Northern Illinois Food Bank & Parks Cultural Studies Academy: Food Backpack Program Evaluation

Northern Illinois Food Bank & Parks Cultural Studies Academy Food Backpack Program Program Evaluation July 6, 2010

University of St. Francis College of Education Barbara Seib Ingold John Gambro

“… For someone to know you need food and they give, that means a lot to me” 4th grade student at Parks Cultural Studies Academy

Introduction Made possible through a Will County Community Foundation grant, the Northern Illinois Food Bank (NIFB) was able to continue the Food Backpack Program begun spring 2009 at Parks Cultural Studies Academy. Parks, a high-need elementary school in Joliet Public Schools District 86 has an ethnic population configuration of 74% Hispanic, 15% African-American, 6% Multi-racial, and 5% Caucasian. Low-income families make up 78% of the student population. The Food Backpack program provided nonperishable, child friendly, easy to prepare food for children on weekends and holidays when other school services were not available. From October 2009 to June 2010, NIFB provided each child, identified as at risk for hunger or low nutrition by school social workers, a backpack filled with foods including loaf of bread, cereal, canned meals of soup/spaghetti/stew/chili, canned vegetables and fruits, canned chicken or tuna, macaroni and cheese, peanut butter, jelly, pasta and sauce, taco kits, granola bars and other nutritious foods to take home on Thursday. Each pack weighed roughly 10 lbs and provided enough for three meals a day, for two days, for three people, thereby benefitting other family members as well. The program provided weekly backpacks for an average of 300 children with a total of over 10,200 food-filled backpacks being distributed during the program year.

NIFB delivered the bags of food each week to the school and on Thursdays the students placed the food in the backpacks, with the students in 4th and 5th grades helping to pack the backpacks for the pre-K and Kindergarten students. As part of the collaboration between NIFB, the Joliet School District 86, and the University of St. Francis (USF), USF conducted an evaluation using qualitative research methods to probe further into the benefits of the backpack program, which were identified in the spring of 2009, to the participating students, their families, and their community. Methods Qualitative Research One successful aspect of the program that was not addressed in the quantitative portion of the 2009 Food Backpack Program evaluation, but became apparent when reviewing comments from teachers, administrators, and parents, was that the program helped to create a sense of community (Gambro, 2009). McMillan and Chavis (1986, cited in PROMISE, n.d.) developed a generally accepted definition of sense of community as being the range of feelings (elements) that members of the community have including that of belonging (membership), that members matter to one another as well as the group (influence), and a shared trust (shared emotional connection) and common belief that the needs of the community members will be met by the community, i.e. the individual members know that if they are struggling, someone within the community will step up and provide the help that is needed (integration and fulfillment of needs). Student, Parent & Teacher Surveys. Is a sense of community, based on the McMillan and Chavis’s (1986, cited in PROMISE, n.d.) definition, being developed at Parks Cultural Studies Academy with the Food Backpack program? What aspects of this

definition are evident through the continuation of the program? It was elected to explore the development of the sense of community and to attempt to further define how all stakeholders at Parks Cultural Studies Academy interpret the experiences associated with the program through the use of student, teacher, and parent surveys. Student Journals. To delve deeper into the role of the Food Backpack program in the growth of the sense of community, the decision was made to employ weekly student journaling, using writing prompts developed by USF teacher candidates based on initial student, parent, and teacher survey results. Journaling, as an alternative to conducting personal interviews, gives the students the opportunity to share their thoughts regarding their perspectives on the Food Backpack program. This activity was selected because it offered a means of conducting research that was not distracting from daily instructional time, but rather could be incorporated into the writing curriculum (which is assessed on the state ISAT exams) of the classroom. The writing curriculum at Parks uses the strategies associated with Six Trait Writing. Journal writing, in particular, allows the students to focus on the use of the traits of: a) Ideas - staying on topic, personal, focus on specific details, b) Voice - incorporating individuality/personality, passion, and tone, and c) Word Choice - use of words which paint pictures, depict purpose, are precise and meaningful, and that are strong and effective in individual writing exercises. In addition, journaling is an activity which is not graded and not formally published thereby allowing students to freely write in response to a prompt without worry about the spelling and grammatical errors, and instead focus on the meaning they wish to convey to the reader.

Procedures

Qualitative Data Student, Parent, & Teacher Surveys. Surveys were administered in December 2009 and again in May 2010 to the following populations: a) Students: All students in the third, fourth, and fifth grades b) Parents: All parents who had one or more children participating in the food backpack program c) Teachers: All teachers at Parks Cultural Studies Academy The same survey questions were used on each of the surveys - one close-ended and two open-ended questions: SURVEY QUESTIONS 1.

Do you think the back pack program should continue (please circle your answer)? YES NO

2.

Please list reasons why.

3.

Is there anything else you would like to share?

In December 2009, six teachers, 99 students, and 107 parents anonymously completed and returned surveys. In May 2010, eight teachers, 102 students, and 110 parents anonymously completed and returned surveys. Each set of surveys were reviewed, coded, and analyzed for themes. Student Journals. Information gleaned from the initial surveys was further investigated through student journaling in selected third, fourth, and fifth grade classrooms. The classes which participated in the student journal research were selected by the school principal, one class from each grade. One of the classrooms selected was a bilingual classroom. Over a period of twelve weeks, students in the selected classrooms

were asked to respond to specific journal prompts in journals provided by the researchers. The journaling was done anonymously by the students approximately once a week and was incorporated into the school writing curriculum from January 19 through April 5, 2009. USF teacher candidates developed the journal prompts (see below) and coordinated with the selected classrooms’ teachers to incorporate the journal writing as part of the weekly writing curriculum. STUDENT JOURNAL PROMPTS 1.

Describe how your family feels about the backpack program?

2.

If you were in a grocery store/market explain what you would fill your back pack with?

3.

How has the backpack program affected your school achievement? Support your answers.

4.

Explain what happens to the backpack food that you bring home.

5.

Describe a typical meal with your family

6.

How does it feel when you are hungry? What do you do when you are hungry? Please explain.

7.

What does the backpack program mean to you and your family? Please explain.

8.

Does the backpack program help you to be healthy? Why or why not?

9.

Do you take the backpack home to your family? Why or why not?

Overall, 71 students participated in the journal writing activities. At the end of the twelve week period, the school principal purposefully selected nine student journals (three journals were selected from each class - two written by students who qualify for the free lunch program and receive the food backpack and one who does not qualify for the free lunch program and does not participate in the food backpack program) for coding of the journal entries and identification of common themes in regard to the program. Three USF teacher candidates, one NIFB representative, and two USF researchers met to review and code each of the journals. All nine journals were coded by all six researchers and then analyzed for common themes.

“But the reason I liked it the most was because we got it again and again.” 4th grade student at Parks Cultural Studies Academy

Results Qualitative Results The overwhelming consensus of all stakeholders in the program was that it should be continued as is evidenced by the response to the close-ended question: DO YOU THINK THE BACK PACK PROGRAM SHOULD CONTINUE?

YES

NO

NO ANSWER

TOTAL SURVEYS

Students: December May

96 95

3 7

0 0

99 102

December May

6 8

0 0

0 0

6 8

December May

104 106

1 2

2 2

107 110

Total:

415

13

4

Teachers:

Parents:

The majority of the answers to the open-ended questions on the surveys and in the student journals were positive in nature and related to one of four themes: 1. Students - changes in the classroom, changes at home, and helping others. 2. Food – need for food, liking the food, eating the food, and trying new foods 3. Sense of community – integration and fulfillment of needs, membership, influence, shared emotional connections 4. Economic conditions

Theme 1: Student transformation - changes in the classroom, changes at home, and helping others. Numerous reasons for continuing the program were related to the positive changes noted in the students at Parks. Students came to school able to focus on learning rather than being distracted by hunger. The connection between healthy bodies and academic achievement was clearly understood by the students. Students’ feelings of happiness and pride were evident and it was clear that students were taking responsibility for taking care of themselves as well as helping others. The following representative comments bear out this theme: Teacher comments:  The students are able to focus on their studies.  The children do not tell me anymore that they are hungry anymore during the morning.  Children are complaining less about their hunger and more focused on learning.  (The backpack program) provides food for students to help them come to school focused and not worried about being hungry  The kids are more alert in the classroom.  Our students are not only fed, but also feel a sense of pride helping their families out. Parent comments:  I am delighted to see when my son comes home happy to share with his brothers and sisters what they have been given.  My kids like to bring home the back pack to the house and unpack the food. They are delighted to see what they received.  I love the way that it gives my child responsibility. She always makes sure that her back pack is in order.  The kids feel very important. It makes them feel like they help a lot in the home.  My daughter enjoys bringing the bag home because it gives her a feeling that she’s helping with house things too.  It also gave my child a sense of accomplishment because she was able to have a big backpack, and she loved bringing it home weekly.  I think the children take pride in it help out their families they’re giving something to.

Student comments & journal entries:  Because my brothers are so happy when I bring food they hug me so much and they ask a lot of questions like who gives it to you.  Because I can get more food for my house.  When I am hungry I get some of the Food backpack food from the refrigerator or in the cabinet where my mom keep the Food backpack food in. And then I am all ready to sleep or play.  One way I think the backpack is important to me is that there are healthy foods in there for me to eat. (I) know I could do better in school because (I) know I am full of food. Another way I think the backpack is important to me is that (I) know I am full of energy. So (I) know maybe my grades will go up. The last way I think the backpack is important to me is that (I) know I don’t need to think about my food, so (I) know I don’t have to think about food in the school.  The food backpack helps me to achieve a lot of my goal I have been setting up for. It helps me to be healthy and it gives me a lot of energy to play, laugh, grow. Also, it works my mind so I am able to think of a lot of great ideas. It keeps me going and going each and every day.  Yes, the backpack program affected my school achievement. One reason the backpack program affected my school achievement is that my report card has got higher and better. I got higher and better because I can concentrate more when I eat. Another reason the backpack program affected my school achievement is that I can focus in class. I focus because the food in the backpack is good and healthy. The last reason the backpack program affected my school achievement is that I can go to my house and eat all the food. Theme 2: Food - need for food, liking the food, eating the food, and trying new foods. As is to be expected, many of the comments focused on the food itself – that of needing, liking, and eating. The importance of being able to eat whenever they want, not going hungry, and having enough food in the household was apparent. The general feeling that their life is better with the food from the backpack was noticeable. Many reflected on the unanticipated benefit of being exposed to and enjoying new types food. Teacher Comments:  Families really need the food. Students love the food!  In today’s economy, many of our families need and welcome the supplemental food.

Parent comments:  I think the food program should (continue) because the food is good and delicious.  To me everything is good. The food that you send is very good. My kids eat it and it is a big help for me. I don’t need to buy as much food from the grocery store.  The kids eat healthy and we have the help to eat good food and not with cheap junk food. “The children eat and we do too.”  The food we get from the backpack program has actually kept us from eating popcorn for dinner on more than one occasion. I look forward to the bags every week. I like how it looks like meals were planned rather than random items of food. Thank you so much.  It (backpack program) gives different ideas on making healthy dinners.  It (backpack program) help me to try new things instead of using the same recipes, so it gives me different ideas in the kitchen.  I have learned of different ways to make meals for my family. Even my son tells me what he wants me to prepare from what he receives from the food backpack. Student comments & journal entries:  Because I like the food. And I eat every time I get it. And the food is really good.  Because we need some food and we don’t have any.  Because some of our families need food. We enjoy the food in there. It put extra food in our pantry.  Because if you want food and you don’t have food and you’re hungry you just get the food out of the backpack. That’s why I want the program to continue.  I take my backpack home because we need food. My parents say that the backpacks are really good. Also that they really help people. Because they need food to survive.  Without food life would be nasty.  Sometimes there were food we never tried, and we liked them.  I feel good about the food backpack because there is some food that I normally don’t eat in my house and is good. Then another reason my family feels thankful is that my mom eats all the food and really likes it. I also like it because it taste so good.  A typical meal that I eat with my family is spaghetti and meatballs (from the backpack) which we eat in the kitchen table. In my opinion my mom know I love spaghetti and meatballs that’s why we eat it as a family.  When I’m asleep (and I feel hungry) I get out of my bed and make myself a P.B.J. sandwich. I think that my mom knows because when she wakes up there a mess.

Theme 3: Sense of Community - integration and fulfillment of needs, membership, influence, shared emotional connections. The growing sense of community is perpetuated throughout the surveys and student journal entries and focuses on the helpfulness/beneficialness of the program to the participants, their families and extended families, and others, through sharing, within the community. The feeling of being taken care of at school and at home and that someone within the community cares and provides help is strong. Participants commented on how they had come to depend on the Food Backpack program, planned their meals around the food in the backpack, and how it aided in ensuring that food was always available for the family. Others, who feel that they no longer needed the food, expressed the need for the program to continue to provide food to those who were still struggling. Expressions of thank you, thankfulness, and appreciation were noted repeatedly in each group of stakeholders. The following excerpts from the surveys and journals support this theme: Teacher Comments:  The backpack program should continue because it helps the community.  The program is very beneficial to our students and families.  The families are grateful for this program since so many of them are out of work.  Families are generous and honest when they do not need anymore.  Some parents who have lost their jobs told me that they were so thankful for the food that the school was providing them. They were surviving with it. So, thanks a lot for helping these families with the bag of food every week.   I would like to thank the food bank for this program. Parent comments:  Honestly in these difficult times it is great to know that you can count on someone. More so for the people who don’t dare go receive food from other places where they offer food because of embarrassment or because they may feel that someone else needs it more than them. This for us has been a great help.  We depend on it as well as many other families. And we are very thankful and appreciative. There are not words to say how we thank you.

    

We plan around the food we get from the back pack program which helps things go farther for us. I am sure other families are struggling the same right now too. The extra food has been a blessing to me and my household. We haven’t ran out of bread or cereal since we’ve been getting it from you. Thank you and God Bless you. It is really good that you give us this food so that I don’t have to buy bread, cereal, and some pastas and also because what we don’t consume I can give to other people and it is good that we can share. There are many families that depend on this, and I believe it’s done out of total kindness, which makes the program extremely important! Thank you for the help you bring families.

Student comments & journal entries:  Because the food helps feed our family.  It helps a lot of people. A lot of people really eat the food we get.  It is helpful to other families. And some people need the food that is inside the book bag.  I think other kids should get it because they might need food and get food instead of buying food and wasting more money.  Because most people need it because maybe they don’t have enough money to go grocery shopping. I think this program is great for other people to have because it is generous for the people that run the program (to) do this.  This is what happens when I bring my backpack home. I take everything out because I’m going to eat it. In my opinion that is good. Also I take some to people who need it. I think it’s right because they need some food to eat. And I save it for later. I think that is right because I may get hungry.  Next way the backpack program helps me and my family is having it. I feel fortunate to have this program because no other school have. Last way the backpack program helps me and my family is sharing it to people. I think my mom is always giving food to her brother because he says he doesn’t have money sometimes.  It (the backpack program) means a lot … to my family because to know our school is trying to provide us with food; it really is a pleasure to me and my family to know someone cares.  The food backpack meant a lot to me and my family. The program helped us get food more easier than ever…But the reason I liked it the most was because we got it again and again. Theme 4: Economic Conditions. With the start of a deep recession in 2008, the length of the recession, and the sluggish recovery, it is not surprising that the theme of economic conditions factored heavily in the survey answers and trickled into the journal

entries as well. Appreciation of the food in light of the tough economy and the assistance it provides to the overall family food budget was frequently noted. The students are noticeably in tune to what is happening at home and understand their parents’ economic situation. Teacher Comments:  The economy is bad. This really helps the families supplement their groceries.  Poor economy. Many families are in need of help for their children.  In some cases both parents are not working. In some cases just one parent is working. Money is not enough because most of them work in manual jobs.  We have many low income families who work in construction and other fields that have seen layoffs. Food is greatly appreciated.  A lot of our families are living paycheck to paycheck and still not getting by. Many in my class do seasonal work or work as temporary laborers and have seen their incomes reduced drastically. I think they (the students) see the worry and pressure their parents are under and feel proud to bring something home to help out.  I have heard of some families where the parents lost their jobs and the food in those backpacks are the only food they can get. Parent comments:  Both my husband and I are on unemployment at this time. The food stamps we get are not enough to cover a family of 6 each month.  And the food helps us because there is not a lot of work and we don’t have a lot of money to buy food in the store. It is so wonderful to have the food program.  (The program) has been a huge help with providing both good and nutritious food during a time when we can’t always afford a lot of groceries.  Because it is a big help with the situation that our country is in. Sometimes we have work sometimes we don’t and with this help we at least have healthy food to eat always.  I feel that the program has helped my children and I as well as other families. How by having food to feed them. By being able to save money to pay for other needs. Like their clothing, shoes, as well as paying for bills. Student comments & journal entries:  Because it can help the people that don’t have money to buy food and the school give them food and they don’t buy nothing.

  

 

My mom doesn’t have a job so we don’t have to spend our money (on food). My family feels thankful about the backpack program for many reasons. One reason that my family is thankful is because my dad didn’t have a job and the backpack program helped my family. We like the food that they give us because if we have to pay the rent, electricity, gas, and water, we won’t (have) enough money to buy food. Sometimes we have enough money to buy food but sometimes no. We like this program because my mom doesn’t have work and my mom doesn’t know how to drive and she’s hungry and so that why we like the backpack program that the school are giving us. It provides us with food when we are running out. I think that the backpack program should go on because it helps a lot of people with problems with their job or because they don’t have a lot of money.

“A reason why I want the program to continue (is) because it save’s my mom from running out of food to feed us.” 3rd grade student at Parks Cultural Studies Academy

Conclusion The backpacks filled with nutritious food were sent home with the students weekly with the objective being to supplement the meals that the students receive over weekend. The outcome that the supplemental food would positively impact student performance and behavior at school by virtue of the students having been able to eat three complete meals daily over the weekend was accomplished. The benefits to students included: 1. Coming to school ready to learn, 2. Connections made between the relationship of healthy bodies and healthy minds, 3. Becoming responsible for meeting their own personal needs, 4. Service to others within the community, and 5. Feelings of positive self-esteem. The focus on the food, in and of itself, is not surprising since the main objective was to provide food to the students and their families. Student survey comments focused considerably on liking the food which could be explained by the reality that when a child is truly hungry, the child may be more likely to enjoy the food that is available for consumption. The unanticipated benefit of being exposed to and enjoying new types food could be explained by the high Hispanic ethnicity of the Parks school population and the typically common American foods which were provided in the back pack.

Sense of Community, a theme in and of itself, is also infused in each of the other themes. A sense of community goes beyond the physical features one might find in a community setting, instead being defined by the experiences of the members of the community individually and as a group. Individuals naturally seek community membership because of the general feelings of well-being and belonging that are offered. Healthy communities not only provide for those in need within the community, but allow its members to contribute back the community. Sense of community provides opportunities to its members to feel and be successful. Schools seek to establish a sense of community for their stakeholders. It has been shown that children learn best in environments where they feel comfortable, and where caring and trust are encouraged (North Central Regional Educational Laboratory [NCREL], n.d.). In this type of environment, children learn to take responsibility for their selves and to contribute to the rest of the community. For parents, a sense of community is also important, and the offering of community services at the school increases the sense that the school is a vital part of the community (NCREL, n.d.). The Food Backpack program has permitted the entire school to participate in establishing a community that is welcoming and accepting of students, parents and other members of the community. Analogous to the dormitory basketball team example provided by McMillan & Chavis (1986), the Food Backpack program structure has led to the formation of a highquality community at Parks. Food Backpack participants were approached and asked for their approval to join in the program as a result of their individual household needs (integration and fulfillment of needs). The program bound all of the stakeholders

(teachers, students, and parents) together through the delivery and distribution of the backpacks on a weekly basis to the program’s family participants (membership). School volunteers along with fifth grade students exerted energy on behalf of the community with the stuffing of the food into the backpacks, and participating students delivered the needed food to their families (shared emotional connection). With the continuation of the program, the community members realized that the needs of all members of the community were met - they all cared about each other and they also felt that others were taking care of them. A shared trust was established, a key component to the influence element of sense of community (PROMISE, n.d.). The program took on a cyclical nature, with the continuation of the program week after week re-enforcing the developing community, leading to a stronger and stronger sense of community amongst its members. In an isolated study, Harrod (2003) conducted research to determine how people’s sense of community was created in downtown Northfield, Minnesota. It was noted that for several study participants, the sense of community was defined through economic concerns (Harrod, 2003). This corresponds to McMillan and Chavis’s (1986) assertion regarding the element of integration and fulfillment of needs in a sense of community. When individuals are struggling due to economic conditions and are aided by others within the community, this element is satisfied. The community of families at Parks Cultural Studies Academy had a high incidence of poverty prior to the start of the recession and has been hit the hardest during the recession. The economic conditions have contributed to the struggles of the individual members of the Parks community and were indicated repeatedly in the survey comments by all stakeholders in the program.

The timing of the introduction and continuation of the program corresponded to the deepening of the recession, and was seen (and continues to be seen) as the community’s response to the economic troubles of individual community members. As one student notes, “I think that the backpack program should go on because it helps a lot of people with problems with their job or because they don’t have a lot of money.” It should be noted that there were several limitations of this study including conducting research with young children, conducting research with participants whose first language is different than that of the researchers, and the possible inadvertent influence of teachers on students through the writing curriculum instructional activities. With the above noted limitations in mind, the following conclusions in regard to the Food Backpack program are acceptable: 

Positive changes in student behaviors, academic achievement, and selfesteem have resulted



The structure of the program has led to the development of a strong sense of community at Parks Cultural Studies Academy

References Gambro, J. (2009). Northern Illinois Food Bank: Parks Cultural Academy backpack program evaluation. Harrod, K. (2003). Building community in Northfield: Environmental studies senior project. Retrieved June 2, 2010, from http://www.stolaf.edu/depts/environmentalstudies/courses/es-399%20home/es-39903/Projects/Final%20community%20web-%20harrod/index.html. North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (n.d.). Sense of Community. Retrieved June 22, 2010, from http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/students/earlycld/ea1lk2.htm PROMISE: Maryland’s Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (n.d.). Psychological Sense of Community: Theory of McMillan & Chavis (1986). Retrieved June 22, 2010, from http://www.umbc.edu/promise/documents/Community,%20Psychology,%20Psyc hological,%20Sense%20of%20Community%20Theory%20of%20McMillan,%20 Chavis%201986.htm.