Request for Partner-Sites AmeriCorps Farm To School Program Applications General Information Background Proposed Program

Transcription

1 Request for Partner-Sites AmeriCorps Farm To School Program Applications Application submission deadline: May 16th, 2014 Target date for grant award notification: June 16, 2014 General Information The AmeriCorps Farm to School program provides an innovative approach to decreasing childhood obesity through promoting healthy eating habits in students K-12 and increasing access to local foods in schools. In anticipation of receiving continued funding for the program year we are soliciting requests for up to TWO new partner sites. In the Program Year the program was awarded Competitive Funding for a contract period of August 15, 2013 through August 14, 2016, subject to annual review. The following is a request for two new partner sites for the program year. If application is accepted and performance in year 1 satisfactory a continuation request would be requested for the program year. Background In the AmeriCorps Farm to School Program was awarded competitive funding for a contract period of August 15, 2013 through August 14, 2016, subject to annual review. This enabled the program to add 6 new sites and to maintain that level of funding for the following two program years (contingent on funding). Two of those sites are exiting at the end of the program year allowing an opportunity for the AmeriCorps program to bring in up to 2 new host sites. AmeriCorps is the national service program that provides Americans of many ages and backgrounds the opportunity to gain valuable work experience while serving communities in need. The Wisconsin State and National AmeriCorps program is managed and administered by Serve Wisconsin ( AmeriCorps State and National programs in Wisconsin enroll their members in a term of service during the fall. AmeriCorps members receive a living allowance (instead of a wage), which is distributed to the member in equal payments, every two weeks. In addition, AmeriCorps members gain valuable job skills through training and service experiences. Furthermore, members receive an education award that can be used to pay tuition or to pay back qualified student loans. The WI Department of Agriculture, Trade & Consumer Protection (DATCP) in partnership with the WI Department of Public Instruction (DPI), the WI Department of Health Services (DHS), and UW - Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems (UW - CIAS) received an AmeriCorps Grant to support a statewide AmeriCorps Farm to School program. This program has worked with 14 host sites throughout the state and has served over 15,000 WI students. Proposed Program The AmeriCorps Farm to School Program aims to build healthy communities by: Improving child nutrition through the implementation of educational activities for students and families about healthy eating choices. (as measured through: nutrition/food systems education and pre- and post- surveys.) Developing strong communities by creating future community leaders and connecting schools with local farmers and food businesses. (as measured through: action plans, school gardens, community events, local farmers, and local items served/sampled).

2 Leveraging volunteers to promote community buy-in and on-going sustainable, farm-to-school programing. Each partner host site will receive, at least, two half-time AmeriCorps members. Program sites may request a mixture of full-time and half-time members, if the need is justified. There is also a possibility to combine each half-time position into one full-time position. In this case the member must have the skills necessary to perform both service duties. Since each community is unique, it will have the flexibility to customize AmeriCorps member assignments and member structure to meet the needs specific to each community or, in the case of smaller schools, groups of communities. The program provides each hostsite with: 1) A half-time community outreach member, who will serve as the main liaison between the schools and the community. They will coordinate with the food service director and network with farmers to identify opportunities for purchasing local foods and will create an action plan laying out the steps necessary to procure local food into their programs. They will also be responsible for recruiting and mobilizing volunteers to enhance and increase the capacity of the AC F2S program. This will include organizing a F2S Task Force within the school or community, recruiting farmers to present in the schools, organizing farm tours, and organizing snack preparation or food tastings. With the assistance of the site supervisors, they will create a data base of volunteers for sustained program efforts. 2) A half-time nutrition education member, who will collaborate closely with the community outreach members, will focus on building relationships with teachers and school administrators. They will serve in a direct capacity teaching nutrition education in the classroom, garden(s) and lunchroom. The nutrition education members will be trained and use the Wisconsin Nutrition Education Standards as a guide to prepare their lesson plans. They will implement the aligned curricula, Nutritious, Delicious Wisconsin, Linking People, Land and Food, and/or Got Veggies?, which aims to teach students about healthy eating choices. The nutrition educator will also be responsible for starting and maintaining school gardens and working with teachers to incorporate garden activities into current classroom curriculum. 3) All AmeriCorps members will be managed by the central program manager housed at DATCP but each site must provide a site supervisor to help guide AmeriCorps members in their communities. Application Instructions and Requirements In order to be considered for this opportunity, please return the request for partnership form by 4:30 pm on May 16th, Match funds are not required until after the program is awarded. Timeline 05/16/2014 Request for Partnership Form/Application Deadline 06/16/2014 Anticipated Award notification; contingent on funding from CNCS 08/15/ Program Implementation (Members have been recruited, enrolled and program year starts) 08/27/ day member training in Madison, WI The request for partnership form must be received by 4:30 pm on May 16th, 2014 in order for your site to be considered. Please fill out the form, make sure to check the boxes confirming you understand and are able to meet the match requirements, and answer the questions thoroughly.

3 Partner Site Requirements In order to be considered for the AmeriCorps Farm to School Program, sites must commit to the following responsibilities: Assist with the recruitment and hiring of members for your site. Identify an onsite supervisor who will meet at least once per week with each AmeriCorps member to help track program progress and provide assistance, training, professional development, mentorship and advice. Provide orientation, workspace, basic office supplies and access to phone, computer and Internet. Assist with the creation of a farm to school task force made up of local community members to provide guidance for AmeriCorps members at your site. Task force participants could include teachers, professors, local food organizations, WI Physical, Activity & Nutrition counselors, PTO/PTA organizations, UW Extension agents, local government, chambers of commerce, civic organizations, interested citizens and parents, school boards and farmers. Contribute $5,765 per full-time member and $2,133 per half-time member. These funds will be used as cash match for operating costs of the program. Obtain evaluation forms from students, teachers and staff about the program. This includes a pre and post student attitudes surveys and teacher, administrator and food service surveys. Evaluations are a required part of the AmeriCorps grant to measure program impact and success. Sites that can provide the following additional support will receive higher levels of consideration: Outline other non-cash grant match (staff time, office supplies, office space) Provide room and/or board for members Show strong partnerships with school, community, farmers Show strong community and/or school desire for impacting change in the goal areas Strong supervisor dedication to childhood nutrition and local agricultural development Strong needs documentation for site location AmeriCorps Farm to School Program Central Program Management Total program management will be housed at DATCP. DATCP will be responsible for providing: Overall program manager to supervise members and project. Distribute living allowance payments and payroll activities for all members. Provide additional grant cash and in-kind matching. Provide technical assistance for sourcing local foods and provide nutrition education assistance. Train AmeriCorps members on local food procurement, nutrition education and outreach. Compile required reports and documentation to for the AmeriCorps State Commission, Serve WI. Please contact Sarah Larson at the WI Department of Agriculture, Trade & Consumer Protections. Phone: , sarahm.larson@wisconsin.gov.

4 Request for Partnership Form AmeriCorps Farm To School Program Applications must be received by 4:30 p.m May 16 th applications are strongly encouraged. Support letters where required may be faxed to ; As a potential partner site organizer, my organization, school or school system and I commit to all of the below requirements. Click here to enter first & last name. Printed Name Signature Click here to enter street address. Street Address Click here to enter phone number. Phone Number Click here to enter organization & title. Organization, Title Click here to enter a date. Date Click here to enter state & zip code. State, Zip Code Click here to enter address. Partner Site Requirements: Check below to indicate your ability to meet the following match requirements. Assist with the recruitment and hiring of members for your site. Identify an onsite supervisor who will meet at least once per week with each AmeriCorps member and help accomplish the goals of the local project. We found, from experience, that the most successful AmeriCorps members have regular supervision at their sites, especially those members with limited work experience. We strongly recommend you plan to meet weekly with your member to check in and assess progress, and to deal with challenges your member might be experiencing. Site supervisors are required to sign and verify hours for each AmeriCorps member on a bi-weekly basis. Note: the member is responsible for completing the forms, you need to approve and verify only. Provide orientation, workspace, basic office supplies and access to phone, computer and Internet. Assist with the creation of a farm to school task force made up of local community members to provide guidance for AmeriCorps members at your site and guide farm to school activities in your community. Task force participants could include teachers, professors, local food organizations, WI Physical, Activity & Nutrition counselors, PTO/PTA organizations, UW Extension agents, local government, chambers of commerce, civic organizations, interested citizens and parents, school boards and farmers. Contribute $5,765 per full-time member and $2,133 per half-time member. Obtain evaluation forms from students, teachers, volunteers and staff about the program. This includes: pre and post student attitude surveys, and teacher, administrator, volunteer and food service surveys. Evaluations are a required part of the AmeriCorps grant.

5 How many AmeriCorps Members do you request? Your AmeriCorps Request Number: Full-time Choose a number (0-3). Half-time Choose a number (0-6). Application Questions: Please limit your response to six pages.. 1. Identify your program supervisor(s), school districts and schools partnering with and other key community partners. Program Supervisor: Name of School District Number of Schools in District Schools Proposing to partner with within Other Key Community Partners: 2. Please describe how you will recruit, select, and support the AmeriCorps member(s) serving your sites. 3. Provide information that demonstrates the need for an AmeriCorps Farm to School Program in your community. (For example, obesity rates in your community, free and reduced lunch rates, community demographics.) 4. Explain how the community, farmers, teachers, school administrations and food service staff will support the AmeriCorps farm to school programming such as nutrition education, local food procurement and other efforts? 5. Please comment on any previous experience you (or your organization) have with farm to school and/or related fields/initiatives.. Thank you for your application. We hope to notify all applicants of our final selection by June 16, 2014