At
our showcase schools, 3050 children are cooking with Chefs in Schools™ and gardening every month
during the school day and waiting lists fill fast for spots in Eat This!™ &
Kids Dig it!™ after school programs and summer camps. We are the largest sustained effort of this kind in the country. Now we have turned our
sights on the 40+ Houston area schools and districts that have waited patiently
for us to expand. We are exploring
the right fit for them--one that will be sustainable and effective for the whole
campus. In the coming year, we
also look forward to working with the City of Houston Health Department to
implement Kids Dig It!™ and Eat This!™ After School and Summer Camps in their
Community Centers, reaching a whole new population. Dozens of other centers and
schools are making plans now to instigate various facets of our Seed-to-Plate
Nutrition Education™ programs in the coming year and beyond. Parents and educators are so
enthusiastic about our results, that they feel confident in securing the
funding required to launch their own RFS program.
In the meantime, RFS will continue to grant our
core Seed-to-Plate Nutrition Education™ to Briscoe, Gross, NQ Henderson, Mac
Gregor & Rodriguez, where we have already spent over $1million dollars to
establish, test and develop the concept, but we are anxious to share with the nearly 100 folks who have contacted us from across the country. So our new RFS Program Guide will be
launched in July 2010 with a Summer Seminar for educators to be trained and certified.
We are deeply grateful for the ever-growing ranks
of chefs and volunteers who have discovered the joys of lending a hand in our
classrooms and gardens, and the support and collaboration of many others. Numerous awards and recognition have
come our way and the national spotlight has begun to seek us out as we model a
highly effective approach to the epidemic of childhood obesity with tools that
can travel anywhere. We are
heartened by the extra attention that first lady Michelle Obama has brought to
the issue and we look forward to leading more and more children, parents, and educators down
the path to healthy eating through fun interactive lessons in the kitchen and
garden.
Come join us anytime!
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