Finding surprises all around in Omaha!

One of the new interns in our office, Kate Swinarski, and I met a couple weeks ago to introduce ourselves.  Kate is a senior in Social Work at Creighton and has had a rich experience working with special needs people.  When she and I began discussing her work with inclusive settings, she lit up like a Christmas tree. All excited about telling me about the program she had created.  In one of her previous jobs, Kate noticed that working outside in the community is more positive and engaging experience for anyone, but special needs learners were her priority.  She found jobs for people to work alongside other employees. She felt this had more value than some of the sheltered workshop activities she’d experienced. Kate worked her way into the Joslyn Art Museum and persuaded them to hire on one of her people to help sweep after hours at the museum.  While no one else joined her on this quest, sadly the program never got off the ground.

But it does help me get off the ground.  

Daryn Richardson, Services Development Director at VODEC, described programs woven into community spaces so that specially-abled people aren’t shuttled off somewhere to do their programs in a large warehouse or office.  They can contribute in real and meaningful ways out in the community, on the job site….at the FARM! There is a federal law that mandates this and I’m going to learn more about it.

Kate shared about a not-for-profit group called Angel Guardians.  Their mission is to improve the quality of life for individuals with intellectual/developmental  disabilities in the areas of employment, fitness, socialization and recreation.  They were formed by parents of special needs adults who wanted to have qualified support and rich experiences for their families.  I think Angel Guardians will definitely be on my list to visit when I’m doing my deep dive into local agencies that will have people who may be interested in our program at Camp Brewster!

The other group she shared to explore is ENCOR-DD.  This looks like another great resource for me to dig into.  Thanks, Kate! For the great leads. More to follow!

Getting affirmation from Daryn Richardson, VODEC.

My new mentor, Carolyn Anderson, introduced me to Daryn Richardson last week. Daryn has a quick smile and kind demeanor. As the Services Development Director at VODEC and the stepfather to a specially-able adult, Daryn was a shot in the arm for my pilot project. I explained to him what I wanted to do and he smiled and said, “There is a great need for this in the community”. He explained the proposal he is working on with Assistology to create a cooking strategy for specially-able adults. This proposal will create recipes/directions for helpers to teach others how to cook using slow cookers. He encouraged me to explore two seperate tracks: Nutritional and Vocational skills. If I can teach transferable skills, he will have people who will want to be a part of the farm. It was interesting to hear him list off the types of transferable skills that can be taught on the farm. Interpersonal communication and attention to task were two that piqued my interest.
Carolyn suggested we teach nutrition first and then visit the farm. Daryn smiled and quickly said, No. They want to be active! Let them pick butternut squash and then talk about what to do with them. This is excited me as I love creating engaging activities.

At the end of our time together, it became clear to me that I need to start observing specially abled people in current programs to get more of an idea how this farm should be created to serve them well.

Aquaponics educates all kinds of kids

This week, Nancy introduced me to Greg Fripp, who founded Whispering Roots.  Listening to Greg tell his story encouraged me to look back on my summer school teaching experience in a new light.  Greg shared how he takes the same types of aquaponics system to each classroom or setting and yet, each time there is a different application.  It depends on the needs of the learners and the teacher. It made me reflect on each of my entrances to the classroom, did I have that kind of mindset or did I have an agenda to run through?

Beyond that, Greg talked about meeting with partners and asking them what they do the best.  Most of the time, they mention more than 8 things they “do”. When he focuses on what they do best, they smile and give him 1-2 things they do.  Then he directs his attention to these things and works towards using these assets in his organization. I thought it was a great way to assess potential partners to see how we can work together.  

Here is a great article about Greg and his work at Whispering Roots.

Back on the path to Farming!

I believed my tenure at No More Empty Pots would expire at the end of the August when the CISCO grant was completed.  I approached my boss, and our CEO, Nancy Williams, to talk about my exit strategy but she had other ideas.  Instead of taking a sabbatical to explore creating my urban farm on my own, she invited me to do just that under the umbrella of No More Empty Pots.  Nurturing my current relationships with The Nature Conservancy, Fontenelle Forest, and other agencies, No More Empty Pots will allow me to broaden my reach and see who’s interested in joining us.  

Merica Whitehall, from Fontenelle Forest had spoken to Nancy and me about the possibility of using land at the Forest for the farm pilot.  We met and viewed the land...it looks spectacular and has a great name already: Camp Brewster! Now, I’m settling into research to explore inclusive urban farms.

Camp Brewster - with the Missouri river on the top right.

Effects of invading someone else’s domain

Earlier in August, I spent a Saturday working outside in the yard and garden.  The weather was sunny and warm, since Dasher was spending the weekend with us, I had company.  I planted a new cover crop in Zamarian’s garden and then began to weed in the far corner of the yard. This is my resource spot where I keep items that could be used in the future. I have stump mulch, stones, bricks and all sorts of abandoned items.  

In the midst of weeding, I noticed was Dashing jumping around and yelping and then I started to feel the stings myself. I brushed off a few bugs from his back and we both started running for the house and I hailed Glen to help. We ran into the garage and  I felt stinging everywhere and was crazed trying to get the bugs off of me. Dash still had one on his back. Glen brushed it off and it stung him.

We were googling how to take care of bee stings and heard a buzzing sound. We cornered and killed the insect, then looked him up online and it was a yellow jacket wasp. We figured out that soap/water followed by hydrogen peroxide was the best way to treat the stings.  We took care of Dasher and then each other.

At this point, I felt the worst was over.  That afternoon, Dasher looked lethargic so I googled how to care for beagles with stings, it wasn’t really anything more than we’d already done. The next morning, each of my sting spots (7 in all) were red/inflamed, hard and itchy. It was very painful.  

I’m not mad at the yellow jackets, they were just doing what came naturally to them - protecting their home.  

I know now where my domain ends and their's starts! 

Experiencing the Pressure of Food Waste

One of the topics of our Building IoT + Food Systems program was to show learners the truth about food waste.  Not many people are aware that we throw away up to 40 % of all of the food grown in the US today.

One article states that we throw away one per person per day which totals 150,000 tons of food a day.  Rotting food clogs up landfills and releases methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.  I know this, I teach this and yet I found myself throwing away strawberries, cucumbers and an old orange today.  While tossing this into my compost pile doesn’t feel as bad as putting it in the garbage to go landfill, what about folks who don’t have compost options?  Last week, while shopping in my grocery store, I saw store employees checking dates and piling food on carts to be removed. While some may be rescued, most of it will end up in a landfill.  This saddens me, but what can be done?

My first hug and other learnings

In my last week of teaching at NorthStar, I shook each learner’s hand and asked them their names as they entered.  It was remarkable the difference it made in our class dynamics. Just meeting each person at the door, shaking their hand and looking into their eyes allowed me to connect with them.  

One of the learners would not shake my hand and tried to walk around me.  I would not allow it so Jayden finally gave in and shook my hand but wouldn’t look me in the eye. I figured that we were starting to connect.  Later in our time together, he shouted at me that I wasn’t his teacher and he didn’t have to listen to me, he didn’t have to follow my rules.

After class one day, the Director stopped by to chat. She was wondering why so many of my students are asked to leave the classroom.  It was a method I adopted after the advisors were not helping with disruptions, I asked the learners to leave until they were ready to engage.  Hana explained that their leaving the class is seen as a huge move towards being expelled from the program. I was not interested in this strong of a message.  

Hana also said that she’s had to break apart fights at high schools where the teacher is just standing by, uninterested in getting involved.  For some of these kids, NorthStar is the safest environment they experience in their entire day. Safer than home, than school, than the streets.  She encouraged me to teach to these disruptive behaviors. This is more new learning for me. I told her about Jayden expressing himself and she said he should be asked to leave but there was something I needed to know about Jayden.  He has a special qualifier because he can’t read above the 1st grade level.

So, the next day, I tried a new tact.  Bribery with fruit snacks. It worked. Jayden worked hard to get 5 fruit snacks, more than anyone in the class.  It was wonderful to watch him shine.

He hugged me before he left.

On Friday, Jayden was expelled from the program.

Today, I am finished with the program and am left feeling empty.

STEP UP helped me step out

So the first two weeks of July our team hosted the 39 STEP UP participants in our Food Hub, Garden and Admin Office.  STEP UP Omaha! provides jobs and paid internship opportunities to youth and young adults during the summer. One of our gals taught culinary arts in the kitchen, another agricultural education in the garden and me, the Internet of Things in the Admin Office.  These learners are 14-15 years old and come from all schools, mostly in North Omaha. Our Director of Operations, Susan, opened each session with a level setting time and also finished our time together every day.  Each of us had each group twice for 3 hours or so. It was a HOT week which played into the Admin Office meeting space, which usually holds 8-10 adults and we had 13 large bodies who were busy trying to make impressions in addition to engaging with me and the content I wanted to share.  The afternoons wore on and were tedious, I left each day exhausted. They sucked the life out of me, that is for sure.

The last day of our 2 weeks together, we hosted a graduation ceremony at the local Community College.  It was a sweet celebration and Susan asked each teacher to give a three minute speech to summarize the class.  I had selected 3 or so learners from each group that had been engaged and interested, and showed leadership. I’d planned to lead with the Vince Lombardi quote, “Leaders are not born, they are made.”

When my name was announced for me to speak, the kids started cheering.  Seriously, cheering and yelling out “sister”, which is what I called all the girls because I couldn’t recall each of their names.  I was overcome. Tears welled up in my eyes and I lost my direction on what I’d prepared to share. After a few moments, I did regain composure and delivered my speech on leadership.

I walked away from the experience in shock.  Days later the shock remains.

Does our woundedness help us serve?

This week, our CEO sent us this quote from a Henry Nouwen meditation:

Nobody escapes being wounded. We all are wounded people, whether physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually. The main question is not "How can we hide our wounds?" so we don't have to be embarrassed, but "How can we put our woundedness in the service of others?" When our wounds cease to be a source of shame, and become a source of healing, we have become wounded healers.

I wondered, how can my teaching these young adults be a way for me to put my woundedness into their service?  In relating my woundedness to theirs, I immediately thought of my embarrassing moments of learning and not knowing.  I see myself trying to figure out new technologies at Oracle. My peers and teachers were kind to me as I struggled to learn Dreamweaver, Photoshop or Oracle Tutor, but I never became proficient at it.  Every time I had to use the tools, I had to relearn them and ask for help doing so. Years later, I concluded that I wasn’t good at technologies and while this helped, I still feel that pain of being bewildered by something and never figuring it out.  

So maybe that’s where the disrespect, apathetic attitudes emanate from with these young adults? I’m just another adult in front of them, testing them to see they don’t meet the standard. If so, how do I put my woundedness into service to them? It doesn’t feel like telling them my story of not knowing, it is clear that they don’t care.  I wonder if it is in my approach to them, but it’s hard because they are so tough. They are visibly disinterested in anything I have to say. Dinner guests this past week suggested my watching Dangerous Minds, the Michelle Pfeiffer film where she taught in the inner city.  That may be a good first step. But I think there’s more to it. I think it’s more about how these wounds of mine allow me to show a different attitude towards these learners.  

2 generations later = more bleakness

In teaching another group at NorthStar, I was again surprised, overwhelmed, encouraged, exhausted and perplexed. I spoke with our Director of Operations, Susan about this and she provided perspective.  In explaining to her that I was teaching in Watts 30 (again that large number) years ago, I thought I was prepared for an urban teaching setting. Susan explained that 2 generations makes a big difference. It hit hard.  Years of struggling and never seeing results or experiencing change, hardens everything. Especially hope. Those four-year-old students, may have spent years working several jobs, watching their children get shot, dreaming about success following their passions and contemplating a way to get out...all these things but nothing about their circumstances changes.  Responsibility for this aside, hardened hearts and weak spirits result. What I experience in the classroom is just a little taste of their tough reality. These kids are used to people not showing up, not keeping their word, and having to figure out things for themselves. The support I offer isn’t trustworthy, because they haven’t been able to trust many or much at all.

2 years makes a big difference!

This week I started another program delivery of Building IoT + Local Food Systems.  These learners were rising 9th graders, the difference between them and the rising 7th graders was notable.  They were taller, they were quieter and they look more intently at me. At first, it was off putting but then, it was refreshing.

Their questions, their input and their engagement was at such a different level than the others that I found myself more excited and engaged.  Perhaps, it’s because it was my third go round for delivering the content, or else it was my dear cousin’s encouragement to pray this:

ask God to give you a love for each student, to open your eyes to their incredible value to Him....kids know when their teacher loves them....and they respond with tenderness and vulnerability that they don't risk in most places or with most of the people in their lives.

Growing what you eat is fun!

Teaching learners about the local food system has opened my eyes to things I’ve taken for granted.  I grew up eating what came off the farm where I lived. I didn’t think that was special, actually quite the opposite.  I’ll never forget when friends from California came to visit us on the farm and brought a Chef Boyardee Pizza Kit. Pizza on the farm...Pizza from a box!  This memory is powerful. I don’t remember it being flavorful but it was pizza. I don’t think Mom before Chef Boyardee arrived.

It wasn’t fun to eat carrots and onions and strawberries from your own backyard.  It was boring and hard work. Eating from your yard meant planting, watering, weeding, harvesting, cleaning and cooking.  Not nearly as fun and opening a box and cans.  The fascination with industrially produced foods seemed normal for us as we rarely ate away from home, so whenever we could get processed foods we were thrilled.

And today, I’m 180 degrees away from this.  I realize now how great our diets were 50 years ago and beyond.  Limited chemicals, limited preservatives, seasonal eating and locally produced vegetables - concepts highly touted in foodie circles today but it was all we had as hard working farm families years ago.

This past weekend was spent back on that farm, gardening with my mom just like old times.  I could spend all my hours there. Not only nostalgic, it is also good for my soul to witness food growing.  Growing what you eat is fun.

Goodbye, Chef!  I do miss you!

What’s changed in 30 years of teaching!

Wow! I’ve forgotten so much about teaching, but the NorthStar rising 7th graders helped me to remember, painfully at times.  This, in addition to publicly admitting that 30 years ago I started teaching in the inner city of Los Angeles.  Another pain point!

I remember my first group of learners, 4 years old, as being curious and quiet.  Once they trusted me, the noise level rose but so did their level of engagement. I found myself going into school earlier each day so I could create new learning centers and activities for them.  I don’t remember their disrespect or annoyance, but that could have been their age, or mine!

The group of learners I just taught were 10 years older and much more hidden from me.  They didn’t seem to care about what I said, or what innovation I shared or what their neighbor told them about the internet of things, all that mattered was feigning apathy, or so it seemed to me. My colleagues at work encouraged me that this age of learner just wants to act cool, actually attending to the teacher makes you uncool. Nancy, my boss, explained that if I can gain their trust, let them know that I care about them, I should consider my time with them a success. This is new learning for me.

As I’m processing this to prepare for the next delivery, I’m thinking of ways to incorporate a faster pace and delivery of content, use music effectively and engage the learners who are interested, allowing the others to go sit on the sidelines.  To me, much of this goes against what I believe as a teacher. So, I’m changing my own paradigms, not an easy or desirable task!

And I guess this is what hurts the most, I'm not sure this past group of learners know that I did care about them learning.  How do you share your heart when the disdain and disrespect is the strongest emotion in the room?

NorthStar is more than I expected!

This week was my first week teaching The Internet of Things +Local Food Systems at NorthStar Academy.  Here is their program description:

NorthStar programming is intended to provide additional academic, athletic and social opportunities for student success. NorthStar serves boys in grades 3 – 8 through an open enrollment process.  

I was nervous to get started.  Momma and I spent the better part of three days redesigning the curriculum when I was in tears over it late last week.  Her 33 years of teaching expertise provided the much needed bench strength for me to gain comfort in knowing and managing the content.  I was still apprehensive as I as my audience entered the classroom at 9 am on Monday morning. It was their first day of summer school, or “programming” and  I assumed my teaching experience in inner city LA would help relate to these learners. Little did I realize that the 30 years that has past (Yes, it has been 30 years!  That’s another blog entry.) had created an entirely different learner audience. These “rising 7th graders” are a tough audience, I left the first day disappointed, exhausted and forlorn.  After gaining counsel from our Head of Operations and CEO, Susan and Nancy, I felt more prepared to return to the class for Day 2. They encouraged me to work on trust in the learners, create experiences that help them see that I care.  Forget about the content of the Internet of Things or Local Food Systems, let them know I care. Today, I just completed Day 3 and have honed my expectations to be more realistic but am still learning the steps to this different tap dance I continue to modify from my days teaching PreK in Watts.

Seeing the Food Hub through Others

This past week, my Aussie friend, Beth, joined us for lunch during Restaurant Week at our Culinary Workforce Training Program.  She was unaware of No More Empty Pots, our Food Hub nor our CWTP. As a PhD in Zoology, Beth travels the world frequently but also digs into her community in Omaha.  She is actively engaged with neighbors and friends who need rides, help figuring out aspects of life and just need someone to listen to them. Beth doesn’t shy away from hard stories or hard work and was eager to learn more about the Food Hub and No More Empty Pots’ work after entering our world.  She wanted to know how we found people for our programs, how our programs found our people, where the produce was sourced and what we did with the food we produced. Then she saw the shared use kitchens where one of our entrepreneurs was baking cookies and learned about our program for entrepreneurs.  She was intrigued and capped off her tour by cornering Nancy, our CEO and Founder, to ask about specific people she knew who could benefit from our program. Seeing Beth’s curiosity and kindness piqued by stepping into the Pots’ environment helped me to understand what a unique environment this truly is.

Concentration comes from living distilled lives

I’ve been trying to quit multi-tasking because I’ve read research and personally experienced the frazzled way I approach life when unfocused.  This has been clear recently as I find myself going to get a stamp, stopping to open a cookbook, going outside to get the paper, starting to empty the dishwasher, looking for my coffee cup...all while I am holding the envelope desirous of a postage stamp.  I shake my head and chastise myself for this ridiculous behavior at 6 am, only to continue it throughout the day.

I’ve gone so far as to sign up for a program called “Be more with less” about minimizing your options, commitments, etc. It has started me thinking differently.  Today, I found a tweet and watched this video on Concentration.  It isn’t a long video, not even 10 minutes long.  But I found myself distracted as the speaker was explaining how concentration helps us remove things that dilute our lives. I reached for a check that could be written, decided to check work email and thought about getting more water.  It was laughable.

But a big clue to getting better at being me. If I truly want to focus and think deeply about my priorities in order to effect the changes I want to see, I need to concentrate. The lingering line I know we’ve all heard was her last:  What do you your habits say about your priorities?

Why should we collaborate together anyway?

A New Narrative

Michael Rozyne concluded his lecture by stating that we don’t need to convince someone of your values, you just need to share one pragmatic common goal.  

I want to pull apart the first part of that sentence.  I find it interesting that most conversations I experience (if they can be called conversations) are centered on convincing someone that they are wrong and more importantly, they are limited in their thinking.  Usually the person listening is assumed to disagree with the speaker’s position. Usually it is assumed that the reason the listener disagrees with the speaker is because they are lacking in some way: intelligence, sensitivity,  being informed, and a willingness to see the world from another’s viewpoint. These conversations are rife with sound bytes and authoritative speech which negates opening a discussion. The end goal for the speaker seems to be to make a point and win the argument, even though this is a conversation.   

When I’m the listener in this type of question, that is usually all I do.  I used to think it was because I didn’t have my facts correct, or know enough to participate fully.  On reflection, it is because I don’t feel safe. I don’t mind discussing things I don’t know, how do you learn?  I do mind assumptions that are made of me because of the way I look or how I assumed to have voted.

Michael’s lecture cheered me, it made me hopeful that conversations can be had when we have different values as long as we share a common goal.  He believes we are all capable of creating a New Narrative. I look forward to having conversations that aim to create a New Narrative on all sorts of topics.  Michael’s new narrative that he encouraged us to see is that sustainably, responsibly grown and economically available produce would allow for more people to have better food to eat.  This has opened me up to not being an “organic only” proponent but being open to this new type of thinking.  I’m excited to see how this works with our first visit to the farmer’s market under our belt.

Purists and Essentialists - Part 2 - Story

According to cognitive science, we have two kinds of thinking – fast and slow.

Fast thinking is based on your intuitions, its automatic.  Fast thinking only works with ideas that are already in your mind.  Fast thinking is unfriendly to new facts.

Slow thinking requires great thinking effort.  Slow thinking system feels like it is in charge of your decisions.  But it actually is not. Fast thinking is the one that runs your show.

In order to change yours or someone else’s fast thinking, we need to reframe situations. Frames are the stories we tell ourselves about how the world works. If you have a purist who consumes only organic, how to you reframe their situation?  For me, explaining how sustainably grown is sometimes just as good as organic and connecting this to your food system perspective makes the most sense.  Some farmers cannot afford to be certified or cannot get a crop unless they use IPM (Integrated Pest Management), are growing sustainably to the best of their ability.  I want to support their efforts.

What do you think?

Purists and essentialists - what’s the difference?

I attended the National Good Food Network conference in New Mexico in late March.  One of my favorite lectures was by Michael Rozyne who stated that there is an important difference between being a purist and an essentialist about organic foods.  This was new territory for me because I believe (or did believe) so strongly in being an organic purist.

Michael wrote a book, “What are we Fighting/Collaborating For?  He had three main points in his lecture:  Survival, The Story First, Why Collaborate?  In Survival, Michael explained that he has a dear friend, John Lyman, a local apple and peach farmer who became allies in their stance on IPM (Integrated Pest Management).  In New England, it is almost impossible to grow organic fruit so both of these farmers use synthetic pesticides (IPM).  Because of their solidarity on this issue, Michael was unsettled when he learned that John believed in intelligent design and a young earth, because Michael believed in evolution.  They came to an agreement, and it wasn’t just to agree that they could disagree but it was to listen to the other person’s perspective.

In these days of polarization on everything from politics to potty rooms, I was elated to hear this.  I long for actual discussions of topics without opinions defying opposing viewpoints. Michael went on to explain how this transpired, by stories. I’ll discuss reframing through stories next week. Back to purists and essentialists. While it is great to have organic food only, 1% of all produce grown in the US is organic, so what’s everyone supposed to eat?  This attitude doesn’t take into account what it means to be a responsible grower. There are plenty of growers who maintain sustainable practices, they use cover crops to create more organic matter. They may not be able afford organic certification but they are still producing good produce. Customers that are more interested in prices are okay to look at conventionally grown produce if it responsibly grown.  

Michael ended this section of his lecture by saying that we live surrounded by synthetic products but people are against using synthetic pesticides. I read a book a few years back called Essentialism, I think it’s time to check it out from the library for a refresher. I’ve been an “organic only” gal for some time now, I want to learn more about the farmers who grow sustainably and responsibly. That I’ll need to learn more about as well.

Back to work on Narrating My Work

I'm in a new role in a new space now.  I'm excited to be engaged at No More Empty Pots.  It is a food hub in North Omaha, creating ways to bring nutritional and local food into a food desert community.  Our mission is to connect individuals and groups to improve self-sufficiency, regional food security and economic resiliency of urban and rural communities through advocacy and action.

Moving into a non-profit organization has been powerful.  The glaring difference between this and the corporate environments I've experienced is that this is about people not the bottom line. It's taking time to adjust to different expectations and outcomes, but they feel more in line with who I am.

One of things I do each week is write a "6 word story". It's a way to capsulize our work meaningfully.  I thought it would be great to share these here.