Wellness Activity Paper

The Sylvia Center at Katchkie Farm

Kinderhook, NY

Ashley Prendergast
Sage Dietetic Intern

June 10, 2016

Plan
The target population of the Sylvia Center at Katchkie Farm is
children of Columbia County, New York. Living in a rural area, many of
the large grocery stores are located in the City of Hudson, NY the
most populated area of the county. Although this covers many, its
location on the far west side of the county leaves some residents with
the burden of traveling over 60 miles to get to the hub of Columbia
County. The plethora of farmers markets and roadside farm stands
makes fresh produce available but the residents have need the
culinary knowledge, confidence and willingness prepare these foods.
During the Fresh Food Comes From the Farm program at Katchkie
Farm, I will conduct a lesson and activity to help students and parents
become more aware of produce varieties as well as ways to prepare
them. When the child or parent leaves the farm, he/she should have a
better understanding of seasonality, importance of consuming fresh
produce for health and locality, and able to prepare a healthy and
balanced meal using various food items. This lesson will give
participants more confidence and creativity in preparing meals, as well
as the ability to prepare meals for families and friends.
The program will provide an opportunity for students to be
active, to critically think, to interact with their peers, and then use
creativity and teamwork in a fun, engaging manner. Because the
programs are happening at The Sylvia Center at Katchkie Farm, I will

only be exposed to the students that come as part of a school or camp

trip. These schedules were set up long in advance, sometimes
determined during the previous year. Because of this, I am not able to
market my interventions to the audience, but to just choose the group
that fits the audience the best during my time at this rotation. An
opportunity this allows me is that Ill be interacting with children that
may not realize the need for, or seek out, this education. I will be
presenting the information as instructions for the activity/game, so
they will be learning the information without the formality of a
classroom or test. The kids are going to already be engaged and
excited about being on a field trip with much stimulation (being
outside, seeding, gardening, animals, cooking, eating, etc), so they
may become easily distracted and difficult to manage. With the help of
the other employees and chaperones, I dont foresee this to be
detrimental to the wellness activity.
As above, I wont be able to market my program in the traditional
sense. The not-for-profit organization does not allow people to come as
they please. Only organized groups can come, such as school clubs or
summer camp programs. These schedules were set well before I began
my rotation at the Center. I am only able to work with the groups that
have already signed up, not promote the activity for others to come.
The lesson about food characteristics, flavor, and descriptions
will take place under the field house of The Sylvia Center at Katchkie

Farm. As a rotation of the Fresh Food Comes From the Farm, the
students will be able to have a class size of 10-15 students and
chaperones. This will be conducive to a more focused, quiet group that
allows all of the students to work together and have a voice in the
group activity.

Program Effectiveness
Summary
On Wednesday, June 1, 2016, I completed the Who Am I? lessons
and activities during the Fresh Food Comes to the Farm Program at The
Sylvia Center at Katchkie Farm in Kinderhook, NY. Roughly 60 people
(students and chaperones) from Catskill Middle School came to the
program as part of a school field trip. After a seeding activity in the
greenhouse and a brief farm walk-though, the students were broken
into four different groups of 14-15 students each. The groups rotated
every 30 minutes between 4 stations (animals, garden, wellness
activity, and cooking).
Obesity among Columbia County youths is greater than the state
and local averages. Supermarkets within Columbia County are isolated
to the City of Hudson, leaving many residents without quick, reliable
access to food stores. Due to the rural area and plethora of farms
throughout the county, it is important for residents to view farms as a
source of food as well as able to prepare foods that come from the

farm in an interesting, nutritious way. Because of this, I decided to

create a lesson/activity that highlights fresh food characteristics as well
as how to prepare and pair them.
The students were receptive to the information and excited
about the games. They enthusiastically provided examples/answers to
my questions during the lesson. During the Who Am I? game, the
students used the characteristics we had discussed (seeds or not, food
groups, color, flavor, texture, etc) to determine the food item they
were given. Once we broke off into groups again to use the food items
to create a hypothetical meal, the students worked as a team to
brainstorm really creative ideas that sounded delicious.

The Sylvia Centers Field

House

The poster template hung up at each rotation. I would add

details to the posters as the students gave ideas.

Process

Cards made for 2 weeks of programs used for

grades 2-12.

Evaluation
The program was implemented as planned but with an audience
outside of my target. Due to time constraints and scheduling conflicts,
the best day to implement my activity was one of the rare days that
the group was not from Columbia County. The school that attended the
day of my program is actually not only in a different county, but
located in the village of Catskill. This town is similar to that of Hudson
many supermarkets and restaurants concentrated to a small area.
Other than the consumer discrepancy, the process was great. All
of the students were excited about the games/lessons and showed a
great interest in learning and participating. Academic inadequacy and
behavioral issues at school had caused approximately 10-13 students
to be absent from the field trip. With the group broken into four
rotations, these absences did not affect my activity. One of the major
problems with the activity was its limitations for age groups outside of

the one I prepared. One of the groups was a special education class, in
which both activities (Who Am I game and meal planning) were above
their level of comprehension. Because the school district had failed to
mention that this class would be present, none of the staff members
were prepared. Next time I would like to have a back-up activity or
simplified version in case something like this happens again or to use
with younger groups.

Structure Evaluation
The structure of the program was adequate. The Wellness
Activity (lessons and games) were completed within the 30 minute
rotations, with a few minutes to spare in each rotation to review the
meal the groups came up with. Due to our ability to break the large
group into multiple smaller groups, the groups were manageable. The
entire activity required one staff member and the assistance of one
chaperone from the group. After the first two groups, I found the use of
a large poster board unnecessary. When I would stop to write down
their ideas, it would take away from the face-to-face time. Conducting
a lesson on a farm, outside, with wind, does not lend itself well to a

formal teaching feeling. Once I stopped using the poster, the session
felt much smoother and more comfortable.
Impact Evaluation
Although I did not assess this specific population in the beginning
of the program, feedback from the students was positive. Prior to
beginning the lesson, I asked each group if they cook at home. An
average of 2.34 of 15 students answered, yes verbally or by raising a
hand. After the 30-minute rotation, the students unanimously stated
their desire to start cooking using the information that they learned. I
was pleasantly shocked by the amount of enthusiasm each group
presented at the end of the activities.
My objectives were to have the brainstormed meals include at
least 5 out of 7 food items and 2 or more preparation methods. I had
the students write their meal ideas and preparation methods down as
they brainstormed and to circle their final meal idea for presentation. I
collected these papers after each rotation. After the group left for the
day to return to their school, I tallied the amount of given food items
used as well as preparation methods. See tables below for results.
Number of Food
Items Used

Percentag

0-4

e
0%

12.5%

12.5%

Number of
Preparation
Methods Used
7
Based on

Percentage

0-1 75%

0%

2+

100%
the data collected

and observations made, I met the goals/objectives I had specified in

my needs assessment. The problem remains, however, that the
population I conducted the needs assessment on is not the population I
was able to perform the intervention with. Throughout the next two
weeks of my rotation, I was able to conduct the activity with all of the
groups that came (2nd graders from a bordering county, 3rd graders
from Columbia County, and 11th and 12th grade culinary students).
Because it was too close to the end of my rotation/due date, I was
unable to write my final report on the outcomes of these groups.