the process of getting those available for our panel of judges to look at and make the selections on who the winners are. We have not done that yet, but they will be posted once we select the winners and then the winners will be notified as well. Q: That’s great. Larry, the DEP, did they get involved in joint partnerships like this, such as the poster and video contest to educate Pennsylvania’s youth? Is there any other kind of initiatives that are in that space? A (Larry): We work with PROP and our partners, the county coordinators, throughout the year to provide education. We have regional DEP coordinators in 60 key regions of the state. There are three in Pittsburgh, two in the Philadelphia area, and one in the other regions of the commonwealth. Those DEP coordinators engage in recycling education activities through schools and organizations all the time. We also are working with our partners at the Recycling Market Center in Middletown, which is a statewide nonprofit that is geared towards developing markets and ensuring that Pennsylvania recycled content goes into Pennsylvania products when possible. We’re looking to do some STEM education with them to make sure that the STEM students know about the careers available and opportunities that exist in the recycling and waste management fields. So that’s another partner who we work with. I would say far and away, we’ve had a longstanding relationship with PROP for well in excess of 25 years. And through that partnership, we’re able to touch all the counties in one way or another. Q: Great. So there’s a number of layers there. The career part kind of caught my attention. That’s interesting. How about PROP? Are ther…

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PSBA Charter School Task Force: Developing a Plan to Level the Playing Field May 18, 2021

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About this Episode Time Stamps Q&A About our Guests Resources Meet the leaders behind PSBA’s Charter School Task Force and the Keystone Center for Charter Change at PSBA in this episode of Keystone Education Radio. Learn more about the efforts underway to reform the Pennsylvania charter school law and the push for more transparency and accountability, in pursuit of the highest standards in public education. Skip to: 01:07 Can you tell us about the work that the task force did to study charter school reform? “It was really a great group of people with broad interests and backgrounds and experiences, with schools and with charter schools . . . We all have different experiences and perspectives, and so we wanted to broaden all of our understanding.” Skip to: 03:46 Did the task force get any feedback or input from members of the charter school community? “We did feel it was important for members of the charter school community to be involved and that we got their perspective as well. And we realize, charter schools are here to stay, and online and hybrid instruction can be a really good instructional delivery and so on, but at the same time, we would like to see a little bit more of a level playing field for everyone.” Skip to: 07:07 As the task force was going about its work, was there anything that stood out to you or anything that sort of surprised you about the state of affairs with charter schools? “One of the profound things that I took away was just how important this issue and how passionate people are about this issue across the entire state of Pennsylvania.” Skip to: 10:41 When can we expect that the report will be released and what are some of the recommendations that are going to be included in that? “If we can get with better transparency and a little more accountability and reconciliation, I think that’ll be a big move in the right direction.” Skip to: 14:56 Can you explain the purpose of the Keystone Center for Charter Change? Skip to: 15:26 Where can listeners turn to learn more or join the charter reform efforts of the Keystone Center for Charter Change? Skip to: 18:43 Do you see anything significant that’s changed with respect to charter schools recently? “I’ve been following this issue closely for 20 years and I think there’s more momentum now than ever before.” Q: Edie, Al, as co-chairs of the task force, can you tell us about the work that the task force did to study this issue? A (Edie): Sure. As you said, we began at the end of 2019 and we set out…we had a grand plan about outreach meetings across the state and lots of speakers coming in to speak to us. And then, the pandemic put the kibosh on a lot of that kind of stuff. And then, everybody was struggling to just get school back in session, so we really didn’t get started for almost a year after that. And in that time, I had a different co-chair and then he had to step down and then Al came along and helped us start things back up again. So, we got to start it really in December of 2020, doing mostly Zoom meetings. The composition of the task force was about 20 people, about 12 board members and a number of superintendents, five or six superintendents and administrators, a couple of attorneys who turned out to just be so useful, just with so much information. I learned a lot from them. So, it was really a great group of people with broad interests and backgrounds and experiences, with schools and with charter schools. As I said, our listening tour was canceled, but we did some seminars for our information to help inform the task force. We had one from Alison Peterson who’s a lawyer who works mostly in Philadelphia area in charter school law and was actually a member of the task force. And she gave us a long, detailed, in-depth webinar on charter school funding. I learned so much from Allie. And then, we also had a webinar from Dr. Maurice Flurie, who was the president and CEO of Commonwealth Charter Academy, because we all felt that it was important to bring in the voice of the charter schools. Q: You went about learning the subject matter very comprehensively before setting about doing the work. A (Edie): We did. I think we wanted to enter this in a well-informed kind of way. And it was important to the task force to hear both sides of that. I think many of the school board members on the task force have charter schools in their districts and we all have different experiences and perspectives, and so we wanted to broaden all of our understanding. Q: That makes a ton of sense. A (Edie): Yeah. Yeah. Q: Having both perspectives, hugely important. It’s not a one-sided issue clearly. A (Edie): Absolutely. Absolutely. Q: Did the task force get any feedback or input from members of the charter school community? And you mentioned the one participant of the discussions, was there any other participation? And again, talk a little bit about why that was important to include that perspective. A (Edie): Al, would you like to give your perspective? A (Al): Sure. I’d like to back up a little bit though, just to share a little bit, being a practitioner and a superintendent in Pennsylvania, of two different schools for 10 years. My last 10 years before starting my encore career at McDaniel College as a professor, but then also being a vice president of the school board here in Gettysburg. Part of my biggest motivation was, and what I had realized through very firsthand experiences in my school districts, was that we as public schools and again, charter schools are public schools as well, but in the traditional school system, I think we do a pretty good job of holding our stakeholders, especially our students and our parents, accountable for attendance issues, behavioral issues, academic issues and so on. I still believe, and maybe, hopefully I’m on the right track, is that public schools are still the great equalizer. And I just think there’s a strong appreciation for it, even if some of our students aren’t mature enough to realize it at the time, that in the long run, those things are pretty important. The other thing that was really evident to me, seeing it firsthand, when some of our students, many of our students that would end up returning back to our school system, that were in the cyber, especially the cyber charter school, is that it really required a high degree of remediation and academic assistance to those students because of the lost learning that we were seeing across the board. And again, I don’t want to personally generalize there, but I would just say in general, that was definitely problematic for us. And I realize, our friends in the legislature in Harrisburg are trying to do the right things for their constituents and so on. And I do think it’s a flawed way of thinking, that creating this competition or the funding source, leaving our per pupil expenditure, a much higher amount than what the charter school is actually realizing how much that hurts our local schools. Just here in Gettysburg alone, where I’m on the board, we’re bleeding about $4 million a year, and we see that rising. So, that was a big part of my motivation to be involved. And I realize, that’s more in line with the first question and so on. But again, I would agree wholeheartedly with Edie, that we did feel it was important for members of the charter school community to be involved and that we got their perspective as well. And we realize, charter schools are here to stay, and online and hybrid instruction can be a really good instructional delivery and so on, but at the same time, we would like to see a little bit more of a level playing field for everyone. Q: Yeah. That’s great. That’s great insight. And hopefully your perspective was heard by the charter school participants as well. Hopefully it was an ability for them hear the perspective from the public school districts, as well. As the task force was going about its work, was there anything that stood out to you or anything that surprised you about the state of affairs with charter schools? A (Edie): Well, definitely that the devil is in the details. I think as a board member as you begin, you start to read about it, and it can be a little bit maddening, as you go through the authorization process or just go through your budget every year and watch a significant amount of money being spent on charter schools and it’s out of your hands. But with the task force, we really got into a lot of those details and the solutions are not simple. It’s not an ideal situation and the solutions are not simple. I mean, I think that’s something that stood out for me is that you think, “We should get rid of the charters,” but it’s just not that easy. So in fact, and perhaps this is back up in question number one again, but the goals of the task force … Well, we had a number of goals that were our chart of work if you will. But we agreed at the beginning, at the outset, that charter schools are a part of the Pennsylvania landscape, education landscape. And what we needed to find as a task force, were reasonable solutions that would be feasible and palatable to the Pennsylvania legislature. It’s all well and good to get your ire all up about charter schools, but we need to change the law, and that requires us to come into the table, willing to examine the details and do the work. And I think that we had a great group for that. We got into a lot of the details and sometimes we got off on tangents too, but thanks to the PSBA folks who kept us moving forward. One other goal really, was to find not only reasonable solutions, but if you will, bite-sized chunks, so that they could be individual pieces that could be negotiated and adapted, and that could be worked through with the legislature to try and reach solutions. So, that was an important part of it, was to break things down into different pieces that could be negotiated and agreed upon and adopted finally. So, that was an important part of our goals. Q: Al, anything that stood out or surprised you through the course of the work? A (Al): Yeah. I’m not sure if it surprised me or not, but one of the profound things that I took away was just how important this issue and how passionate people are about this issue across the entire state of Pennsylvania. And that we really, here in Adams County, we are not alone. This is a statewide issue where we really need to see some reform and get some relief. That really stood out, just how passionate people were. And as Edie referred to, the devil is in the details, we got into a lot of detail. So, our thought was, trying to keep it as simple as possible and bring forward some recommendations that we thought had a reasonable chance with our friends in Harrisburg, that they would consider those things. And again, our people from PSBA, they’ve been on top of this issue and they’ve been very, very helpful and leading and guiding us through this process, and we’re very appreciative of their help. Q: So, that brings me to the outcome of your work and that’s the report. So, let’s find out from you, when can we expect that the report will be released and what are some of the recommendations that are going to be included in that? A (Edie): Sure, the report was compiled based on our work by our folks at PSBA, and we’ve been working on it over the last few weeks. And my understanding is that within the next week or two, that report should be finalized and should be released to the public. So, that’s excellent. Q: Great. A (Edie): It’s May now, and I know that the state is working on its budget. We were aiming for March because of the legislative session, but it’s May, and we’re getting the work done, and we’re doing our best. As I said, we were looking for discrete units, if you will, of items that could be worked on with the legislature, that could be adapted into law. So, there are eight recommendations. The first couple, I think are ones that many people who follow charter school law at all and legislation and charter school issues are aware of. For example, applying a tiered special education funding system for charter schools, that will, as Al said, level the playing field with regard to special education. School districts spend a lot more money on special education than charter schools do. A second recommendation is to apply a statewide tuition rate to students enrolled in cyber charter schools. Since that is a more evenly distributed kind of education, it should be evenly funded as well. There are a couple of recommendations that we made with regard to transparency, because as we know, all of our school districts have to abide by the Sunshine Law and reporting to the state, and that playing field is not level either. So, we made a couple of recommendations along those lines. And then, there are some, as I said, devil in the details kind of things about how monies are actually directed to school districts or to the charter schools, and how they reconcile that at the end of the year. And those are boring, but important details, that we have parsed out and are making recommendations along those lines. Q: Great. Anything to add to that, Al? Any recommendation, highlights, that stand out for you? A (Al): Yeah, maybe just a few things. I think Edie really did a nice job summarizing those things. But in general, just ensuring greater transparency, I think is really important. And looking at the accounting requirements and the reconciliation process in the relationship and partnership between our traditional public schools and the charter schools and so on, I think is important. When I read some of the information regarding fund balances of charter schools and especially these cyber charter schools, I’m not sure why they need a large savings account when they’re not dealing with facilities and those kind of resources, and so on, and that’s really concerning. Sometimes you look at some of these salaries of the CEOs in the charter school world, and it does make you wonder profoundly, what is going on here? And so on. And that these taxpayer monies, that are leaving our traditional school systems, that most of our parents probably aren’t aware where monies are being spent on advertising and marketing and promotion and things like that, that we historically have not done in the traditional public schools. And so, in general, I think, Edie did a real nice job explaining that, but again, I would hit on that special education issue. Some of our districts are paying $24, $30,000 per student and we really need to look at what is the actual cost of the program that they are receiving across the board there? And I do think it’s somewhat of a flawed system. And again, if we can get with better transparency and a little more accountability and reconciliation, I think that’ll be a big move in the right direction. Q: Great. Well, I can’t wait to read it. So, this past March, PSBA created the Keystone Center for Charter Change. Larry Feinberg is the director of the center and is with us. Larry, you’ve been quiet so far, so I’m going to jump over to you now. Can you explain a little bit about the purpose of the center? A (Larry): Sure. The purpose of this center is to build support and accompanying political will for the development and enactment of legislation that would provide regulatory and funding changes to Pennsylvania’s 23-year-old charter school law. I guess, the shorter answer to that question is the purpose of the center is to try and help push charter reform across the finish line. Q: Okay. And so, anyone listening that might be interested in either learning more or becoming part of the effort, where can they turn for that information? A (Larry): I have a special deal for you today. We have five items in response to that question. Q: Wow. Okay. A (Larry): Number one, they can visit our website, which is pacharterchange.org. And there’s a great deal of information and reference material regarding the charter issue. The second thing they can d…

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Why It’s Important to Talk About Suicide – Prevention Among Students May 04, 2021

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About this Episode Time Stamps Q&A About our Guests Resources The past year has exacerbated already heartbreaking statistics on cases of youth anxiety, depression and suicide. Yet only a fraction of the adolescents experiencing these mental health concerns are receiving the appropriate health interventions. While it may not be easy to talk about, suicide prevention is an important topic and one that needs a place among school leaders’ conversations. Keystone Education Radio host Annette Stevenson speaks with Dr. Julia Szarko, a school psychologist in Pennsylvania and the recipient of the School Psychologist of the Year Award for 2021, on how school leaders can educate themselves, staff and students on the necessity of suicide prevention training in their schools. Skip to: 00:59 Give us a picture of the mental health challenges facing students today, and why there is a need to be talking about suicide prevention. “The statistics show that one out of five adolescents experiences some type of behavioral and/or social, emotional concern that merits a need for mental and behavioral health interventions.” Skip to: 03:15 How do you address concerns from school leaders, parents, even teachers who may not be comfortable with the topic? “Any of us can provide that help, not just mental health experts, anyone can reach out and help.” Skip to: 06:29 What are the steps that school leaders can take to understand what might cause someone to take their own life and how to look for those risk factors and warning signs? “That’s so important to train our youth because they’re the first line, often, of hearing the warning signs, when it’s another student.” Skip to: 11:06 What is Schoolwide Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports? “When you utilize a framework of school-wide positive behavior interventions and support, it also increases your school climate. It increases your students’ success in their behaviors” Skip to: 13:50 What can listeners do to educate themselves if they haven’t had access to this information [on suicide prevention training], where can they go looking? “Part of our training that’s crucial and important is that all of us are trained in risk assessment, and specifically, suicide risk assessment.” Skip to: 17:05 How can school leaders advocate for appropriate and equitable access to school-based mental health professionals? “I think in order to address these needs, that we still see day-to-day, it’s going to take that commitment to make that investment in the school-based mental health personnel and the frameworks.” Skip to: 21:26 What are some everyday practices that listeners can incorporate into their day to support their own mental wellbeing? “Understand there’s no shame in seeking out mental health help for yourselves…I think if we can reduce the stigma and say, “If I had bronchitis, guess what? I go to the doctor and I get help for it.” And it’s the same thing. If you’re feeling depressed or anxious, it’s okay to go get that help.” Q: I’m going to jump right in, and if you would give us an overview of the mental health challenges. It’s a topic that’s right on the radar always, but particularly during this COVID pandemic. Give us a picture of the mental health challenges facing students today, and why there is a need to be talking about suicide prevention. A: Sure. And thank you again to your organization for raising awareness for this topic as well. It is a critical need across the country for students and adults, just the needs of our mental health needs and the struggles that people are going through. And especially with the COVID crisis, we certainly have mental health concerns and needs. So I will say for years we have been seeing a steady increase in anxiety, depression and suicide in our nation’s youth. And the statistics show that one out of five adolescents experiences some type of behavioral and/or social, emotional concern that merits a need for mental and behavioral health interventions. Why this topic is so important is because the majority of these adolescents do not receive mental or behavioral health services. And it is recognized only about 20% receive such support and services. And the vast majority of those are receiving those services in schools. So it was a very large scope problem, one in five, but very few are receiving the support they need. And just to highlight some of our Pennsylvania data from our Pennsylvania youth survey, we do see over the last six years, there’s approximately, from our 6th to 12th grade youth, about 16.5% are reporting they seriously considered suicide. It’s a lot of students, when you think about how many students are across our state. And close to 10% over the last six years every year have attempted. So we really need to keep this topic at the forefront and talk about that. This is a need, it is a real need out there. Q: It leads into what I’m going to ask next. It’s not an easy topic and perhaps it’s one that most people may just not want to think about, or may shy away from, but you can’t avoid talking about it if you want to prevent it is what I’m hearing. How do you address concerns from school leaders, parents, even teachers who may not simply be comfortable with the topic, how do you address that? A: Absolutely. Well, first I think that validating that, yes, it’s an uncomfortable topic, but at the topic that can save lives. And I think it’s very important to address the myths around suicide and the myths around talking about suicide that we know about. So, if you don’t mind, I’ll run you through some of the myths and the facts behind it. I mean, there is a myth that if a student is really intent on trying to die by suicide, that there is nothing that anybody can do to stop them. And the fact is suicide is preventable. And that youth or that teen that is expressing those suicide ideations, honestly, it’s more about wanting the pain to end. We call it psychache. They’re experiencing such a heavy psychache that they want that pain to end. And in their minds, often, death is the only way out. So if we can speak to them and address it and give them options for getting help to end that psychache, we can absolutely prevent it. Another myth, another big one that addresses your question specifically is if we talk about suicide, we might give students the idea to kill themselves. This is such a myth. Research actually says the opposite that when we do talk about suicide, whether talking directly with the student, it does not put ideas in their head about suicide. It actually lessens the anxiety, especially when we talk about concerns. The key is talking in a non-judgmental way. Not placing judgment on if they’re thinking about suicide, but more of asking, “Are you okay? Or recognize it. “You seem really down. Are you having thoughts of suicide?” This just, again, validates the person’s feelings and opens that door to the conversation or opportunities to support them. They don’t feel alone then. And that may get them to the intervention they need. So it’s validating feelings and being a bridge for that person to get to the help for what they’re feeling. Another myth is that those people who are talking about suicide are just looking for attention. This is not true. Most do give warning signs. That’s the thing. Most people give warning signs that they are contemplating suicide. So even if they are seeking attention, we need to get them help. They need help. They’re showing us they need help. And any of us can provide that help, not just mental health experts, anyone can reach out and help. Finally, I would say, in Pennsylvania, Act 71 passed several years back and it mandates that educators are trained in suicide prevention. So, we certainly should be having these conversations, and to help educators be prepared because it’s uncomfortable, but at least it gives the tools of, “What do I do? What do I look for? What do I do?” Q: Those are all great points. And those are certainly things that I’ve seen out there. The myths that you highlighted, I think that’s really important to break that apart. And especially that last one that you said about seeking attention, right? So if someone is seeking attention for that reason, I mean, isn’t that even all the more reason, really, to give them attention, right? A: Exactly. Q: I mean, that seems like that to me, but not being a mental health expert myself, obviously. What are the steps that school leaders can take to understand what might cause someone to take their own life and how to look for those risk factors and warning signs? You talked about most do give warning signs. And so, talk through, first of all, maybe just an understanding of what might cause a student to think that way, and then how we can spot those signs. A: Sure. So there’s two categories. One’s the risk factors and then the other is the warning signs. Risk factors are different things that might be happening in a student’s life or different characteristics of a student that would put them at higher risk statistically for possibly attempting or dying by suicide. It doesn’t mean that it’s going to happen. It just puts them at risk. Warning signs are the signs out there that, “Yes, we need to act immediately. There is high probability that something could be happening. The student’s in danger.” The risk factors that… And I think this helps educators and school leaders understand who are the groups of students we really need to look out for, especially, and try to put protective pieces and factors in place for them. So for instance, there’s higher risk factors for gender, age, race, and geography. So some examples, males are at higher risk. Ages, middle-aged males, White, Caucasian, are actually our highest risk population, but then also geography and certain areas of the country there’s higher risk. And actually, there’s a correlation between access to firearms and higher risk for suicide and the suicide rates in a state. Another big risk factor is our LGBTQ youth are at much higher risk and not because of the LGBTQ part of things, but the bullying, rejection or lack of support that comes with being a youth that is part of that population. And that whole piece of making sure that they are safe is so important. Another big risk factor is having a psychiatric disorder or a mental illness, depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, all those things put you at higher risk for suicide. And then there’s also addiction. And then, previous aggression or low self-esteem, low concept, all of these things put your risk. Then there’s other risk factors: trauma, high pressure expectations that we see in some of our higher performing, high-intense academic settings, also exposure to suicide. There’s contagion effects that we need to be watching for, that’s a risk. And of course, students that are isolated or have a lack of connectedness. That is huge to watch out for. And family dysfunctions and other risk factors. So, the warning signs, what we find is about them 50% to 75% of individuals give some warning of their intention to die by suicide or attempt suicide. So the warning signs, really things to look out for is big behavior changes or big life changes. So behavior changes, more anger and agitation, hostility, irritability that’s out of character. Youth that appear depressed, hopeless, expressing hopelessness, withdrawing from their social connections, withdrawing from their activities. Also warning signs where students or children are expressing doubt in reasons for living, feeling like they would be better off dead, feeling like a burden, if they are sharing these things. And then, certainly, drug and alcohol use puts them at higher risk. If any child should express a plan of how to die by suicide, that is a huge warning factor. And then, definitely, if they have access or are seeking access to medication and firearms or other weaponry, very, very crucial, if they’re expressing that interest. Those would be the warning signs. If anyone hears any of that. If a student… A teacher that’s where to reach out, to actively just listen to the student and then connect, offer the care, offer validation and connect them to support, or the individual that can then access the support. And the school-based mental health personnel would be the first stop in the building. Q: And these are some of the things that the training includes, correct? A: Yes, exactly. Training on warning signs and then training on what to do. And there’s trainings for the adult educators that’s so important to train our youth because they’re the first line, often, of hearing the warning signs, when it’s another student. And giving them the tools, one breaking down the stigma of you’re actually helping and caring for your friend. You’re not, I think this is an old-fashioned word, but narcing on your friend or telling on your friend, but you could potentially be saving their life. And then giving them the tools, or the steps of, “What do I do next?” And connecting them to an adult. Q: So you advocate for school-wide positive behavior intervention and supports. Tell us about that. A: School-wide positive behavior intervention supports, it’s a framework, really, around teaching behavior, social skills in a school setting, but also addressing behavior and social skills in a school setting. A framework that is based on behavior research that shows us how to effectively increase positive behaviors and social interactions, and decrease the negative behaviors. So a couple decades ago, we were in much more of an exclusionary, disciplinary practices. And what we found is these did not necessarily change behavior. And it set up a lot of our at-risk youth to a lot towards that school to prison pipeline is what we’re seeing. So what we’ve done is, there’s been a lot of research behind putting around a framework that increases just the knowledge and instruction around. Thinking of social skills instruction, just how we do reading. We teach explicitly students how to read. We also need to teach, a lot of times, students how to interact, and how to respond, and how to behave in the school. So it’s a lot of taking a broad-based approach of making sure you have a social, emotional, behavioral curriculum that we utilize. And then also getting data on how are students displaying their social and behavior skills? And then being able to, under a multi-tiered systems of support framework, this all fits in. So it’s looking at our data around who are our kids that are not at risk? Who are kids a little bit at risk? Who are a lot at risk? And then raising that level of intensity of intervention around different social skills or behavior needs that students might have. All of the system and framework. I mean, I could spend another hour talking about this, but really the purpose behind it and why I advocate for it is it is such a preventive method. When you utilize a framework of school-wide positive behavior interventions and support, it also increases your school climate. It increases your students’ success in their behaviors. And especially those students who struggle in that area. It increases the connectedness with adults. All of these things prevent bullying, therefore preventing students from suicide, or harm, or depression, or anxiety. It helps to reduce all of those outcomes that we have in a school setting that has a more difficult school climate. So it’s that link between the connectedness and relationships, and the positive morale and a building, the effect that can have on the adults and the students, and really help the mental health of all of those within that setting. Q: We’ve already talked a bit about the role that the training plays, right? For staff and students, but what if that training is not available or our listeners don’t fall into that category that would be receiving that training? What can listeners do to educate themselves if they haven’t had access to this information, where c…

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Environmentalism and Human Health – How they relate Apr 20, 2021

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About this Episode Time Stamps Q&A About our Guests Resources On this episode of Keystone Education Radio, host Annette Stevenson speaks with return guest Kira Heeschen, EarthDay.org’s senior education manager, on the work the organization is doing in its 51st year of advocating for the earth. What has the past year’s shutdown done for the earth and how to be involved in environmental protection efforts. Skip to: 01:12 Can you tell us about some of initiatives for Earth Day 2021?Skip to: 03:45 In what ways is the Earth Day Organization involved with President Biden’s Leaders Climate Summit? “We see that as a clear acknowledgement of really the power of Earth Day globally.” Skip to: 06:50 With respect to the last year where people have been staying home far more due to the COVID-19 pandemic, how has the health of the earth and its climate been impacted? “…there’s been some really incredible takeaways from the COVID crisis that we can take into environmentalism as we move forward. I think the first thing is we saw in really, really dramatic and tragic fashion how intricately connected human health is with environmental health.” “We’re at increased risk of having these things like pandemics and the way that we’re treating our environment is really connected to how healthy us as humans can be.” “The great thing about it is that we don’t have to shut down the world to fight climate change. There are so many ways that we can adapt and evolve our systems to both protect human health and protect our precious habitats and also really improve our economies and slow down climate change.” Skip to: 12:26 What, if anything, has changed or been impacted in the past year since we talked to you last? “Something that’s been happening for a long time is that the environmental movement as a whole, I think, has really transformed since last Earth Day in terms of its relationship with racial justice.” Skip to: 14:58 What are some ways that school leaders and educators can help Pennsylvania students and their families increase their climate and environmental literacy? “We do want our students to become sustainably-minded entrepreneurs and parents and voters and teachers. We want them in whatever career path they take to have sustainability skills and knowledge.” Skip to: 20:51 What is the Global Earth Challenge and does that fit into the K-12 curriculum? “In Earth Challenge, there are a ton of cross-cutting concepts that teachers can use in the classroom, like bringing civics and writing into a follow-up activity.” Skip to: 23:44 Where can listeners find more information about these initiatives and the resources that you’ve mentioned? Q: This year, Earth Day is celebrating 51 years with three days of climate action. Can you tell us about some of the initiatives for Earth Day 2021 that’s coming up on April 22nd? A: Yes, absolutely. Well, I just want to say thanks for having me on again. It was so awesome to be on last year and so much has changed in the last year, but we do have so many exciting things happening this year. So our theme for this year is Restore Our Earth, and so our main priority this year is to really look at all of Earth’s natural processes and to think about how we rely on them, what services they provide us to keep our environment healthy. We rely on a lot of ecosystem services like carbon regulation, flood management, water filtration, air purification, pollination, the list goes on and on. We really want to think this year about how we rely on them and how we’ve impacted them. So this year, our priority is to think about all of these things and to look at ways to restore all of these processes to continue to work effectively and efficiently, both for the benefit of humans and for all of the other species we share the earth with. Our first and foremost look is to look at all of the natural systems we have and to think about how to best restore them. So thinking about building up habitats that we’ve impacted, protecting all of the species that exist in those habitats, and then also looking at things like emerging green technologies and what technological innovations we can utilize to help protect the earth and thinking about innovative ways we can restore all of the Earth’s ecosystems. So all of these things this year are being covered in our Earth Day Live webinars series, where you can tune in to listen about ways that we’re addressing a lot of these issues and how you can take action with us. We also have a ton of toolkits where you can learn more about these issues and discover ways to be involved, both in the scientific process and in civic action process, which is Earth Day’s really tried and true legacy. Then we’re also hosting our classic Earth Day event map, where you can find things around you that you can attend, register your own events on our map to really help us demonstrate the collective action taking place this year. All of those events are both virtual and in-person, so some places around the world have gotten to a place that they can celebrate in person, but of course, if it’s not safe, we definitely want to encourage you to tune in virtually when you can. Then we also have a resource online where you can find 51 actions to take right now to help the planet. So all of these things are in line with our Restore Our Earth theme. Q: Sounds awesome, and huge. So President Biden is holding a leaders climate summit that day. In what ways is the Earth Day organization involved with the summit? A: Yeah. Great question. So the Biden administration has always been very clear that reestablishing the United States as a member and even a leader in the fight against climate change was a priority for them. So while we’re not actually involved in organizing this event, we’re really thrilled that they decided to host it on Earth Day. We see that as a clear acknowledgement of really the power of Earth Day globally. Some people think that Earth Day is a U.S. specific event, but Earth Day is commemorated in over 192 countries and we’ve seen that on social media and through a lot of our partner networks. So we think that this event will be a critical steppingstone for the U.S. to rejoin the world in combating the climate crisis. It’s also going to serve as an important precursor to a lot of the big decisions that are going to be made in November at the COP26. So this is a really big meeting of global leaders that are going to come together in November to make big decisions about the next steps in fighting climate change. Every country will reevaluate their commitments to lowering their emissions and meeting our 1.5 temperature increase goals that we have. So on our end, some of the things that we are hosting is that we are partnering with some really incredible organizations to host three parallel summits that are taking place on April 20th and 21st, ahead of Biden’s summit. So these summits are going to focus primarily on climate literacy, environmental justice, and then one is being hosted by a just incredible group of youth leaders who are going to talk about the youth movement and addressing climate change. So we’re developing a couple of avenues to bring a lot of the demands and concerns raised from these three parallel summits to the attention of all the leaders at the Biden summit and hope for some bold commitments from them as well. Q: Wow, okay. That sounds pretty powerful and you pointed out something that I had not thought about at this moment, which is that Earth Day is global. It’s a global initiative. I think you’re right. I think many think of it as an American effort or initiative. A: Definitely. Yeah. One thing I almost forgot, which would have been crazy, was we are also hosting our own multi-hour live digital event on April 22nd on Earth Day that will have a lot of climate leaders, celebrities, musicians, some elected officials, but from the U.S. and from all over the world. So this is going to be a really powerful event where we talk about a lot of these issues in a cross-sectoral way. So really talking about how every sector of society needs to be involved, and the schedule events for our live event has not been released yet. So I’m going to be careful not to spill any beans, but definitely stay tuned to the press release and the announcement of that schedule of events coming soon. Q: Great. We will stay tuned. So with respect to the last year where people around the world have been staying home far more due to the COVID-19 pandemic health and mitigation efforts, can you tell us how the health of the earth and its climate have been impacted? A: Yeah, absolutely. That’s a really great question. I think it’s been really fascinating to see the conversations and the media coverage around how the earth changed, especially when lockdown really first started, when the world first shuttered to a halt. We saw animals coming into areas that they hadn’t been seen before in a long time. We saw air quality improving in a lot of major cities. I heard stories about children, young children, who were seeing a fully blue sky for the first time in their life, which is incredible. The general consensus was that the earth was healing without humans going about their day-to-day business. As hopeful as a lot of these changes were, the reality is is that humans are a part of the environment and we are a natural creature on this earth and unfortunately the way that we’re living currently is not beneficial to the earth. So to see us all disappear temporarily and the earth heal is both hopeful but also disappointing and maybe motivating in that we really need to figure out ways to both continue to go about all of those day-to-day things that we need to do, but also do it in a way that’s not harmful to the earth. So I like to say we need to find ways that we can do our lives in harmony and not in harm to the earth. So as well, I think we’re also seeing that we’re in this climate crisis because of hundreds of years of industrialization and boundless levels of carbon emissions, and even though the past year has been a significant dip in emissions, it’s really not going to have as big of an impact on climate change as we would have liked because relatively the past year has been a short-term experience despite it definitely feeling not short-term. It’s felt like a couple of decades. But, relatively, it is a short period of time. So it has not necessarily had huge impacts on the current health of the planet, but I think there’s been some really incredible takeaways from the COVID crisis that we can take into environmentalism as we move forward. I think the first thing is we saw in really, really dramatic and tragic fashion how intricately connected human health is with environmental health. Zoonotic diseases, which are diseases that jump from animals to humans or humans to animals, our of being exposed to them as much higher when we do things like destroy habitats and force animals into closer proximity to humans. Or when we hold exotic animals in captivity for food or for fur trading. So we’re at increased risk of having these things like pandemics and the way that we’re treating our environment is really connected to how healthy us as humans can be. The pandemic also really reaffirmed how vulnerable communities around the world really bear the brunt of the burden of global issues like pandemics and like climate change. We’ve seen really clearly all over the world that people living in the areas with the poorest air quality and the least access to high quality health care are also at the greatest risk for the most severe COVID cases, and that goes the same for climate change. The people who are going to experience the most significant impacts of climate change are also going to be the people who are least resilient to bounce back from them and the least capable of protecting themselves from that. So I think it’s really important as we move forward with all of the decisions we make about human health and environmental health is that we have to make sure we’re serving the most vulnerable. I’ll also add that I think the most hopeful thing we’ve learned from COVID is that the world is capable of taking really dramatic, wide-sweeping, global collaborative action to address a global crisis. With this really, really tragic and terrible disease that we’ve been experiencing, we’ve seen countries around the world taking action and people around the world taking action to protect each other. I think that’s something that we need to bring the same gusto and urgency into the climate fight, but the great thing about it is that we don’t have to shut down the world to fight climate change. There are so many ways that we can adapt and evolve our systems to both protect human health and protect our precious habitats and also really improve our economies and slow down climate change. So it’s really exciting because there’s so many opportunities for growth and for development while also accomplishing these really important pieces of protecting health and protecting the environment. Q: It’s such an interesting perspective because you’re right, the media really addressed the whole shift of people staying home as sort of this huge impact, which maybe temporarily might’ve been to some degree, but calling attention to the sustaining of it and really creating a difference in ongoing practices rather than just looking at this temporary snapshot of time, I think that’s hugely important about part of what you pointed out there. So we’ve talked about the last year and what that entailed, and we did actually talk to you last year when you were having your 50th anniversary. So what, if anything, has changed or been impacted since we talked to you last, going beyond what we just highlighted about the whole COVID circumstance? A: I think in every aspect of life so much has changed in the last year. I think it might’ve been last week last year that I left my office for the last time. Did leave some snacks in my drawer so I hope those got dealt with. But last year was crazy because we had spent … Really we had a five-year plan for our 50th anniversary that we had about three weeks to completely transform. So we had our national mall event and we had the classic in-person Earth Day events that we love so much, which are the festivals and the cleanups and the teach-ins and all of these great things. We had to adapt really, really quickly to get all of that stuff to a digital platform. I think our audience has also had to adapt really quickly and it was stressful, but we were still able to digitally engage with millions of people, which was incredible. So I think this year is a little bit different in that we’ve had some more time to plan for this specific circumstance. I think our audiences feel more practiced and more comfortable with this kind of science and education and activism virtually. Then I think another thing that’s changed is that many parts of the world are really beginning to be able to have these in-person events safely again. So I think that’s really exciting to see. We’re seeing this light at the end of the tunnel, which is really fantastic. I think another thing that’s really changed since last year and it’s something that’s been happening for a long time is that the environmental movement as a whole, I think, has really transformed since last Earth Day in terms of its relationship with racial justice. So much has happened around racial justice this year and there’s always been people in the environmental movement that have been strong advocates for this and have been doing this work. But I think as the environmental movement as a whole has not always done this well, and I think everything that’s happened in the past year has really caused organizations and the movement as a whole to really reflect on how we’ve fallen short on these topics and including marginalized voices and amplifying them. I think there’s still a lot o…

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Exploring the World of STEM and Robotics at National Robotics Week Apr 06, 2021

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About this Episode Time Stamps Q&A About our Guests Resources Robots are part of our everyday life, but do kids realize the range of options in careers they could have related to robotics and other STEM subjects? With an increase in the need for qualified candidates to fill jobs in STEM fields, educating today’s students and getting them interested in science, engineering and mathematics is now more important than ever. iRobot is doing just that by introducing kids of all ages to the robotics field through a week of events around the country designed to get them excited and inspired, introducing them to the possibilities. On today’s episode of Keystone Education Radio, host Annette Stevenson speaks with Lisa Freed, iRobot’s STEM Program Manager, about National Robotics Week, held every year in April. Skip to: 01:02 What is National Robotics Week and how did it get started? “We want to inspire students. We want to inspire kids. We want to let people see the excitement of robotics.” Skip to: 02:03 Would you tell us a little bit about what you do for iRobot and what led you to become an engineer? “I really enjoyed sharing my passion for engineering and seeing if we could get kids excited about the STEM fields and particularly women and underserved groups who weren’t as exposed.” Skip to: 04:04 Why is it important that STEM concepts are included in today’s curriculum and educational opportunities? “So it’s really important for all of us to let every child get exposed to that, to make sure they all get to see the excitement of being in some STEM field.” Skip to: 06:12 How can education leaders help students to be successful in learning STEM skills? “I think bringing in speakers to the classroom who bring it alive is really important and sharing those experiences and letting them see where they will use tech and then making them aware of the tech around themselves.” Skip to: 07:32 How does National Robotics Week help introduce students to STEM and the career possibilities? Skip to: 08:51 Are there specific activities parents can do at home and where should they go looking for those activities that they might incorporate? “Getting a student inspired with STEM can be very, very easy with little experiments at home.” Skip to: 10:07 How can students and school districts get involved in National Robotics Week this year? “This is all very exciting for us, but when you see a kid hold a robot, and a kid can actually drive a robot at one of these expos, there’s nothing quite like it.” Skip to: 11:21 Do you have any favorite events, activities or things you have seen occur as part National Robotics Week in the past? Q: So why don’t we start by hearing about National Robotics Week? How did it get its start? And what’s it all about? A: So back in 2009, iRobot and a group of other companies and educational institutions decided that it was worthwhile to bring attention to robotics. It was a rising industry and we knew that it was a great way to engage students in the fields of STEM. So they actually approached Congress. We got a bill through Congress to authorize National Robotics Week, and we held the first one in April, 2010. The impetus behind it is twofold. We want to inspire students. We want to inspire kids. We want to let people see the excitement of robotics. But when you do that, and you bring all these robotics, expos, and exhibits and companies together, you start showing the strength of the industry. When you see how across the United States, we just have so much happening in robotics, that’s when it gets super exciting. Q: I bet. So about your background, would you tell us a little bit about what you do for iRobot and what led you to become an engineer? A: Sure. So I am a civil engineer by training and education. I worked in engineering for about seven or eight years doing design work. My dad was a civil engineer. It looked exciting from the time I was growing up, he would involve me in projects, and I knew that it was something that I would enjoy. Then fast forward, I found myself on both sides of the table, of not only design, but was using more of the permitting and land use side, making sure projects could get built, but all throughout that, I was doing engineering outreach. I really enjoyed sharing my passion for engineering and seeing if we could get kids excited about the STEM fields and particularly women and underserved groups who weren’t as exposed. So luckily I got the job at iRobot to run our STEM program. We’re one of the few companies with dedicated staff in education and in STEM. And as part of that, we manage, founded, and organize National Robotics Week. Q: Exciting. And that was during your time there? A: I came in when it was about two or three years old. I picked it up from there. We grew the program when I came in, it was about 25 events around the country. When we were last able to have actual events with actual people, we were around over 350 events in all 50 states. Q: Wow, so it really does go beyond one event, or one single big event. It sounds widespread. A: It does. It’s very grassroots, iRobot is the cheerleader. We’re organizing it, we’re getting things on the website, we’re doing a lot of the PR around it, the social media, but the events themselves are at the grassroots level. In some ways, that makes it a lot more genuine because it means everybody can participate and events could be anywhere. That really spreads that exposure. Q: Cool and so you were exposed to the concept of engineering at home, but why is it important that STEM concepts are included in today’s curriculum and educational opportunities? A: You’re absolutely right. I was fortunate I had a dad who was a civil engineer. I knew what engineering was. I had gotten to experience it. It was funny, back a number of years ago, a few of my female friends got together who were engineers and we all asked, “Well, why, how did you get here?” And everybody had a parent or a close relative that was an engineer. Yeah, we can’t count on that. That’s not a good way to educate students. So it’s really important for all of us to let every child get exposed to that, to make sure they all get to see the excitement of being in some STEM field. That’s a lot of what we do at iRobot, is we bring that out into the schools, into educational groups. We visit Girl Scouts, we visit Boy Scouts. We’re really trying to show students where they could be in the STEM fields and the variety of careers. Robotics Week is doing the same thing because a student who can attend an event, and events are everywhere, they’re able to talk to those people and they’re able to see, “Oh, there’s a piece of this puzzle that makes a robot that I might enjoy.” Q: Yeah, and you mentioned the variety of careers. I’m sure that, based on the age of the student, there may be a very narrow scope of what they may understand to be the kind of job or career that a STEM education could potentially lead to. A: They don’t know. What we really want to make sure is they see the opportunities they may have. They don’t know when they’re in third grade that we have graphic artists at iRobot and we have finance people, and lawyers, and accountants, as well as the engineers, as well as people whose job it is to reverse engineer and take stuff apart. Q: Cool. That’s a cool one. That’s a cool one for younger kids to find out about, when you think about some of the toys, LEGOs and some of the fantastic toys like that, that’s interesting. How can education leaders help students to be successful in learning STEM skills? We talked about it being brought into the schools. So at the education leadership level, like the school leadership level, how can they facilitate and help students have that opportunity? A: I think engendering that real world experience. Everybody hears the student who asks, “Well, why do I have to learn algebra?” Or, “When am I ever going to use this?” I think bringing in speakers to the classroom who bring it alive is really important and sharing those experiences and letting them see where they will use tech and then making them aware of the tech around themselves. I think you can do that in the home, you can do it in the classroom, but so many students have a smartphone. It’s a piece of their lives, but do they think of it as a piece of technology? And they probably don’t. They take it for granted that when you tap the screen, something happens, but when you tap the screen, not only something happens on your phone, but something happens in your house, or a light turns on. So if you can start talking about that with students, that that isn’t just magic, that people made that happen, it becomes more real for them. I think that’s critical. Q: Yeah. So applications and examples in the home, even, and in the schools. Yeah, that makes sense. So you’ve talked a little bit about the goings on of National Robotics Week, but how does it exactly help introduce students to STEM and the career possibilities? What goes on that connects the students to that? A: Sure, so we’ve got events everywhere and particularly this year. We’ve changed it around because everything has to be virtual and we’re saying, “You know what? Anybody can participate.” Participation for us could be go home and watch a video about robots, or read a book, or somehow take something apart. When you start doing that, now we’re getting everybody more aware. So National Robotics Week is really about spreading that awareness and then letting them see the variety of robots. That’s the other piece is that you ask the average student, what’s a robot look like? And they start describing something with two arms and a metal head, and it’s got a square box and it marches. Then we show them something like Roomba, which is a round thing that sits on your floor and is a robot and they start to broaden their horizons on what could be a robot. Q: So you mentioned parents at home and how they can even just be talking about the technology that exists within the space of the home. Are there specific activities they can do? Or where should they go looking for those kinds of activities that they might incorporate? A: We’ve shared a lot of activities on the National Robotics Week website. If you go under our resources, we have posted all whole bunch of videos and books, actual hands-on activities they can do. Then we link actually over to a couple other websites, including the iRobot education website, that again has more activities. Some of them are really simple. Getting a student inspired with STEM can be very, very easy with little experiments at home. As I mentioned, take something apart. When you give a kid a screwdriver and you allow them to explore, you’ll see magic happen. We do that in classrooms, we bring robots out and we let them take them apart and to know what’s inside and to see all the pieces, and just the act of being able to use tools is incredibly important for students. Think about going through school, when did they actually hand you a screwdriver? Q: Yeah. Probably not unless you’re embarking on a CTC path or something like that. A: And that’s a tool, you need that tool set, literally, to survive. Q: Absolutely, absolutely. So how can students and school districts get involved in National Robotics Week this year? A: So head on over to our website, nationalroboticsweek.org, check out some of our resources, see what looks exciting. See if there’s an activity that you want to run. We have virtual coding, all sorts of things. Again, make it as simple as you need to. If it’s about having the students write a short essay, what robot would you design? What problem would you solve with a robot? Maybe it’s coding something. Maybe it’s watching a video. We have a few videos posted there and then let us know. Key to us, is fill out the form on the website and let us know that you’re participating so that we know where everybody’s seeing robots. It was a little bit easier in the past when we had actual in-person events, but we still want to know. Q: Yeah. Hopefully next year you might get back to in-person or more in-person. A: I hope so. That’s part of the challenge. This is all very exciting for us, but when you see a kid hold a robot, and a kid can actually drive a robot at one of these expos, there’s nothing quite like it. When we can get back to that, that’ll be even more exciting. Q: For sure. Do you have any favorite events, or activities or anything, any of your favorites that you’ve seen occur as part of National Robotics Week in the past? A: It’s interesting. When you go to pick your favorite event, a lot of times it’s the results that happened after. You get the email that was like, “I went to this thing and it was so cool.” But I really love the smaller events when we’ve had kids who participated for instance, in FIRST LEGO robotics. So they built a LEGO robot, but then they take it to the library to show it off. Here you’ve got seven-, eight-year olds talking about their robot in front of a group of people, that is just so much fun. We’ve had events that have over 10,000 people. We’ve had events with three people. I like the ones where it’s a self-initiative. So taking it to the library. We had another FIRST robotics team go to the local mall and show off their robot. Again, it just normalizes robotics, which has been really, really exciting for us. Q: Yeah. It’s really twofold, they’re learning presentation skills even in the thick of it, talking about something that they’re excited about, that’s great. A: You can’t do engineering without drawing it and without presenting it. So it really wraps together all the skills. Q: Cool. Thank you so much for joining us on this episode, Lisa. I appreciate it and we’re excited to see everything that goes on and you mentioned that feedback that you’re asking for. So it’ll be interesting I’m sure, to see where are folks doing this. Where are they participating? So it begins the second week of April, is that correct? A: Second week of April, we use both weekends. The form is super easy. Just tell us, “I’m reading a book at home” or, “I’m going to watch a video tonight” and that’s all we need to hear. Q: And the website again is? A: nationalroboticsweek.org Lisa Freed Lisa Freed is the STEM Program Manager at iRobot. Lisa manages iRobot’s STEM initiative, focused on engaging students in STEM education across grade levels and demographics. By visiting classrooms, bringing students to iRobot and providing job shadow experiences, the program inspires students in robotics and STEM fields. On average, 50% of iRobot’s employees participate in the STEM program, reaching over 60,000 students. iRobot is also the founder and lead organizer for National Robotics Week, which hosts over 300 events in all 50 states annually. Lisa has been working in STEM outreach for over 25 years including 10 years as the New England Regional Coordinator for the National Engineers Week Future City Competition. She is a registered Professional Engineer and LEED Accredited Professional. Lisa holds a Civil Engineering degree from Union College and a Masters in Landscape Architecture from Harvard University. Lisa was the recipient of the 2015 WEPAN Women in Engineering Champion Award recognizing an individual employee in industry for their volunteer contributions to STEM education and in 2017 was named a Woman Worth Watching in STEM by Profiles in Diversity Journal. Outside of her professional life, Lisa has a son who is a recent elementary education graduate from Endicott College, and enjoys paddling her Stand Up Paddleboard or training her Bernese Mountain Dog. National Robotics Week iRobot Education The post Exploring the World of STEM and Robotics at National Robotics Week appeared first on Keystone Education Radio.

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Future Farmers of America in Pennsylvania’s Schools: Teaching the Value and Impact of Agricultural Education Mar 23, 2021

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About this Episode Time Stamps Q&A About our Guests Resources Agriculture is big business in Pennsylvania. Not only does it have an enormous economic impact, but human lifestyle depends on not only sustaining but expanding the agricultural industries. Yet not every school district in the commonwealth incorporates agricultural education in its curriculum. On today’s episode of Keystone Education Radio, host Annette Stevenson speaks with Oley Valley Future Farmers of America advisor Kacey Rice and the Pennsylvania Future Farmers of America current state secretary Jessica Herr and learns just why teaching younger generations and getting them interested in agriculture is so vital economically and from a sustainability standpoint. Oley Valley’s FFA programs are also highlighted on SuccessStartsHere.org. Read the stories here and here. Skip to: 01:26 Would you start by telling us a little about the agricultural classes being taught in Oley Valley? “Agriculture is such a wide and broad field that encompasses so many facets that ag education has something for everyone.” Skip to: 03:58 What I wanted to know a little bit more about from that story is the hydroponics garden and what the students are doing with the produce, as well as the newly initiated, you mentioned the vet tech classes, so how does that all fit together? “It definitely gets put to good use and then the students get that learning experience as well.” Skip to: 06:48 Can you talk about the three-tiered education model that FFA embodies? “And so all three of those play off of each other to give students a well-rounded background that’s going to prepare them for future careers in the industry.” “We really like to talk about this leadership development for students . . . which is what I think makes FFA and agricultural education as a whole is so unique, and we’re preparing our students for life after high school.” Skip to: 09:56 What do you see as the benefits of implementing agricultural curriculum in public school education? “And by having ag education, we’re preparing students to enter into that career field. Agriculture is the number one industry in Pennsylvania, in the United States and truly in the world, because it supplies us, every single one of us as a human being, with our basic needs.” “So again, thinking from an economic impact standpoint, agriculture is huge, and we need students to be entering into this type of careers so that we can supply the food, the fiber, the fuel resources, whatever it might be for our growing population.” “Agriculture is going to be at the forefront of continuing the lifestyle that we have here in the United States and across the globe.” Skip to: 12:19 How would a school district go about implementing FFA curriculum in their schools? What suggestions would you have? “Reach out to other schools that have ag education. Our ag teachers are also a great resource. We will help other districts and share what we’re doing.” Skip to: 13:58 Are there any K-12 initiatives that PA FFA offers prior to that age frame? Skip to: 16:26 What were some of your experiences with FFA during your time in high school? “I think I never truly understood the importance of the agricultural industry until I got to high school and I had experience in FFA, and really my eyes were opened to what that looks like.” “And I love this industry, the agricultural industry, because of the community that I found within it. And so this year as a state officer, I really had the opportunity to be that community for other members.” Skip to: 18:23 What are your duties as the state FFA secretary? “We’re also advocates for the agricultural industry.” Skip to: 20:26 You’ve mentioned National Ag Day which I understand is March 23rd. Can you explain a little bit about this recognized day, and what our listeners might take away from being part of the observation of that day? “National Ag Day is devoted to increasing public awareness on the vital role that agriculture plays in our world. So, we’re celebrating the agricultural industry that many of us get to call home, as well as celebrating our farmers and modern-day agriculturalists, whether they’re on the farm in production agriculture, or just somehow connected in some outside way.” Skip to: 21:52 How can students and school leaders get involved? What is there to be involved in on that day? “There really is truly something for everybody, and it is so important at the economic level to get people involved in agriculture in the future.” Q: So, Kacey, would you start by telling us a little about the agricultural classes being taught in Oley Valley schools? A (Kacey): Yeah. We have one of five ag education programs in Berks County, and probably one of a few hundred in the State of Pennsylvania. It is not something that is at every school district, so that’s kind of a unique thing to point out that not all schools do have ag education programs like ours, but we have a kind of wide variety of courses that try to cover all that is ag education and in the field of agriculture. So, we have some full-year courses that span from the start of school in September through the end in June. And that includes Advanced Animal Science, Plant Science and Horticulture, Food Science and Technology, an Agricultural Engineering course, Agro-Environmental Sciences and Advanced Placement Environmental Science course, as well as an Animal and Plant Biotechnology course. And then in addition to that, we have a few semester-long courses that we offer as well. One in ag business, one called FFA Leadership, another Ag Genetics, and then new as of the 2020-2021 school year, we added a Veterinary Technician A and a Veterinary Technician B course. Between all of those, I am not the only one that does all of that. I have another ag education teacher here. His name is Mr. Jeremy Deysher. So, between the two of us, we cover all of that curriculum for our students in our program. We teach about 100 students out of our district, which is around . . . student body population in the high school is around 500. So, we see a decent portion of the students in our high school. And one thing I almost forgot was we also have an eighth-grade course at our middle school where we do a trimester-based kind of intro to ag sciences as a feeder to our high school program. Q: It sounds like a lot. You mentioned that you work with another teacher, but even for two teachers, that sounds like a really wide range of classes under that overarching umbrella of agriculture. That’s amazing. A (Kacey): And that’s the point as well, though. Agriculture is such a wide and broad field that encompasses so many facets that ag education has something for everyone and is some of the significance of teaching this to the younger generation to get them interested in careers in this industry, because there’s so many opportunities. Q: So, your story caught our attention. You submitted it to us for the Success Starts Here website, or someone within your district did. And what I wanted to know a little bit more about from that story is the hydroponics garden and what the students are doing with the produce, as well as the newly initiated, you mentioned the vet tech classes, so how does that all fit together? A (Kacey): I’ll give you some of the history in how we got some of this stuff started. In 2011, which is actually when I started teaching here at the Oley Valley School District, was the year of 2011-2012, we got a grant from the National FFA, Learning by Doing Grant to start implementing some raised bed gardening. And we have that outside of our ag education classrooms here. So, we started on that. And then a couple of years later in 2013, we got a $10,000 grant from Monsanto, and we use that to start aquaponics, and aquaponics is a combination of both hydroponics and aquaculture. So we started raising tilapia and growing lettuce and different vegetables in the grow bed in that kind of sustainable system. And from that, then we continued to expand. The Pennsylvania Department of Education does some Supplemental Equipment Grants for vocational education programs. So we were able to then start more hydroponics, and we added in what’s called an NFT or Nutrient Film Technique type of hydroponic system. We also got a vertical hydroponic system that we used for tomatoes, because they can grow essentially as tall as they can, or as high as the building can let them grow that you can support. And then a few years later, I think it was about 2016, it’s about four or five years now that we’ve had what we call our grow room. So, we took one of the extra rooms, I guess you could say, in our building and we kind of put all of our hydroponics, aquaponics things in there, and so now we have a nice place to have the students get that hands-on education through those types of systems, things that they would be working with in the agricultural industry or potential careers someday. And the produce that we get from that, so I was mentioning tomatoes and lettuce and herbs are most that we try to send to the cafeteria, including the stuff from the raised bed gardens, where it started it all. But the raised beds gardens, obviously most of that happens starting here in the spring and over the summer. So, during the summer months we keep everything going as well. We get some students to come in, volunteer their time over the summer, and a lot of the produce over the summer gets donated to the local food pantry here in Oley. So if the school district doesn’t have a use for it at that point in time, like if it was right before the holiday break, again, we try to give it to the food pantry. So, it definitely gets put to good use and then the students get that learning experience as well. Q: That’s awesome. Truly a farm-to-table experience right within your own school district. That’s really interesting, and super cool. So, you may have kind of touched upon this in explaining the different stages, but can you talk about the three-tiered education model that FFA embodies? A (Kacey): Yeah. And FFA is really one of the tiers of what we consider ag education. And so we have the classroom instruction that obviously is kind of the traditional school setting, but we’re teaching those agricultural courses that I mentioned earlier. Then you also have the FFA, which is considered an intracurricular organization, because it really does build upon what they’re learning in the classroom. And then the third tier is what’s called SAE, which stands for a Supervised Agricultural Experience. So again, they’re taking what they’re learning in the classroom and then having some sort of project or experience-based activity outside of the classroom. So, that might be in the form of a placement where they actually get a job or an internship with a career related to their interests, or if the kid’s taking plant science this year, they might go work for a greenhouse, or something to that effect. They could also do entrepreneurship-based projects if they have say poultry at home that they can raise or the ability to raise some animals, they could do those types of projects as well to gain experience, potentially to a future vet or animal science-related career. And so all three of those play off of each other to give students a well-rounded background that’s going to prepare them for future careers in the industry. The FFA, one of the other key components I feel that is crucial with that piece is the leadership skills that they learn in the FFA organization. And I can maybe let Jessica jump in here to touch base a little bit on that FFA tier and talk about all that that organization really provides and how it builds off of those other two. A (Jessica): I’d love to talk a little bit about that. So, I’ve been involved in FFA for the past five years, and I can truly attest to the fact that those leadership skills that are learned throughout the organization are really valuable. Students have the opportunity to compete in what we call career or leadership development events, which is just one opportunity for students to gain public speaking skills, better understand how to work on a team or the dedication of practicing and preparing for these contests, where students can compete at the regional, state and potentially national level within these contests. And along with that, Mrs. Rice had mentioned these SAE projects. So, we really like to talk about this leadership development for students, and because it’s an intracurricular organization, other clubs at the school don’t have the opportunity to really get these leadership opportunities for students in this organization like FFA as well as in the classroom, which is what I think makes FFA and agricultural education as a whole is so unique, and we’re preparing our students for life after high school, whether that’s a job within the agricultural industry, production ag on the farm or off the farm, or just some other job that they’re interested in, which I think is really cool and really special that our organization is unique in that sense. And we’re really preparing our students for the future. Q: That’s great to hear from the student perspective. So, I’ll direct this one back to you, Kacey. What do you see as, and then we’ll get to your perspective on it too, Jessica, but what do you see as the benefits of implementing agricultural curriculum in public school education? You talked a little bit earlier about showing students that broad range of opportunities and the experiences, anything beyond that, that you didn’t already touch upon? A (Kacey): I think the biggest thing is just talking about the economic impact that agriculture has as a whole. And by having ag education, we’re preparing students to enter into that career field. Agriculture is the number one industry in Pennsylvania, in the United States and truly in the world, because it supplies us, every single one of us as a human being, with our basic needs. I have a couple of statistics that I like to share about the economic impact in that there are 63,163 farms in Pennsylvania. We have over 7.8 billion acres of farmland, and Pennsylvania is one of the top states for farmland preservation as well in the country, with the average farm size being about 124 acres. The market value of all of our agricultural products sold is over about $5 billion worth of product. So again, thinking from an economic impact standpoint, agriculture is huge, and we need students to be entering into this type of careers so that we can supply the food, the fiber, the fuel resources, whatever it might be for our growing population. And thinking of that in terms from a global standpoint as well, we’re at about like 7.7, roughly, billion people, anticipated 10 billion people, agriculture is going to be at the forefront of continuing the lifestyle that we have here in the United States and across the globe. The United States supplies almost half of the world’s corn supply. So, some of those types of things are important to think about when we think about the benefits of ag education. I truly believe that ag education should be involved in every school district in the country and in the state of Pennsylvania, but obviously that’s not the case. But having those ag education programs, the ones we do really help to support that industry for our future. Q: Yeah. Those are some pretty substantial numbers, the data points that you referenced. It really does put it in perspective, this sort of foundational profession and operational system that happens in support of all of society, really. How would a school district go about…you talked about the catalyst in your programs, how would a school district go about implementing FFA curriculum in their schools? What suggestions would you have? A (Kacey): Well, and first of all, because of it, we go back to the three-tier model here that we follow. In order to start FFA, you actually need to start the ag educatio…

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