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FoodCorps Partners with EFNEP and North Warren Alumni Camp for 4-H Summer Fun!

7/8/2014

Last week FoodCorps conducted a Farm to Fork day camp alongside Arnetta Wilson, our EFNEP programmer. For three days, students visited farms, harvested produce, cooked their produce for lunch and snacks, and got a lot of physical activity. Below you will see pictures from our cookout in Buck Springs, our hike at DeHart Botanical Gardens in Louisburg, Jonathan Bender's blackberry farm, and

Later in the week, FoodCorps partnered with Crystal Smith, Warren County Cooperative Extension's Director and 4-H Agent to provide a fun Natural Resource exploration day up at Buck Springs. About 50 students from the North Warren Alumni Camp in Wise rode out to Buck Springs to explore the nature trail, learn some history, make their own greenhouses and bird feeders.

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Warren County Schools' Child Nutrition Director is Hard at Work: All Warren County Students to Eat Free Next Year

7/8/2014

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Amazing job Robert Parker, Warren County Child Nutrition Director, for ensuring all students in Warren County will have breakfast, lunch, and a snack each school day next year! Parker received "Community Eligibility" from the USDA, ensuring that all students will eat free regardless of their paperwork or income status. For more details on this incredible new development in our schools, see this article from the Warren Record.

Parker is also working hard this summer in expanding our Summer Feeding program in different locations around the county, with help from No Kid Hungry NC. Thank you Mr. Parker for your commitment to helping our kids be full and healthy! For dates and more information, see this Warren Record article.

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Warren County 4-Her Attends NC State's Horticulture Science Summer Institute

7/8/2014

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Ta'Qwan Davis, one of our very own Warren County 4-H Garden Gnomes, is currently having a blast on NC State's campus! While attending the Horticulture Science Summer Institute, Qwan is learning about careers in horticulture, propagation, nursery management, native species, botanical drawing, and tree climbing (pictured below). Also a great part of his visit is experiencing the college atmosphere and living in a dorm. We hope more Warren County 4-Hers have an opportunity to attend this awesome institute in the future!

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Warren County High School Garden Receives Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) Certification

7/8/2014

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NCDA auditor Vincent Wyche meets with students to ask them details about their harvesting procedures. Mr. Wyche also did an excellent job of explaining all steps to the audit and why these measures are important for food safety.

Warren County High School's garden has officially been deemed "GAP certified," by the NC Department of Agriculture, enabling all produce grown to be sold directly to the school system! Students were trained in food safety and ensured our harvesting procedures were sanitary and well-practiced. We are excited to grow leafy greens such as cabbage and collards in the school garden this fall, hopefully turning a profit for our 4H Garden Gnomes! A HUGE THANK YOU to Working Landscapes for funding this important project, as well as NC State Cooperative Extension for the training. Also a shout out to North Stokes High School for being the first high school to GAP certify their garden in the state! Who's next? Our next step is to create a shareable resource so other schools can certify their gardens. Stay tuned and feel free to contact us for any questions.

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A Successful Harvest at South Warren!

6/16/2014

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South Warren had an excellent garden year using beds donated by Farm Bureau and efforts coordinated by Karen Paynter, 1st grade teacher. These two teachers did an amazing job getting kids out to the garden, and as you can see in the photo, having fun! Mrs. Thompson (right) is a self-proclaimed "city girl" from New York but learned the excitement that comes from pulling carrots right from the garden. She also experimented with cooking radish greens in her classroom this year! Mrs. Paynter is a local treasure from right down the road in Wise, and ensured the success of the garden by using some of her own resources from her farm. I'm thrilled to be involved with such skilled, passionate, and welcoming teachers!

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Culinary Club Hosts Family Night for Parents

6/16/2014

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Mariam Boyd Elementary School ended their Culinary Club year by hosting parents for a night of eating and celebrating. Students prepared a meal of Ginger Chicken stir fry, fresh fruit, and turon at the library. They also were able to demonstrate their chopping skills and relive highlights from the year. We had a lot of fun at our meetings and it was great to bring parents in for the party!

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Harvest Time for Ms. Simons and Class

5/28/2014

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Vaughan Elementary also had a great lettuce harvest last week, and used this crop to make a fresh salad! The class was very skeptical about the lettuce's texture and taste, but learned that garden lettuce is not scary at all, but truly delicious!

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1st Graders Wrap Up Season with Harvest Party

5/28/2014

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Ms. Brickey, Ms. Altston, Ms. Henry, and their wonderful first grade students did a great job growing a beautiful garden this spring! In the mean time, they learned about the importance and contents of soil, what plants need, what animals need, and what makes an ecosystem healthy. As a reward for such great work, all three classes came together for a harvest party last week. Along with three great volunteers from Chapel Hill Baptist in Oine, students harvested, washed, and prepared a salad for tasting. They dressed a delicious salad of carrots, radishes, cucumbers, kale, and lettuce with ranch we made during our goods and services lesson a couple days beforehand. Students enjoyed trying some new veggies and partying garden-style!

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WCHS 4-H Garden Gnomes Help Plant Community Garden

5/9/2014

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Our Warren County High School 4-Hers took some vegetable plants they had started in the greenhouse over to the Senior Center's Community Garden this month. They visited twice to fill in beds with soil, dig holes for fruit trees, and plant starts in the beds. Students had a great time working alongside other volunteers and especially the seniors, who were excited about the cabbage plants and the fig tree. We hope there are a lot more opportunities for intergenerational learning as we begin to harvest in a couple of months!

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Final GIS/GPS Trip Completed and Onto the Next Phase

5/9/2014

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Ms. Perry and Ms. Davis's 9th graders have completed logging GPS points, interviewing managers, and photographing all food places in Warren County. Phew! That was a lot of work, and they did a great job perservering. The next step is to organize the data and hand it to Warren County's Planning Department, Ken Krulik, to prepare our interactive map. Students will soon work after school on a presentation to be given to the School Board and County Commissioners in June. Dominecha Crenshaw, one of our ninth graders said it best, "I mean we did all this hard work, we need to tell people about it!" So that is just what we'll do! See below where the students visited Hunter's Pond in Arcola and Pete Jones's Farm down on 401.