Welcome back to my ninth week of working with the CUCE-NYC CHAT Initiative–my last week of teaching the youths at PAL Breukelen! Since Monica (our Cornell staff) could not go to PAL Pathways this Tuesday, Miriam and I went there to help the teen teacher Nakaiya and the group lead Ava, who were both impressively innovative! For instance, instead of making Veggie Pick Pockets for lesson four, they decided to make Apple Cinnamon Wrap and Rolls, consisting of apples and yogurts on whole grain tortilla wraps. What’s more, Ava was able to convince the site to buy a microwave air-fryer to air-fry the tortillas, resulting in a wonderful, crispy dessert. Although I did not have the chance to return to the site for the remainder of the week, during our Friday debrief, I was glad to hear that even Pathway youths outside of Naikaya’s class were coming up to her to ask if she had more of the wraps.

Nevertheless, for Breukelen, we moved our Monday class to this Thursday, where I taught lessons five and six at EBC. I was very impressed to see that the youths retained the information they learned last week regarding the vegetables, fruits, and the nutrition facts label despite the long gap between our classes, and some even tried out the recipes with their parents and grandparents at home! Not to mention, the youths improved their teamwork during the recipe making and really enjoyed the Veggie Pick Pockets and Tortilla Roll-Ups for this day’s lessons. 

Finally, Friday was my last day with the Breukelen youths. Although some youths were absent and some were new, the ones present successfully took their post-survey, which would provide data as to how the CHFFF lessons have influenced their eating and active habits. For lesson 6, the youths enjoyed the Breakfast Parfait, though some mentioned that they preferred the dairy yogurt over the plant-based yogurt (an option for lactose intolerant individuals). Then, at the end of the class, we celebrated by giving each of the youths their certification for completing CHFFF and a utensil kit, and I also gave the group lead Shanya a gift to show my thanks for her help in facilitating the class. Overall, I couldn’t be any happier that the CHFFF classes turned out to be successful and enjoyable for the youths despite the unexpected hardships, and just the fact that I was able to make a positive influence in these youths’ lives even though we have only met for three weeks.