Recent Activities

October School Wellness Professional Development Early last month we held the first session of our play workshop series! We learned a ton about the importance of play and had productive discussions about challenging classroom behaviors and how to reframe those behaviors as communication and a desire for connection. And we played! At the end of October, we held a math and movement workshop for k-5 educators. They learned how to incorporate more movement into daily math lessons, to increase student engagement, learning, and to improve student health. We still have two half day sessions of the play workshop series that you can sign up for. The December session will focus on indoor play- both indoor recess and incorporating play into the classroom. The March session will focus on outdoor play. ​​​​​​Registration links: December 5, 2024- morning March 27, 2025- morning

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Lackawanna's Martin Road Walk Audit GObike's planning team led a walk audit of Martin Road with students and faculty from Lackawanna Middle School. They examined the built infrastructure around the school, and identified challenges and barriers to walking and biking in the area for students and nearby residents. Next, GObike will produce a report based on the findings, and make recommendations for safety improvements. These students and faculty can then lead advocacy efforts to ask the City of Lackawanna to bring them to fruition. Walk audits are an important first step in creating a safe routes to school program and advocating for safety improvements that can lead to increases in the number of students walking or biking to school. Please reach out to Sarah (swhiteway@e1b.org) if you would like to coordinate a walk audit around your school.

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Farm to school efforts link local producers with schools working to purchase and include locally grown fruits, vegetables, grains, meat, dairy, and seafood in program meals, as well as efforts that include hands-on education, school gardens, taste tests, farm field trips, and integrating food-related education into classroom curriculum. There are many opportunities to apply for farm to school funding and support.

In early 2025 applications will open for both the New York farm to school institute and the North East farm to school institute. Both provide a year-long professional development opportunity for food service staff, educators, administrators, and community partners to develop and refine their Farm to School programs, and to help bring more locally grown food into the cafeteria and classroom. The ongoing training and educational program will assist participating schools in creating successful Farm to School programs and connecting with farmers. 

Now is the time to apply for the large farm to school grants that are available through the USDA. USDA awards competitive Farm to School grants through implementation grants, turnkey grants, and SCALES grants.

Implementation grant

The objective of the Farm to School Implementation Grant is to improve access to local foods through comprehensive farm to school programming that includes both local sourcing and agricultural education efforts. Project proposals should incorporate both elements of the required objective. The Farm to School Implementation Grant awards projects of 24 months in length for funding up to $500,000. Applicants are required to provide matching support of at least 25 percent of the total project budget in the form of cash or in-kind contributions. The application deadline is January 10, 2025.

Turnkey grant

There are three Turnkey Grant project tracks available in FY 2025: Action Planning, Agricultural Education, and Edible Gardens. Applicants may only apply to one project track. The project types are summarized as follows:

• Turnkey – Action Planning grantees will develop a roadmap for launching or enhancing farm to school activities.
• Turnkey – Agricultural Education grantees will incorporate agricultural education into curricula.
• Turnkey – Edible Gardens grantees will implement a food production operation.

The 2025 Farm to School Turnkey Grant awards projects of 24 months in length for funding up to $50,000. Applicants are required to provide matching support of at least 25 percent of the total project budget in the form of cash or in-kind contributions. The application deadline is January 10, 2025.

Locally Salamanca City CSD was awarded a Turnkey- Edible Gardens grant last year!

SCALES grant

The SCALES grant provides funding of up to $1 000 000 over 3 years for innovative and collaborative approaches that reimagine the school food system and that could be sustained and scaled elsewhere. Projects must be collaboratively administered by at least three partners, with one lead partner and at least two partner organizations. All partners should be involved in implementing the project. Teams must include at least one school food authority, and at least one partner from industry. Application are due December 13, 2024.

Locally Springville Griffith Institute's Harvest to Plate, Farm to Cafeteria, Meat Processing project was awarded a SCALES grant last year!

CHSC school coordinators are happy to provide assistance with applying to any wellness themed grant or program, please reach out to Kate or Sarah.