Our last week before Teen Training was hectic but full of fun!
On Monday we went to the Bronx CCE office for the first time where we got to unpack a bunch of CHFFF materials from last year and organize the things we wanted to take with us next week. It was really cool to work at the CCE office and meet some of the educators working there– a group of them were practicing a lesson in another room where they made healthy pizzas and it smelled delicious! On Tuesday we met virtually to go over some of the training modules that we are planning to present to the CHATs next week. We worked very efficiently together online and it felt great to close my laptop at the end of the Zoom with our plans for next week finalized.
Thursday was a busy day– we received the printing order and worked together at the Bronx office again to sort through everything, filling student folders with newsletters and handouts, creating the CHAT folders with their schedules and training materials, and our biggest task, laminating all 244 updated food package cards. Deborah and Sashana worked like pros on the laminating machines while me and Jaylyn organized the laminated cards, splitting them amongst the CHFFF lesson kits. I was really glad we updated the food cards even though it took over two hours; besides having the most current version of the Nutrition Facts Panel displayed, the new cards are bright and cheery and show much more recognizable snack foods than the old cards. When I was little and a teacher passed out something that was laminated I feel like I always paid just a bit more attention, so I hope our CHFFF students feel the same way!
At the end of the day Thursday, we stuffed ourselves into Jackie’s car and brought all of our materials to the PAL site in Harlem. After dropping our things in the classroom we will be using next week, we completed one last task– putting together CHFFF student folders since the shipment of 100 folders was sent to PAL Harlem. We spread out all the materials on a table and worked assembly-line style to finish the job. This week showed me just how much nutrition educators do besides teaching and planning content– preparing student and classroom materials takes a lot of hands-on work and patience. But by working as a team we were able to get a lot done and have some fun along the way!
