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2006-2007 | Apple Tree Early Learning Center
AppleTree Early Learning Public Charter School
AppleTree Early Learning Public Charter
School
Team
Team
Shahine Baghai Michelle Chastain
Dan Dasilva Teresa Kerge

2. Ethan Puchaty Jacob White
Faculty Preceptor: Mary Beth Levin, MPH
Community Partner: Apple Tree Early Learning Public Charter School
Contact Person: Russ Williams, Executive Director
deliverables
The AppleTree Early Learning Public Charter School is open to all
three- and four-year olds in the District of Columbia. Their mission is
to provide young children with the social, emotional, and cognitive
foundations that will enable them to succeed in school. The service
learning team made eight visits to teach the children enrolled in the
after-school program about nutrition and healthy activities.
Promoting Literacy
Nutrition
Vision Screening
Health and Hygiene

3. Successes and Failures
What Worked
• Working with only 3 kids per group and leaving the rest of the kids to their regularly
scheduled classes, then switching
• Hands-on activities
• Activities with food
• Separating the kids into their respective age groups
• Planning a backup activity in case the kids didn't like the planned one for that group
• Repeating previously used activities in later sessions to reinforce the lesson
• Tailoring activities to the different age groups
• Giving prizes at the end of an exercise
• Sending helpful reading materials home with the child and in the mail as a regular
newsletter
What Failed
• Educational games on computer
• Stressful activities since we taught at the end of the day
• Overly structured activities
• Trying to explain the new food pyramid
Quality Improvement
Concepts in nutrition and hygiene were sometimes difficult to teach to the children. The key to retaining the
knowledge was repetition and further exposure. The ideas should be reviewed, and activities should build on
themselves from session to session. Materials should be provided to continue the teaching process outside of the
eight visits. Completed projects and extra educational materials should be sent home with the children, additional
information should be mailed home in a weekly newsletter, and resources should be provided to AppleTree so
they can continue to teach about nutrition and hygiene during daily lessons.

4. Helpful Websites:
• www.nih.gov
• www.cdc.gov
• www.fda.gov
• www.naeyc.org
• www.images.google.com
Special thanks to Mary Beth Levin for coordinating our visits and obtaining free materials for us to teach and
distribute, and to Maranda Ward for sending out the newsletter to parents informing them of our visits.