Independence Charter School Cooks Up Nutritional Family Engagement

ICS in Philadelphia has just announced their participation in the Cooking Together, Cooking Forever program on their Family Engagement blog. The program brings together students and their families to help kids learn and celebrate the wealth of cooking healthy nutritious meals. While participation does include access to a database of recipes, the program focuses on techniques. The goal is to provide a culinary freedom "from a reliance on unhealthy eating habits (like constant trips thru the drive-thru window)." Cooking Together, Cooking Forever is the first release from Programs for Sustainable Change, an organization "creating a set of fun and educational programs that are designed to increase the health, wellness and social/environmental consciousness of the family." It is safe to say that STC schools understand the impact of healthy eating on a child's life (see Namaste in Chicago for exemplary Effective Practices on health and wellness integration with rigorous academics). The CTCF program appears to be a wonderful way to create long term change in the life of a student and her family by fostering self-sufficiency while strengthening relationships at home and school. We can follow the program's impact on the ICS Family Engagement Project's blog. ICS is committed to discovering new platforms for active family engagement. THE CTCF program is just one initiative of their Family Engagement Project. The project's community website features updates on current initiatives, polls, articles, and data (coming soon!) with opportunities for feedback on every page. There are multiple Effective Practices here with potential value to every school, so visit the site, subscribe to their updates, and learn how to start the discussion in your school's community.