Ventures in Partnerships
The mission of the Ventures in Partnerships (VIP) program is to work together to enhance education and build a stronger community.
Ventures in Partnerships is the conduit for school-community links that help youth connect classroom lessons to life. Currently the program facilitates matches between businesses, organizations, faith-based groups, service clubs, and governmental agencies with schools, curriculum departments, grade levels, or special projects. The partnerships are organized to create a mutually beneficial relationship based on the needs and resources available. Learn more about the program at http://vip.lps.org.
Everett Elementary
In 1999 Open Harvest sponsored an Earth Day Celebration at Everett Elementary School. Students and families made a tile mural of handprints forming an image of the earth. The mural is on display on the east wall of the store. In honor of the celebration Open Harvest arranged for a nursery to donate and plant native redbud trees, and these continue to bloom each spring on the west side of the school at 11th and C Streets.
Open Harvest formalized a VIP connection with Everett in January 2000. Annual Holiday Cookie Bakes sponsored by the co-op bring families together each year to mix, cut out, decorate, and bake dozens of cookies for families to take home.
Our Outreach Educator comes to the school on request to bring lessons on the history of foods, how food grows, and to make delicious healthy food with the children. When the refrigerator in Everett's home living classroom broke down, we arranged for a refrigerator donation.
In our co-op working member-owner program we added volunteering at Everett as an option for working member-owner discounts.
Bryan Community
In April 2001 Open Harvest partnered with Bryan Community, an alternative high school in the Lincoln Public School System. This smaller school has a low student-teacher ratio, allowing staff to build on students' strengths and support individual needs while helping students toward graduation. Our Outreach Educator has provided programs on healthy eating choices for teens, vegetarian cooking, and education for teen parents on preparing healthy foods for their children. The co-op has also provided food for school events.
Bryan Community collaborated with Open Harvest and artist Julia Noyes to create a mural that now hangs on the west wall of the store. The design was based on student drawings. Students assembled beans, corn and seeds into a mosaic. "Nature is the first art store." said Karen Ellis, art instructor at Bryan. During the course of this project, Open Harvest provided natural foods snacks while teaching about organic foods and sustainable agriculture. Bryan teachers integrated lessons on the politics, economics and cultural dynamics of world food systems.
Open Harvest continues to provide nutritional information and classroom cooking experiences to children and their families. Call the co-op for more information about our outreach programs.
2004 Spring Awards of Excellence
Excellence in commitment to Ventures in Partnerships has been honored each spring at an awards celebration since 1990. Recipients must demonstrate the highest standards of dedication and service to the mission of the VIP program over a period of at least two years. The award winners for 2004 include: