Louisiana: Setting the Table for Success

Cecilia and Celeste (left) participate in the Farm to School Adaptation Program during the summer 2023 summer retreat. Photo: Andy Duback for Shelburne Farms Institute for Sustainable Schools.

After returning from Arkansas, Cecilia and Celeste began to hold regular meetings with their team to plan their own institute, with a goal of launching in spring or summer 2024. One aspect of NEFTSI that they wanted to recreate was its retreat-like atmosphere. So they intentionally built in plenty of opportunities for team building and bonding in the retreat agenda, including a nightly woodfire and s’mores. Location was important, too. They visited four or five potential sites before settling on Wesley Retreat Center, a centrally located site that not only met their needs, but also provided a peaceful, retreat-like experience.

With only eight people, the Louisiana adaptation team knew it would not be possible for their team to coach the school district teams. However, they recognized the integral role that coaches play, so they prioritized finding and preparing people for these positions early in the planning process. They focused on selecting coaches who were from or familiar with the school districts participating in the institute as well as those who had some relationship with farm to school, gardening, or agriculture and were heavily invested in their communities.

Implementing the Core Components in Louisiana

Adapting the NEFTSI model involves preserving the core components that make the model impactful and sustainable while modifying how they are implemented to fit the local context. Here are three key ways Louisiana is adapting the NEFTSI model for their state.

Pre-Retreat Facilitation Training for Coaches

The Louisiana adaptation team hosted an overnight training for their coaches at the Wesley Retreat Center one month before the retreat to develop the coaches’ facilitation skills and train them on how to use NEFTSI’s four-part action planning model. Two professionals from the LSU Ag Center led trainings on how to manage group dynamics and building group facilitation skills. These trainings modeled for the coaches what they were being asked to do at the retreat. The pre-retreat also gave coaches time to learn more about their teams and prepare strategies to best assist their teams’ needs.

After hosting the pre-retreat, the Louisiana adaptation team realized that their coaches needed a detailed planning timeline to help their teams complete an achievable action plan during the retreat. They created a Team Planning Session Guide that divided facilitation into five planning sessions, each with a measurable end product. For example, the first session was spent identifying problems or issues and the second session focused on narrowing down and identifying two or three areas where teams could take action over the next year. This process kept all teams on task with their end goal in mind, and by the end of the retreat, each team had an action plan and a timeline.

The East Baton Rouge Parish Schools Institute team works on their action plan with their coach during the retreat. Photo: LSU AgCenter.

Shifting the Narrative for Equity Inclusion

After participating in the Farm to School Institute Adaptation Program’s equity in practice series, Celeste and Cecilia knew they wanted to embed diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in their institute’s programming. They took a cue from southern culture and framed their DEI programming around the theme, Setting the Table, with the idea of meeting people where they were comfortable and ensuring they felt welcome to share their own experiences and perspectives. Building on this, the team held a values panel during the retreat, giving space for people with diverse backgrounds to share their perspectives on and experiences with the food system and why it was important to them. Panelists included a representative from the Houma Nation, an Indigenous tribe in Louisiana, and Dr. Rene Brown, an African American landowner and farmer.

Learning Journeys Adapted to the Local Context

NEFTSI’s retreat provides hands-on learning journeys (field trip-like experiences) throughout the working farm campus to inspire new ideas and build community connections. The Louisiana adaptation team drew from their local culture to offer similar learning opportunities. For example, they worked with the LSU Ag Center’s 4H Ambassador program to invite 4H students — and their animals— to the retreat. The students shared the impact of showing animals and developing a connection with them.

Learning journeys do not need to have an end product, but the Louisiana adaptation team wanted each workshop to include a tangible example of what students could produce at the end of a lesson. Some examples included a bar of soap to take home after a student-led goat’s milk soap-making tutorial; fresh bread and butter as part of a cooking workshop; and take-home native plants, windowsill bouquets, and seeds at the conclusion of a gardening workshop.

4H students brought animals to the retreat and led a workshop. The students shared the impact of showing animals and developing a connection with them. Photo: LSU AgCenter.

Early Impact

Louisiana’s first retreat was well-received by the school district teams. According to evaluation feedback, attendees described the retreat as a special bonding experience and that they enjoyed collaborating with others in their districts whom they probably would not have worked with otherwise. The Louisiana adaptation team was especially excited to see the level of enthusiasm school district teams had for their action plans and the events they had planned for the year.

For example, the Concordia Parish Schools team focused their action plan on activities that integrated the broader community. Their proposed Watch Me Grow program pairs high school students involved in agriculture education with elementary students in a student-to-student teaching group. The high school students would start seeds at the elementary schools, plant the seedlings in their high school garden, and then invite the elementary students to come to the high school and participate in taste tests and activities in the garden. The Concordia team also came up with a Grill in the Garden competition that they would run during a tailgating event before the big rivalry football game in the fall.

Calcasieu student volunteers plant herbs to be used in school cafeteria. Photo: Calcasieu Parish Schools.

Lessons Learned

1. Timing: Late April and early May in Louisiana coincide with the end of the school year and state testing. A couple of teachers were not permitted to attend the retreat due to the heavy emphasis on testing. Next year, the Louisiana adaptation team plans to shift the timing of the retreat to early spring, March 2025.

2. Planning Time: Planning a multi-day event takes more time than you might initially realize. A lot of work goes into coordinating individuals and the logistics of getting them to the retreat as well as managing all the little things, like emergency contacts and food allergies. 

3. Be Flexible: When things come up that are out of your control, find a way to make it work. Rainy weather during Louisiana’s first retreat forced the adaptation team to cancel two of the five learning journeys. However, the school district teams did not mind the change of plans and enjoyed the three learning journeys that they participated in.