Episode 710: Personalized Learning, Shared Good: Serving the Community with a Student-Run Food Pantry

Ashley Mengwasser:

Meeting the needs and interests of students through the vehicle of personalized learning is an expansive process. Sometimes students having a say in their learning breaks school molds, forcing movement into uncharted territory. Find out how a world languages teacher, and a food pantry, unlocked personalized learning for the benefit of an entire community, today on Classroom Conversations.

Hello educators. You're listening to Classroom Conversations, an award-winning podcast series from the Georgia Department of Education and Georgia Public Broadcasting. We call it, the platform for Georgia's teachers. Glad you're here. I'm Ashley Mengwasser, about to take you on a joyride through an incredible story of high school Spanish students and their humanitarian teacher. This season we're navigating the 10 standards and associated strategies behind student-centered practices in Georgia schools known as personalized learning. It's an educational experience tailored to fit students like a glove. Today's guest brings us a program that touches on two personalized learning standards, individualized path, and expanded collaboration. At the high school level of PL, forget static curriculum, students can choose learning experiences that support their career aspirations, which lie just on the other side of graduation. Seated beside me is a proud dot-connector, student champion, community activist, do-gooder of epic proportions. She's got the razzmatazz and I'm jazzed to welcome Jennifer “Razz” Rasmussen from Cherokee County School District. Ms. Razz is a world languages teacher at Cherokee High School, and their bilingual student support specialist. Hi, Razz.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

Hi, Ashley.

Ashley Mengwasser:

How are you?

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

That was quite the intro. I feel like I need you to follow me around all the days of my life.

Ashley Mengwasser:

I would love to. I will hype you up, girl.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

Please.

Ashley Mengwasser:

You may be blushing over there a little bit.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

I might be a little bit, yeah.

Ashley Mengwasser:

You are here to share some really amazing stuff, and this is actually the first time that I've known a guest from my own community in Canton. We know each other.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

Yes, we do.

Ashley Mengwasser:

We live in Canton. I have seen your picture in an article of the Cherokee Tribune. We'll get to that superstar, don't worry. But I want you to start by describing your two roles at Cherokee High, both as world languages teacher and bilingual students support specialist.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

Okay. I moved to Canton in 2014. Definitely, was a God thing that brought me here. Little did I know at that time that I would be doing the secondary position that I hold at Cherokee High School. I've teaching Spanish there all of the years that I've been here, and three years ago I was brought in as the bilingual student support specialist by Mr. Rodney Larrotta, who was the principal at the time because he saw a need among our native Spanish-speaking population and knew that I would be excited to help meet those needs, connect all the dots, like I told you, and bring the resources to the people who needed them the most.

Ashley Mengwasser:

What does a student support specialist do? What do you do for the students?

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

I do a lot of different things. I help anybody and everybody who needs support with language, interpreting, translating. I help the front office staff whenever a family comes in that is Spanish-speaking, I help the guidance staff with registration. Or with meeting with students to make sure that they're on track for graduation or to talk to them about how to get themselves back on track for graduation. I help the police department that's on our campus with-

Ashley Mengwasser:

Really?

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

... anything and everything really that is needed. I've helped in so many different capacities. I've helped interpret for their teachers. I've jumped in from time to time for individual educational plans, the IEPs for the special ed department, 504. I've done a little bit of-

Ashley Mengwasser:

A little bit of all of it.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

... everything in my time in this role.

Ashley Mengwasser:

The title really fits the role, I think, because you are supportive in nature. What about your background led you to schools and to teaching? Have you always been a teacher?

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

No, actually this is my newest profession. Before this I was an office manager, and before that I was a structural steel draftsman.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Excuse me, what is a structural steel draftsman?

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

And I started college for accounting, so.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Wow.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

Yeah. I'll start at the beginning.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Okay. Go back.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

I'm English. I'm a British national. I was born in Durham, England, and my father like every other immigrant to this country wanted to come here for the American dream. He had to choose between Augusta, Maine and Australia. And so here we are.

Ashley Mengwasser:

And so, here we are.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

American Dream at its finest. And so, he was a structural steel engineer and he moved to Alpharetta when I was 12. My parents divorced when I was young, and I took French in middle school. Because if you're bilingual in Maine, it's Canadian French and English, the signs are bilingual. If you're bilingual, it's Canadian French and English. I took French in middle school and I did not enjoy it. In hindsight, I wish I had given it a little more effort because I do enjoy all languages. But once I hit high school and started taking Spanish, it was like a fire was lit in my belly and I was just determined. I set a goal and manifested the fact that I would be bilingual. And I didn't stop pursuing that until today. I still learn just about every day I learn a new word.

Ashley Mengwasser:

And wow, aren't you? Why do you think you have such a love of the Spanish language?

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

I think because God had a plan for me, and it included community service and the outreach work that I've been doing. Not just the Cherokee High School, but also at Revolution Church. We do ESOL classes there and I work with the Hispanic population, and stuff like that.

Ashley Mengwasser:

You're really touching hearts in the community with this language, it sounds like. I've come up with some Razz Riddles for you to tease some of the topics that we're going to get into today.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

Oh, Razz Riddles.

Ashley Mengwasser:

I don't want to give it all away up front you know. So you know the answers to these. You told me, these are all facts that relate to your professional station currently. "What group makes up one-third of your school's population and the majority of your students?"

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

Hispanic.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Tell us about that.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

So Canton, Georgia, has become home to people from all over Latin America, including Brazil. We have quite a few... I wouldn't say, quite a few, but there's a handful at least of people from Brazil that have moved into our community as well. So Portuguese is another language that's being used. The beauty of romance languages like Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, French, is that I might not be able to speak Portuguese, but if Portuguese is spoken to me, I can respond in Spanish and we still hit the same mark.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Interesting.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

And so, we have a large population from Guatemala. Our population comes from Mexico, Venezuela, all over Latin America, really. And so, we offer Spanish classes at our school for non-Spanish speakers, but we've also just reestablished our Native Spanish program too.

Ashley Mengwasser:

And we're going to talk about that today. "Here, you will find Ms. Razz, her students, and stockpiles of consumable goods. What is this place?"

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

The Cherokee High School Neighborhood Food Pantry. Yay. I feel like I'm really passing this test.

Ashley Mengwasser:

You know yourself really well.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

I do.

Ashley Mengwasser:

We're going to talk about the food pantry. And my third Razz Riddle, "This cardboard object has no inherent value but was given to you for great monetary impact." I don’t think she knows this one.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

I'm failing my own test. It's about me, and I'm failing it.

Ashley Mengwasser:

The picture I saw of you in the Cherokee Tribune, you were holding a giant cardboard object. It's worthless.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

Oh, it's a giant cardboard check.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Bingo. What was the number on that check, Raz?

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

$205,000, I believe from Kroger.

Ashley Mengwasser:

205G's as the kids say.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

Yeah, the Gs.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Yes. We're going to get into that. We're going to get into what that was for.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

It's kind of a lot.

Ashley Mengwasser:

You run a food pantry.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

I did.

Ashley Mengwasser:

You just teased up for us at Cherokee High School. And you said, it's three years running. This march, it was massively expanded with those $205,000. Why did this happen? What happened in March?

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

The food pantry actually started in 2019. And I think the most enjoyable part for me, besides the work that we're doing in there and feeding our community, is that my son when he was a junior in high school helped to establish the food pantry program with the SALT kids, the Student Athlete Leadership Team, which is sponsored by Chick-fil-A. They had to do an on-campus service project, and it just happened to be the food pantry right before the pandemic hit. So they opened it, they got it going, did the ribbon-cutting, all of the things, and then bam we're home.

And when we came back from that, it was like, "Well..." Things were still tense at that time. We were masking, are we not masking? Can we have all these people in our school, et cetera, et cetera? And so, it didn't really get back on its feet until about three years ago. When I stepped in and was like, "I can help with this." I have the Interact Club, which is sponsored by the Canton Rotary who also helps, comes alongside and takes care of the food pantry too. And so, we reestablished the food pantry back three years ago. And we work with MUST Ministries. They're the major supplier for our food pantry, and we are the only high school and... We're the only school in Cherokee County who is part of that grant money from Kroger.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Which is cool.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

Which Kroger decided to partner with MUST Ministries and our school was chosen to receive a portion of the $205,000.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Dollars.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

Dollars. The Gs as you say.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Yes, the Gs. It is a MUST Ministries Neighborhood Pantry. I love the name of it. Sponsored by Kroger. I want to point out something very powerful that the Kroger Atlanta Division President Victor Smith said, to that Cherokee Tribune reporter at the rally. He shared that nearly one of every five children in the US face food insecurity. And then speaking of the students, he said, "You can't be the best you can possibly be when you're hungry at school and at home. We want our children to go to school hungry for knowledge." That is such an incredible bite. I love it.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

I love it too.

Ashley Mengwasser:

And the impact that you have all had is so laudable. I also love that your own son was the origin point. And now a full-circle moment, his mom, beloved educator at the school is operating it. Things I need to know just logistically as a producer, is there a pantry police? Because in my home, the pantry was always being raided and someone had it on lockdown. So, who guards the neighborhood pantry items?

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

Well, I am the keeper of the key. One of the keys, but not everyone has a key. It's a pretty distinct privilege to have a key-

Ashley Mengwasser:

It is.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

... for the food pantry. One of our secretaries on our north campus has a key also, as do administrators.

Ashley Mengwasser:

You keep it on lock.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

And I would say, that we do have a police officer who every single time shows up there to help us get things ready and get things rolling. His name is Officer Randy Milligan, and he is such a kind soul and he always shows up willingly, gives of himself and his free time. And stands guard with us while we're getting things ready for the families to come through.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Okay, so you have the force behind you literally.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

Yeah. Of course.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Well, thank you Officer Milligan. Are there popular pantry items that you guys collect? What are some of those?

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

Yes. We have actually sent out a survey to our families who access the food pantry asking them what would you like to see on the shelves? And the majority of them express that they would really love to see rice, dried beans, not canned beans, pastas, any Hispanic foods, the flour to make tortillas or tamales, any of those types of items. They really love when we have fresh produce. They really love when we have milk products, eggs, cheese, milk. We almost always have some type of frozen meat product that we can offer. We've actually been partnering with a few other organizations. Serve International is one of them, they do the food boxes. Every month, they pack out a thousand food boxes to give to our community. And most recently, Revolution Church has stepped in to also help, and they just provided three boxes of cereal and a box of snacks for each family that came for little extra to get them through maybe one week of summer.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Yeah, excellent. And this is-

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

Because pantry raiders are hungry all the time.

Ashley Mengwasser:

I'm telling you, this happened in my home. And this is an incredible program that you run. It is a program run by your students personalized learning choices, which we're going to get into. So I want to slow down and navigate to the starting point of your personalized learning practice with students, which begins with a Spanish course. And as we go through these questions, Razz, if you could just help hype us up, big energy on these.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

Will do, big energy.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Because I want our educators listening to understand that they have a lot of say and a lot of their own agency in coming up with ways that are going to meet their students’ needs. So, we're going to start with this. Tell us how your workplace Spanish course. It's called Workplace Spanish, right?

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

Mm-hmm.

Ashley Mengwasser:

How that was effectively overhauled and redesigned to meet your students’ needs?

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

Yes. Originally, it was a program that was offered, I believe at KSU. Rodney Larrotta was the teacher that offered the course at KSU as an extension of Spanish classes for non-Spanish speakers. And so, he brought that program to Cherokee High School. And originally, it was for non-Spanish speakers mostly. There may have been some Spanish speakers in that course, but it originally started as vocabulary for your workplace. There was a whole semester on medical Spanish. There was a second semester on law enforcement, architecture, accounting, those types of specific careers and vocabulary associated with those types of careers.

And it very naturally and organically morphed into a native Spanish course. I don't know how, I don't know why, I'm not in charge of that aspect of school and signing the kids up for classes. But three years ago, four years ago, five years ago, I don't know anymore, it was put onto my course teachings. And so, the first year that I taught it was a mix of native Spanish speakers and non-native Spanish speakers. And so, it became a challenge to try to blend that learning. Some of them needed the vocabulary. The others could have added to the vocabulary list. And so, we had to sort of strike a balance between those two. The following year it became just a Native Spanish course and I thought to myself, this vocabulary just isn't going to work. It's not going to cut the mustard as they say.

I did some exploring. There isn't a textbook that exists for a Native Workplace Spanish course. I had to get inventive and creative and start searching and finding resources. And it just sort of morphed into what it is now. And we are not offering it this year because we're reestablishing our Native Spanish program at Cherokee High School. So this particular year we didn't offer it. We probably won't next year either, but then the third year we will.

Ashley Mengwasser:

You're going to go back to it.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

And I'll come back and tell you that progression as well.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Yes. Well, in its current form with your native speakers, how does Workplace Spanish uphold student choice and personalized learning strategies?

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

Well, I happened to hit a goldmine when I was doing my searching on the net. I Googled some things. I literally stumbled upon this resource from the New Mexico Department of Labor, and it basically was an entire 200-page document of resources for career exploration in Spanish. It exists in English also, but it existed in Spanish and I felt like I had to hit the lottery. And so, that particular document became the jumping off point starts with the O*NET.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Tell us about O*NET.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

Personality assessment. Basically, it's a series of questions that help identify what type of personality you have.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Oh, for career assessment.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

For career assessment. And then from there, there's a whole chart system where you look through and decide based on your personality type, these are the types of careers that would really complement your personality. I, for example, started college for accounting. And I have no business being trapped in a cubicle or an office with no human contact. I'm like, a caged wild animal.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Yeah. That was not the fit.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

I don't belong there, that was not the fit. And so, that's basically what that O*NET assessment does, it helps you identify your strengths and your weaknesses according to your personality. And then that document from New Mexico's Department of Labor takes it a step further and helps you identify careers that line up with your personality type. And from there, 16 career groups basically, but in each group are 10 or 20 career fields that you can explore. So, it's sort of morphed into a career exploration with the kids input on it. I asked them, "What do you guys think of this? Should we try this resource out?" Because the vocabulary lists are not mundane. You guys all know all of this vocabulary-

Ashley Mengwasser:

Already.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

... so do we add vocabulary to it or do we shift our focus into career exploration? You guys are all juniors and seniors. You're on the cusp of moving out, leaving the nest, and starting your lives as adults. So, where do we want to go? And they were really excited about it. They really wanted to explore. They really wanted to know what career fields were the best fit for who they were as a person. And I told them, I wish that I had had that opportunity when I was your age.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Yes. And then so, you have them from that point once they have their assessment, they do their own student-led research. And how do they interact with these professions? I know you said, you have them engaging with professionals who are in that job path. What do you have them do that they are driving?

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

So they have to do the research on their career. That includes exploring how do you get into that career? Is it internships, apprenticeships, is it a certificate program at a local community college? Is it a bachelor's degree, is it a master's degree, is it a PhD? What does it require for education? What is the outcome at the other end, salary wise? Do you have to have experience in order to enter this field? How specialized do you have to be in order to get into the career of your choice? And so, all of that was individualized. It was a lot to manage. The first year I was like, "What have I done? I have 25 students and 20 different career-

Ashley Mengwasser:

… paths.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

... paths. 20 to 25 different career paths that they're all exploring. So, I had to zoom out and think to myself, "Okay, what's the bigger picture and what types of activities all of us do-

Ashley Mengwasser:

That all of us benefit from.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

... that all of us benefit from, but that is very individualized education."

Ashley Mengwasser:

And you came up with some skills that you teach in this course. What are some of the skills that your students learn throughout the course of the year?

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

So there was a very large project based learning experience for them with the career field. That was the whole first semester pretty much. They did a big presentation at the end, obviously, all in Spanish. Talked about what their personality type was, what career matched their personality, what career interested them within that career field, what they found out about salaries. They had to research for the state of Georgia and for another state in the country that they would be interested in moving to. Some of them are interested in their home countries.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Wow.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

And I said, "Give it a try. You can Google it. I can't promise that you'll find what you're looking for, but we can at least find something. There's got to be something there that we can use.” And so, that was the first semester. The second semester morphed into job skills basically, and them learning how to use a multilingual keyboard. We installed the Spanish keyboard on their computers-

Ashley Mengwasser:

Wow.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

... to be able to put accent marks and type their Spanish correctly. So we really focused on spelling, on grammar.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Spanish keyboard.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

Yeah, there's a Spanish keyboard on every computer.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Wow.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

Yeah, it's really quite easy to use once you know how to use it. I can switch between English and Spanish seamlessly without even slowing down at this stage of my life. So, I taught them those skills that morphed into grammar focus, because some of them that were born here, grew up here, but that speak Spanish at home, maybe don't know how to spell. And they apply English phonetics to the Spanish words, which doesn't work. It doesn't work that way. So we worked really hard on filling in their gaps on grammar and autography, is that the word in English? It is the word in Spanish.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Yes, yeah.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

Spelling, mechanics of the language.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Yeah, mechanics of words. Yes.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

And so they learned all of those skills. We also worked with computer skills. Some of them didn't really bring a lot of computer skills to the table, so Microsoft Word and how to share documents and modifying things and creating PowerPoint slideshows and all of the things. We also worked on bilingual resume writing. We worked on filling out job applications, we worked on interview skills. So, it just became this beautiful, useful-

Ashley Mengwasser:

Career and life skills seminar.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

... extension of what they already had in their pocket.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Yes. And that curriculum exemplifies personalized learning standard seven called Individualized Path, preparing learners to be aware of competency based learning progression and to make informed choices in co-planning a unique pathway toward mastery. So students are finding their own pathway into a vocation. When you put them in the driver's seat in this course, how do they respond to that empowerment?

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

All of them. Not some of them, not a few of them, for all of them. It was like, they have been living their life like this and all of a sudden we're going-

Ashley Mengwasser:

We're peeking through.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

... like this, and looking ahead at what might be coming. One particular student that I'm thinking of decided that he really wanted to honor this part of him that he's never even told anybody about, that his parents don't even know about that he really wants to work in forestry. And it's such a specialized, uncommon, I would say, field of study to get involved in. Well, UGA happened to have a whole entire program. And so it was like, we were in tears one day talking about how exciting it was that he found this. As soon as he opened the webpage, he yelled my name and I was like, "What is the matter?" He's like, "Come here quick. Come and look at this quick. You're not going to believe it."

Ashley Mengwasser:

My unique pathway.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

Yeah. So his whole pathway unfolded. We also worked on filling out the FAFSA form for federal aid for students and applying for colleges. The Common App we filled out. There was just so many layers of what we were doing. And so, all of them got the benefit of exploring and finding out what actually could become the pathway for their life. It's not just a hypothetical, you're doing it.

Ashley Mengwasser:

They've done the work.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

Yeah, you've done the work based on your personality, and based on the things that really inspire you. One thing I've always taught my own son is that you can go after the money, but the money is not going to fulfill you as much as the joy of doing what really drives you and inspires you, and makes you feel like a whole person at the end of the day.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Well said, Ms. Razz. And the grand finale for this course is the MUST Ministries Neighborhood Pantry at Cherokee High. How do you assess each student's involvement in the pantry to gauge the success of their individualized path work that they've done?

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

To that, I would say, anybody could start any of this on their school turf. That already existed for us, so it was an easy internship opportunity. I wanted to provide them with a space where they could get some hands-on experience to build that resume. And so, the food pantry just very easily lent to that type of work. And so, each student had their responsibility. We did inventory, and that was new to them. Some of them had never had a job anywhere before. And so working a space like that, they learned so many job skills about collaborating with each other, about attention to detail. Taking inventory was one of the tasks. Receiving the food truck, weighing all of the food items, sorting the food by the type of food according to the layout of the food pantry.

And if you found a can or a box of food that was in the wrong spot, put it where it belongs. And the precision of anybody who goes to a grocery store has the experience of walking through the aisles. Every can is facing the front. You know exactly what you're looking at. You know exactly where it exists.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Display aspect.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

Everything is displayed beautifully, that we want to provide our community with a dignified space. Anybody who shows up at those doors to come and access our food pantry, it's a humbling experience. I'm a single mom. I have had to go in and take food home from that food pantry, and I'm not ashamed to say that out loud on Georgia Public Broadcasting. I'll shout it from the mountaintops. For me, there's nothing better than for those kids to work that space to gain all of that life experience and work experience, do their internship, work together, and invite their families through the doors to that dignified space to meet their needs. That's the whole point.

Ashley Mengwasser:

And it's for them, it's for-

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

And it's for them.

Ashley Mengwasser:

... other students like them, it's for staff, it's for community members connected to the school. And you said, another key word that points to another standard of personalized learning. When your Spanish students operate the pantry, it goes beyond their pathway. It becomes the manifestation of the expanded collaboration standards. So in what ways do students fulfill this collaboration aspect? Who are they collaborating with?

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

Each other, with MUST Ministries, and with the community. And so, when they're in the food pantry working that space, they have to work together, and I trained them. They basically had on-the-job, on-site training with me for the first semester. The second semester I stepped back. I had them work with me to, basically, create a job site handbook so that anybody who walked into that space could open the job site handbook and have very clear instructions in English and in Spanish on what exactly needed to be done in that space and how to do it. I always sort of joke around like, if I were to die tomorrow, the food pantry's got to go on.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Got to keep running, must go on.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

I need you to carry on the legacy, the show must go on, so you guys have to be trained up. If I'm not here, it falls on your shoulders and you have to be prepared for whatever needs to be done. And so, collaborating with each other and with me to get that training to establish the norms and the expectations in the food pantry, and then to execute it. Second semester, I stepped back. They had their playbook. They knew what needed to be done, and I observed them doing what needed to be done in the food pantry as a summative grade each month. And it wasn't just a one-time thing. We were in the food pantry a minimum of three times each month. One, to receive the food truck. Two, to do the distribution, which I'll talk about in a second because that's another whole piece of the puzzle.

And then three, to go back in at the end after the distribution, to clean up the space, to reset the space, to get rid of any expired food, to clean, and get it ready for receiving the food truck the next month. And besides the fact that during the month our social workers access it, teachers go in and access it, secretaries go in and fill food boxes for parents who have called into our school and said, "Just really struggling. I don't think I'm going to make it to the end of the month. Do you have any food in the food pantry that we could come and pick up?" So our secretary staff will go and fill boxes, leave them at the front for the parents to drive by and come and pick up food.

Ashley Mengwasser:

And it sounds like your students, at some point, they interact and collaborate with the community members who visit the pantry.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

Yeah. That's the distribution day.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Tell me about distribution day.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

A distribution day, we have to get everything ready. It needs to be, like I said, a dignified space for those families to come through the doors and feel like they're having a shopping experience like they would at Kroger. We want them to come in and not feel ashamed, to not feel embarrassed, to feel like this is part of your community. We are a part of your community. And so, the students helped get everything set for opening the doors. The students would check the families in. We have iPads now that we use. They check the families in through the MUST Ministries website, because MUST tracks it. Well, that's how they get their federal funding, and that's how we get our food. Is basically the weight of how much is taken out and what is brought in. And so the students would check in the families by their phone numbers. Most of them know each other.

And now, I know them all because of just the connections I have in the community. And so they will come in, they'll get their selves registered in, they'll get their number for their cart. They go into the space with students. The students, basically, take them around and shop with them. Because we have to control some of the quantities on certain items like rice and beans and pastas, because we want to make sure everybody gets them. And so, the students will escort and go around the shopping experience with them, holding the bags open so the moms can just put in what they want, but it's customer choice. We don't limit them on what they can take. Just maybe the quantity of how much they can take to make sure everybody gets them. And then they take the food out to the family's car for them, load the family's car with the groceries, and then bring the carts back in and just keep the system going that whole time. So, end to end. Yeah.

Ashley Mengwasser:

End-to-end service that began with career exploration and student choice. What changes have you seen in them as a result of them reaching outside of their sphere and doing this collaboration with each other, with an outside organization, and with these community members coming in?

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

Well, the day that we had the ribbon cutting, I could just see how proud they were of this work that they're doing. Because now, it's the Native Spanish classes are doing it because Workplace is not on our menu for this year because there was nobody feeding it. So we've reestablished our native program, and so now it's the Native Spanish two students that I teach that have taken over the reins. But I'm just training them up to get them ready for workplace Spanish. And so, they're so proud of themselves. I've noticed a lot of them are inviting their friends to come. A lot of them are coming and saying, "Ms. Razz, is it okay if I get some food for my neighbor because they're really going through a hard time? Or Ms. Razz, my aunt's husband, my uncle lost his job, is it okay if I bring some food home for them too?" Because taking home food for themselves in their own family.

And so some of our students that are here from other countries don't live with family, stateside. They stay with friends or they stay with cousins or, or, or, or. And so for them, it's like, we're feeding you. Maybe you don't have access to food otherwise. So there's just a win-win, and I think they take a lot of pride in being part of something that's so much bigger than themselves. This year was my pilot year with the Native two classes, and you just never know how things are going. It's not like the kids tell you, “Wow, Ms. Razz, you're doing such a great job today."

I want them to tell me, but they don't always. But at the end of the school year this year, I had multiple letters written to me and dropped in my mailbox from anonymous students. And some that put their name on it, just thanking me for opening an opportunity for them to give back to their own community and to feel like they're part of something more than just school. I can teach you Spanish all day long, but I'm also teaching you to be a decent upstanding human. Along the way because I'm putting my stamp of approval on you when you leave my classroom. And with that stamp of approval, there's some work that needs to be done.

Ashley Mengwasser:

And with your stamp, they have both more collaboration experience and an individualized path for themselves.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

Absolutely.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Last question, Ms. Razz, can your students-meeting-community-needs personalized learning model be replicated elsewhere? You said, "Yes, this could be done anywhere else." How does a school uncover its own individualized path to collaborative opportunities, if not a food pantry? How should they explore what's going on at their school to find a need and meet it?

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

Well, here's what I would say to that. We also have started a Warrior Collective group at our school where all of the clubs, societies, national societies, language societies, have all come together at the same table to talk about what is happening on campus, what are some of the needs, what are some of your fundraisers that you're doing? What are the fundraisers for? How can we collaborate with each other? The first year, it was teachers at the table and every month of this year, there were more and more students at the table. So we're shifting the focus to giving them the keys in the driver's seat for them to tell us, what does your school and community need? And just encouraging them to think outside the box, like there's no box at all.

And I think any school in any neighborhood could do something like the food pantry or a free clothing closet, because we also run the clothing closet alongside our special ed department. And I think it's Jobs for Georgia Grads. I don't know the name of the program that they're working, but our special needs students have to learn life skills. So they're washing the clothes, drying the clothes, sorting the clothes, folding the clothes, hanging them up, and they get the clothing closet ready for our food pantry distribution day. They keep the clothes that the students in our school would use, but then they take the clothes that would be more for adults in the community, hang them up by size, by gender. We roll them down and families can pick from the clothing racks, whatever they want. It's part of what we do. The agricultural department got involved at the end of the school year after their plant sale.

They donated all of their leftover tomato plants, all of the pepper plants, the herbs, all of their leftovers. Then came down to our food pantry distribution. There's a million different ways. We did a book drive for the National English Honor Society. Those kids came and donated books and bookmarks, and stood at the table and handed it. It had nothing to do with the food pantry. It just happened to be an opportunity for them to serve their community. And so, the kids from the national English Honor Society stood at their table and handed out books to the little kids that were coming through the door with bookmarks that they made.

And so there's an endless amount of possibilities, I think at any school. You just have to identify a need, no matter what the need is, and open the door. If I've learned nothing else about our youth, it's that they are hungry for doing and being part of something beyond their cell phone and being part of something beyond their classroom. And if I know nothing else about the Warriors at Cherokee High School is that they will do whatever needs to be done. They step up every chance that they get. They’re from all walks of life, all nationalities, all genders. Everybody comes together in a collective mindset to serve and be served. And it's definitely doable, I think, at any school in our state.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Yours is an amazing story, Razz. We are in awe of you and your students. You're definitely doing it. I have to ask you this before we go. Do your students razz Ms. Razz?

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

Yes, they do all the time.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Do they tease you? They do?

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

My most unique nickname was the Razzinator, like the Terminator. But the Razzinator, because they also know, don't, don't-

Ashley Mengwasser:

She's on a mission.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

Just don't mess with me.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Yeah, she's on a mission.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

I grew up with four boys, so I'm kind of rough and tumble, and don't. There's nothing that you could do that I haven't seen or experienced or...

Ashley Mengwasser:

Right. You are a formidable force, Ms. Razz.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

Yeah, the Razzinator.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Thank you so much for being here. We appreciate it.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

Thanks for having me.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Cherokee High School's Food Pantry is open Monday through Friday during the school year, but this podcast is now closed for business until next week.

Jennifer Razz Rasmussen:

Thank you.

Ashley Mengwasser:

Like Ms. Razz, you're a great teacher. Buckle your students into their destiny in beautiful ways where the rubber meets the road. It brings a speck of tire dust to my tear-brimmed eye. Needs and collaborators in a student's own environment could be their hot ticket to personalized learning. I'm Ashley, enjoy the ride. And goodbye for now.

The personalized learning series of Classroom Conversations is funded by The Great Initiative. In the fall of 2020, the Georgia Department of Education made a commitment to student centered approaches through Georgia's Restart, Embrace, Engage, Expand, and Enhance Learning with Technology initiative.