In this service-learning class by Prof. Karina Lora, students partner with CentroNía, a bilingual and multicultural learning community in Washington, DC. The main project involves teaching nutrition education to preschool students at CentroNia's Columbia Heights neighborhood. Students gain cultural competence and learn to tailor educative messages to to specific audiences. In the classroom, students reflect on current events related to food and nutrition issues affecting underserved populations in the US, and learn about other community/school-based programs like CentroNía.
For information about Community Engaged Scholarship at GW:https://go.gwu.edu/cesc
Semester Reports
Spring 2024
Professor: Karina Lora
Students Reporting: 8
Time Reported: 99 hours
Student Project:
Students visited CentroNia to conduct lessons and activities focused on healthy eating and lifestyle choices for young children. They taught Pre-K and junior classes about healthy and non-healthy foods, and engaged the children in interactive activities such as creating meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The goal was to educate preschool students on how to have healthy lifestyles and make good choices to help them grow big and strong.
This hands-on experience allows GW students to apply their knowledge of nutrition in a real-world setting while making a positive impact on young children in the community.
Student Comments:
"The most significant impact for me was connecting with these students and watching their understanding of healthy choices grow each week. This experience empowered me to continue doing service like this in the future since I saw these students grow."
"Overall it was a great experience... I got more comfortable speaking publicly, which I struggled with previously. I also learned that if I ever want to work with children I have to be flexible since they're not always experiencing the same emotions or 'mood' as last time we saw them."
