The Educated Choices Program team shared free digital food education nationwide with influential academic leaders and educators this past November. Members from every department traveled to Georgia, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Texas to give live demonstrations of the ECP Video Library and have valuable face-to-face interactions with those who use our materials the most.
51st Annual Conference for Middle-Level Education
AMLE is all about Middle School education! This conference allows educators to explore new strategies and best practices while gaining inspiration for engaging middle-level education. Chief Operating Officer, Casey Clemens, and Director of Communications, Beth Champion, traveled to Nashville, Tennessee, prepared with outreach materials and eager to share how the ECP Video Library can be applied to a wide range of middle school subjects.
Teachers were impressed with how professional, clean, and user-friendly the library was, noting how surprised they were that such a comprehensive resource was available for free. Although educators in every subject were interested, one notable interaction occurred when speaking to a middle school basketball coach:
“One of my favorite interactions was with an English teacher who coached a middle school basketball team. She saw the banner for Healthful Eating and couldn’t wait to share it with her players, who warm up for games after drinking sugary sodas and eating fast food and candy bars. She was excited to show them the connection between their food and their performance on the court, inspiring them to choose healthier options,” said Beth Champion.
Champion went on to recommend
“Plant-Forward and Powerful,” an education package where viewers can hear first-hand accounts from major athletes, including an Olympian and Ninja Warrior, about their diet's impact on their endurance.
It was one of many times she was able to offer a teacher multiple days of free educational content that filled a very unique and specific need.
Georgia Educational Technology Conference
CEO and Founder, Lorena Mucke, and Assistant Director of Curriculum Development, Dan Taylor, attended The Georgia Educational Technology Conference in Atlanta, an event focused on connecting education and technology. This theme was something the Educated Choices Program was initially interested in this event given the organization’s recent partnership with the Good Food Institute to create food tech curriculum for its “Food Innovation Series.” The event proved to serve as a unique opportunity to gain valuable feedback, as many attendees were not teachers but IT professionals and media specialists.
“People were happy that we were talking about food since it is often overlooked. They were also very grateful and often surprised that the resources we offer come at no cost, which is a great benefit for teachers with limited funding for their classrooms,” said Dan Taylor.
National Science Teaching Association Conference
Curriculum Development Manager, Elise Ferguson, and former Chief Development and Partnerships Officer, Karyn Knox, attended The National Science Teaching Association conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, to connect with administrators and educators in STEM education. The theme of the event allowed the team to share many of our environmental science materials, including:
The Planet and Our Plates (Created in collaboration with EARTHDAY.ORG)
Our Carbon Foodprint (Created in collaboration with the Environmental Working Group)
Ferguson and Knox spoke to people who taught in a variety of settings, not just in traditional schools. One individual taught at a girls’ juvenile detention facility and mentioned the importance of helping her students make healthy food choices within the restrictions of their environment, while another attendee worked at a nature preserve.
“Quite a few people mentioned farms or community gardens that they were involved with in some capacity. Some of these gardens were programs of the schools these teachers worked at. We were happy to tell them about “Growing Community Roots,” said Elise Ferguson.
One teacher mentioned that she works with students with dyslexia and other learning disabilities and wondered how ECP materials would work for her. She was happy to see all of the ECP’s enhanced video player settings, including customizable captioning options and playback speed. She was also pleased to learn that ECP’s Anti-Racism, Diversity, and Inclusion Initiative (ARDI) maintains an active role in creating materials that represent and celebrate its global, multi-faceted audience.
Conference for the Advancement of Science Teaching 2024 (CAST24)
Lorena Mucke, CEO and Founder, and Gerard Martinez, Customer Relations Manager, joined teachers from all grade levels at CAST24 in San Antonio, Texas. ECP joined organizations like Texas A&M and NASA to share curriculum with principals, school administrators, and science teachers with diverse backgrounds who taught science, astronomy, biology, forensics, health sciences, and more! The audience was once again impressed that all ECP resources are free, reaching over 3.7 million individuals in 60 countries and counting!
“Science teachers from various backgrounds were ecstatic to learn about our free teacher resources and were very impressed by how professional and user-friendly our on-demand ECP video library platform was. With attendance estimated at around 3,500, we were extremely busy each day talking to everyone who passed by our booth,” said Gerard Martinez.
Teachers were happy the team had reviewed academic standards from across the United States, including Texas, and several other countries to develop a list of common Academic Standard Guidelines that the materials can be applied to. They also appreciated that the video presentations come with additional resources, including guided notes, lesson plans, quizzes, homework, discussion prompts, and a unique student viewing link that can be used in and outside of the classroom. Many of the educators also taught Spanish-speaking students and appreciated that the most popular videos, lesson plans, and materials are fully translated and narrated, and the remaining video topics are provided with captions.
More to come
After overwhelming success in 2024, the Educated Choices Program plans to continue its in-person outreach moving forward into the new year.
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