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Kids' Food Basket is a local non-profit organization focused on providing healthy food choices to children in the West Michigan area. |
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A futurePREP'd partner since 2016.
Business Partner Challenge #1:
How do we design an experience that provides healing and engagement for our community?
Our experience . . .
"Conducting a PBL with Kids' Food Basket pushed me out of my comfort zone. While I like to have tight reigns as a teacher, I was able to practice the art of flexibility. The two week process helped me to see what kids can really do when we give them tools, instruction, and freedom to take initiative. Additionally, the soft skills that students were able to practice were amazing! One of the fears that all the students expressed in the beginning was talking to strangers; they didn't like it one bit at our big reveal event at FMG. However, each one of them stepped up and interacted with an adult they didn't know at some point during the project. Seeing the kids walk away with a sense of pride and accomplishment was one of the best parts!" ~ S. Mangan, Educator
"What a 'growing' experience! This program pushed me out of my comfort zone and helped me continue to build skills in adaptability and flexibility. I am always one with a plan. The need to adapt and be flexible also proved challenging for the students at the start. By the end, students developed these skills and a variety of other soft skills. It was also challenging to take a step back and allow the students to take initiative and feel the freedom to create a product they envisioned. We just got so excited over their ideas/work too! Watching their transformation over the two short weeks was incredible. Students were on a larger time crunch since they were tasked with implementing their solution (building the garden). There was no shortage of determination in this group. The pride and excitement over seeing their work and ideas come to life was truly remarkable. I cannot wait to see where they go from here." ~ J. Forman, Educator
Click here for Team Kids' Food Basket's journey on Padlet.
"Conducting a PBL with Kids' Food Basket pushed me out of my comfort zone. While I like to have tight reigns as a teacher, I was able to practice the art of flexibility. The two week process helped me to see what kids can really do when we give them tools, instruction, and freedom to take initiative. Additionally, the soft skills that students were able to practice were amazing! One of the fears that all the students expressed in the beginning was talking to strangers; they didn't like it one bit at our big reveal event at FMG. However, each one of them stepped up and interacted with an adult they didn't know at some point during the project. Seeing the kids walk away with a sense of pride and accomplishment was one of the best parts!" ~ S. Mangan, Educator
"What a 'growing' experience! This program pushed me out of my comfort zone and helped me continue to build skills in adaptability and flexibility. I am always one with a plan. The need to adapt and be flexible also proved challenging for the students at the start. By the end, students developed these skills and a variety of other soft skills. It was also challenging to take a step back and allow the students to take initiative and feel the freedom to create a product they envisioned. We just got so excited over their ideas/work too! Watching their transformation over the two short weeks was incredible. Students were on a larger time crunch since they were tasked with implementing their solution (building the garden). There was no shortage of determination in this group. The pride and excitement over seeing their work and ideas come to life was truly remarkable. I cannot wait to see where they go from here." ~ J. Forman, Educator
Click here for Team Kids' Food Basket's journey on Padlet.
Business Partner Challenge #2:
How can we make the KFB sensory garden more safe, accessible, and self-guided?
Our experience . . .
"We saw some amazing things at the CAC and I hope we can add some things from there and create our own over here to interact with the kids." ~ Kendra, HS Student
"Our team had so much fun working with Kids Food Basket. Our students were able to build on the work that last year's Future Prep'd team had done to create the sensory garden. KFB staff was super enthusiastic about our driving question and our team's proposed solution. It was really meaningful to see how our students used their research and creativity to come up with ideas that KFB was excited to implement." ~ Katie Burrows-Stone, Educator
"While I'd heard about KFB and their mission before, I wasn't aware of how much work they do in education. It was cool to learn about educational jobs I hadn't heard of before, and to see how their mission has expanded. I also loved partnering with them because the staff are all helpful humans who are passionate about helping and educating other humans. I loved being able to work outside most days, and to watch my futurePREP'd students' love for nature grow." ~ Ashlyn Ruffner Rowell, Educator
Click here for Team Kids' Food Basket's journey on Padlet.
"We saw some amazing things at the CAC and I hope we can add some things from there and create our own over here to interact with the kids." ~ Kendra, HS Student
"Our team had so much fun working with Kids Food Basket. Our students were able to build on the work that last year's Future Prep'd team had done to create the sensory garden. KFB staff was super enthusiastic about our driving question and our team's proposed solution. It was really meaningful to see how our students used their research and creativity to come up with ideas that KFB was excited to implement." ~ Katie Burrows-Stone, Educator
"While I'd heard about KFB and their mission before, I wasn't aware of how much work they do in education. It was cool to learn about educational jobs I hadn't heard of before, and to see how their mission has expanded. I also loved partnering with them because the staff are all helpful humans who are passionate about helping and educating other humans. I loved being able to work outside most days, and to watch my futurePREP'd students' love for nature grow." ~ Ashlyn Ruffner Rowell, Educator
Click here for Team Kids' Food Basket's journey on Padlet.
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