Course:LFS350/Projects/2015T1/tupperhomeworkclub

Tupper Homework Club; Cooking with Friends

WHAT IS THE OPPORTUNITY?

Organization names: Tupper Community School Team, Hillcrest Centre, and Little Mountain Neighborhood House

Mission of organizations: These organizations work together to support the Tupper Homework Club, an inclusive and welcoming space for students in grades 8-12 at Tupper Secondary School. At Homework Club, students may get tutoring help from UBC volunteers, make new friends, connect with youth workers, and have somewhere to hang out after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Homework Club has been an integral part of the Tupper Community for over 12 years and has the full support of Tupper staff who refer students for support. Homework Club provides healthy snacks (protein, whole grains, and vegetables/fruit are key) each day as well as activities to engage students in the community during Pro-D days and school holidays.

Description of project opportunity: We would like to incorporate a nutrition component to the Homework Club next fall and have a cooking rotation during which Tupper students could sign up to work with the community youth worker at Hillcrest Centre and other community partners, and interested LFS 350 students to provide a nutritious snack which they will prepare on site. LFS students could assist us in providing relevant, tasty, nutritious and economical recipes and work with high-school students who have signed up to provide the snack during designated Thursday sessions.

Skills required: Students should be interested in mentoring and engaging a diverse group of youth through the cooking experience (one must have food safe), and be patient and committed to providing a safe place for youth to connect and learn about nutrition and wellness. We have a “kitchen table” kind of environment created with Homework Club which keeps students engaged and learning on many levels, academic, social and emotional. Students should be comfortable with this approach. Our homework club runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays so the LFS students (who are only available on Wednesdays) would come to Tupper on the designated Wednesdays and work together to assess, create and program a cooking session that could be facilitated by the youth worker from Hillcrest CC and youth who have signed up for the rotation with a focus on nutrition, economy and ease of preparation. LFS students are welcome to come on the Thursday to cook if available (we would be thrilled)

Skills to be developed through the opportunity: Cultural competence, leadership, problem solving, program development, team-building, communication skills.

Project location: Project will take place at Tupper Secondary, located 2 blocks east of Main Street on East 24th Avenue. It is easily accessible by transit; the #25, #3, and #8 stop nearby. It is ~10 blocks from the King Edward Canada Line station.

Days of week and hours project will take place?: LFS students on designated Wednesdays 3:00 to 5:00 ; Tupper Homework Club takes place on Tuesdays and Thursdays 3:00-6:00

Primary contact for the students:

1. Teri Corcoran, Community Schools Coordinator for Tupper area will be our main contact. She works primarily out of Tupper Secondary School and will provide general oversight to the program.
   Email: tcorcoran@vsb.bc.ca
   Address: 419 East 24th Ave V5V 2A2
   Phone: 778-229-9788
   Website: www.vsb.bc.ca/communityschoolteams
   
2. Lauren McGuire-Wood and J.J. Johnson assisting with additional supervision and implementation of programming.
   

All partners will be working together collaboratively with youth to plan projects.

Experiential components to enhance student engagement:
The Community School Team run After School programs with themes of “Dream Green”, recyclable, art……the environment, cooking and nutrition programs and are always open to post- secondary volunteers to support and mentor our high school youth to run the programs. Little Mountain Neighbourhood House runs a community kitchen program. Hillcrest Centre would like to engage youth through more community service projects, including connections along Main and Cambie streets.

EXPECTED OUTCOMES

Learning outcomes:

• Students will gain the opportunity to learn more about food systems as they apply to a community/school setting in Tupper/Mt. Pleasant/Queen Elizabeth neighbourhoods.
• Students will connect and collaborate in delivery of services with a variety of community organizations and partners (neighbourhood houses, Parks and Recreation, Vancouver School Board)
• Students will have the opportunity to practice communication and work skills with youth aged 13-18 and have a stronger sense of school and community context into issues that involve young people, their families and their neighbourhoods.

Organizational Outcomes:

• Hillcrest Centre, Little Mountain Neighbourhood House and Tupper Community Schools Team will strengthen working relationships with each other, and possible community partners, being able to share the load of staff and resources and make a difference in the school while educating students about food resources and sustainability.
• Our organizations will gain a solid foundation for creating future programming with a focus on sustainability, food security, health, wellness and nutrition.
• We will have opportunity to connect students who are in-need to valuable life skills and social skills through our cooking and nutrition programs. Many of the students who we serve come from challenging life situations and to be able to teach them how to prepare healthy snacks with limited resources will be an asset to their family and community.