More PEAS Please!

Virginia Stage, Nutrition Education & Behavior Specialist, and Jocelyn Dixon, PEAS Project Coordinator, both in the Department of Agricultural and Human Sciences, are leading a statewide initiative focused on advancing science learning in the context of healthy eating in preschools across North Carolina. The initiative, supported by a $1.32 million Science Education Partnership Award from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences at the National Institutes of Health, is known as “More PEAS (Preschool Education in Applied Sciences) Please!” 

The project works with classrooms serving children three to five years from limited resource backgrounds within Head Start and NC Pre-K settings. Stage and Dixon recently led a day-long Wake County focused kick-off workshop providing professional development, classroom resources, and hands-on learning experience to over 45 preschool teachers and staff. Members of the PEAS team and NC State Extension partners collaborated to carry out the event including, Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) team members Caroline Hundley and Shironda Brown from the Farm to Early Care & Education Initiative, family and consumer science agent Ivelisse Colón, nutrition science doctoral student Ryan Lundquist, and Co-Investigators from East Carolina University, Archana Hedge and Tammy D. Lee. 

Over the next school year, participating teachers and staff across 13 preschool classrooms will implement hands-on science learning experiences and taste tests featuring local fruits/vegetables, engage in outdoor gardening experiences, and benefit from fresh, local items on the menu for meals and snacks, while receiving ongoing professional development through online learning, individualized coaching, and on-site learning communities. This year in partnership with Telamon North Carolina, approximately 30 teachers and 350 children will engage with PEAS programming across Wake County. 

The project’s eclectic team includes members from NC State University, NC State Extension, CEFS, Farm to ECE Initiative, East Carolina University, UNC Greensboro, and North Carolina A&T State University, each contributing unique expertise. “Our team understands the important relationship between health and long-term academic achievement,” Stage said. “Our unique focus on integrative education is intended to support teachers as they help children to develop cognitive and language skills, while also working to improve dietary quality. In line with the mission of Head Start, our goal is to help prepare children for school and lead a healthy life, so they truly have a head start in kindergarten and beyond.”