LAST DAY

I can not believe that senior project is over. It feels like the past 3 weeks didn't even happen. Despite it being my last day, I still had a lot of work to get done! In the morning I helped organize proposal documents for new school districts and entered in more surveys for markets across the country. Then my supervisors, Noah and Jyothi took me out to a final lunch to say goodbye. From there, Noah and I went back to the same school we went to yesterday and conducted another focus group. This time it was boys instead of girls, and it was very interesting to see their similar and contrasting views on the same topics and questions. I also began to put together my presentation and finish up my product. My product (the cookbook) was by far the most difficult part of my project and I had to cut it down in order for me to be able to finish it by tomorrow. I wish that I had more time to put all that I wanted into it, but it was a good learning experience to know what I can handle and what is too ambitious for me in the future.
It was honestly so sad for me to say goodbye to Jyothi and Noah today. I had such an AMAZING experience working at Rev. Foods and theres so much more I want to dig deeper in there. Hopefully I'll be back for another internship in the near future.

Week 2, Day 3 (May 22)

Wow! Time sure has flown by. I can't believe that senior project is over tomorrow. I have honestly loved every minute of interning at Revolution Foods and I wish that I could stay here for many more weeks. It really set in today that I had a productive place there which will make it that much harder to leave tomorrow. It feels great to contribute to such a forward thinking and life changing company. Today I worked up more survey and data work with more spread sheets, and then in the afternoon, we drove out to Richmond to conduct a focus group with the upper school at Making Waves Academy. It was such an amazing experience to be in that focus group, getting feedback from students about what they liked, didn't like, wanted to change, wanted to stay the same, and so much more. I felt like I could have talked to them for hours about every single thought they had in their head about Rev Foods, and I don't officially work there! But it felt so great to be able to represent Revolution Foods in a positive way and really feel like I made a contribution there. I realized today that these past three weeks have given me such a insight into my own life, what is possible out in the world, and how important passion is in what you do. I believe that I have these feelings of accomplishment, belonging, inspiration, and love, because I am passionate about the goals and work that Revolution Foods puts out into the world every day.

Week 3, Day 1 and 2 (Many 20th and 21st)

The past two days have been VERY busy- so sorry for the two late blog posts. On Monday and Tuesday, I have been out with Noah, and CNS's (Community Nutrition Specialists) doing polling and sampling and I have learned A LOT! We went back to the Lionel Wilson School in Oakland on Monday and did polling for the cheeseburgers, and we received a ton of data. Also on Monday, I began to enter in the frequency that each meal item appears in each market (Texas, NYJ, New Orleans, Colorado, and Northern California). This will be useful for each market to see what schools are ordering the most of, and what the students like the most on the menu. On Tuesday, I continued to work on that same spread sheet in the morning, and then went to do a sampling for a new menu item (Chicken Teriyaki, Not So Fried Rice, and Noodles) at Unity High School in Oakland. At the testing, we had almost 100 students sample either the noodles with chicken or rice with chicken, and received a ton of data back again. Unfortunately for me as the intern, the surveys that the students took were on paper, so when we got back to the office, I got to enter in 100 surveys into Poll Daddy, but it wasn't too bad :). At the end of the day, I had a final check in with Noah where we talked about how to merge the data from all the polls we and the other markets have been receiving into one big spread sheet or matrix in order to convey what students think about how our food looks and tastes overall.
I can't believe that I just have two more days here- I have honestly had the most engaging 3 weeks of the semester is feels like. I have learned so much, and I still have so much I want to explore and find out here. I wish I could go with Noah to DC and Texas next week and help him with polling there. But- I have to graduate.

Week 2, Day 4 (May 16th)

Today was a really productive day and I learned a lot! I went around with Jessica, Nutrition Education Specialist to different middle and high schools in the city to check in with their servers and survey some students. This morning I got the survey that we were going to use ready for the day, and then headed down to our first stop at Marina Middle School. We arrived at MMS quite a while before their lunch period, so we just had a check in with the head meal server. She spoke very highly of Revolution Foods, telling us that things were going smoothly for her- just what we wanted to hear! She also told us that the kids really like the food and they are always asking for more.
We then went over to Francisco Middle School where we arrived right at the beginning of their lunch period. We passed out the surveys for the students to take, but many of them were reluctant or said no to taking the survey. We ended up getting about 40 or so back, but it was a little disappointing to have kids tell us no. On the surveys from FMS, many kids put that they didn't enjoy the food, which lead me to a thought about culture. In a place like San Francisco where there is so much diversity in culture from neighborhood to neighborhood, it's difficult to find common ground around food. FNS happen to be predominately Asian and the kids there seemed to prefer the lunches of their friends who brought them from home and prepared by their parents. And although I didn't go to schools in any other neighborhood today, it seems to me that this would be the case at any school, depending on the cultures prevalent there. One of the challenged of Revolution Foods is to find this common ground, especially across San Francisco where, because of ease and logistics, the food is the same across every San Francisco Public school for that day.
Lastly, we went to Galileo High School to check in with their server and since lunch was ending, we did not have enough time to collect surveys there. Their head server also spoke fairly highly of Revolution Foods, but told us that he has a hard time getting the students to eat the vegetables offered everyday. Jessica told him that Rev. Foods was working on engagement programs to help kids want to eat them (with out Ranch :)).

Now, I am leaving for my Catalina trip for Marine Bio, so I won't be working tomorrow or have a blog post, but I'll be back at it on Monday to power out my third week. Wow- I can't believe how fast time is passing these days. I guess time flies when you're working hard and having fun!

Week 2, Day 3 (May 15th)

Today was a fairly mellow day again. In the morning I coordinated what I would be doing for taking surveys tomorrow, and continued on my research on my list of projects. In the afternoon, I spent A LOT of time working on my final product at home. I knew this would be a challenge, but I had no idea that this would take as much time as it has. I'm a little bit worried about finishing the book on time, but I believe I will be able to get it done by next Thursday. If that is the case, it might not be here in time for my presentation, but I can find a way to work around that and still be able to show my book in my presentation. This is one of the first major difficulties that I have faced since the start of senior project, but with some adjustment of time management tomorrow and next week, I should be able to complete the book, no problem!

Week 2, Day 2 (May 14th)

Not much to report today- fairly mellow. I had a check in with Jyothi, my supervisor at 9am this morning, and before that I was doing research on Poll Daddy for a new project that I was asked to participate in yesterday that involves to San Francisco Unified School District. After my check in, I spent the rest of the day doing research on the list of things that I previously posted. I found some really interesting information such as this Kanas School who voiced their dislike of the Healthy Hunger- Free Act. Watch the video and read the article to find out more!

USA Today Article
Kansas School Video

Week 2, Day 1 (May 13th)

Since I have been referencing this research I will be doing this week so many times, I thought I would attach the document that outlines exactly what I have been asked to do.  (SEE BELOW)
This seems like a lot to do, but I've been given many resources in order to help me this week with this research. I've spent today digging into the existing viewpoints on school lunch and impactful programs and outreach efforts to students and teachers. I have found a lot of really interesting information that I'm putting on a power point for a first draft due this Thursday. It's been a mellow day in front of the computer since 8am this morning, but productive none the less


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The Marketing Intern will develop insights regarding student perceptions and awareness of Revolution Foods through a combination of analyses:

·       Web audit of existing perspectives and viewpoints on school lunch.

·       What articles/findings are available on current student perceptions of school lunch?

·       Are there specific nationwide initiatives that are successful?

Draft with initial findings May 17^th.

·       Audit of the most impactful programs and outreach efforts  to reach students and teachers

·       Evaluate social media, student groups, teacher organizations, etc.

Draft with initial findings May 17^th.

·       Review existing Nutrition Education program curriculum—which ones are most compelling?

Draft with initial findings May 17^th.

·       Assisting with Revolution Foods meal testing. Implement Poll Daddy survey in cafeteria, consolidate results, track the status of testing versus overall goals.

Report status at the end of each week.

·       Recommend an approach to Back-to-School.

·       Determine what types of events/programs are available to highlight meal service at Back-to-School. What are the most impactful events/programs for Revolution Foods to employ

Draft with initial findings 5/20