Brain Food project

1. Creating Equity & Supporting Success
through the Brain Food Project with EASe
Empathy, Awareness, and Sensitivity for equity.

2. Who Are We?
BFP and EASe are implementations under the umbrella of The Comeback
Community™, a parent organization, designed to equip students to realize their
full potential through personal comebacks.

3. Define Brain Food Project
The Brain Food Project ™ (BFP) is a holistic implementation that provides
food (OR other needs based items) to students during learning assistance
sessions and is supported by a training system called EASe (Empathy,
Awareness, & Sensitivity for equity).

4. What is Brain Food:
• Brain Food is the actual food itself
• “Brain Food” food items consider the nutritional and
hedonic value of food: what students need and what students
want
*Brain Food items can also include non-food items, such as school supplies

5. What is Brain Food:
• Food items are prepackaged and can range from sack
lunch options (e.g. peanut butter and jelly sandwiches,
apple chips, string cheese, and drinkable yogurt) to snack
items (e.g. super-food bars, chips, fruit/veg snacks, granola
bars, breakfast bars, water, and gluten-free and vegan bars)

6. Why Brain Food? Unmet Needs
• A growing number of students encounter food insecurity regularly
• Low attendance rates for supplemental instruction and tutoring
• Students need to belong/build community

7. Food Insecurity Concern
About 50% of all first-generation college students in the U.S. are low-income
Fresno County 29.2%
California 22.9%
United States 14%

8. SI/Tutoring Attendance Concern
Average SI attendance rate in CC: 18%
Average tutoring attendance rate in CC: 24%
(CCCSE)
*2/3 (over 66%) of students entering CC are underprepared and in need of
academic support services

9. Need to Belong Concern
Roughly 40% of high school students feel disengaged
By the time students get to college, a majority of students report feeling left out
at some point or another during their higher education

10. Everything Changes
With the Brain Food Project
“Needs Meeting Culture”

11. Food Security Stats
2,007 Students Surveyed
1,993 students reported:
“The Brain Food Project made up a regular part of my weekly meals”
14 students reported:
“The Brain Food Project did not make up a regular part of my weekly meals”

12. SI/Tutoring Attendance Stats
True Experiment:
• Demonstrated that students with access to food in a tutoring center
(implementing EASe) had significantly higher attendance rates
compared to their counterparts who only had access to a tutoring
center without food.

13. SI/Tutoring Attendance Stats Cont’d
• Length of Study: Two Weeks
• Experimental Group: n=40
• Control Group: n=40

14. SI/Tutoring Attendance Stats Cont’d

15. Need to Belong Stats: In Their Words
• Student quotes from Focus Groups:
• “It was easier for me to let the leader read my paper because I didn’t feel as nervous; I felt like you guys cared
because there is food. It’s more social, and I’m writing better.” Special Program Student/Cohort learner
• “When I come to school, I can’t think… too hungry. If I leave for Taco Bell, I won’t come back to this, and I
don’t have enough cash for the cafeteria. I can eat Brain Food with my leader (tutor) here. It feels normal, like
we’re special.” Student
• “Without Brain Food and (tutoring), I wouldn’t be graduating this year.” Graduate
• “I never came to tutoring before the food because I didn’t think I needed help, ya know. I came for the food
but stayed because I like it here.” Freshman student
• “I feel embarrassed because I’m hungry a lot; around here (in PASS), everyone is hungry and everyone eats
the food. It’s not like it’s just me. We are a family in here.” Student
• “I am doing so much better in school because even though I don’t have money to eat, I can still eat, also get
my homework done with the tutors.” Student
• “It’s like a family… we are eating and learning, getting by together. It’s funny because I start working as a tutor
there (in PASS) next week. First generation student

16. Academic Outcomes
Equation for Success
Brain Food = Increased Attendance
(Dorian)
Increased Attendance= Better Outcomes
(Munley et al.)

17. Academic Outcomes

18. Define EASe
EASe™ training methodology and cultural shift (EASe Culture)
EASe (Empathy, Awareness, and Sensitivity for equity) equips tutors, SI
leaders, faculty, and staff to effectively interact with students when working to
create equity and uplift lives by celebrating culture, diversity, and growth through
purposeful thoughts, words, and actions.

19. Closer look: E.A.S.e.
• Empathy for students, their struggles,
and their efforts
• Awareness of differences in culture,
ability, opportunity, and opinion
• Sensitivity for feelings, troubles,
situations, and special circumstances
• for equity to uplift lives for parity in
outcomes and the opportunities that
organically follow student success

20. Why EASe?
Diverse Student Experiences include the following
1) Having a bad day;
2) Not understanding material;
3) Homelessness;
4) Abuse;
5) Family concerns;
6) Mental health concerns;
7) Identity development
8) Loneliness
9) Addiction
Just to name a few…

21. Understanding EASe= Emotional Intelligence
* EASe as an implementation of emotional intelligence
• As students reveal their struggles, they are often perceived as complainers,
and their problems are diminished due to a lack of EASe
• Today, we’ll focus on “Empathy” as the foundation of EASe
• Inspiring “Empathy” in others can be challenging

22. So, What’s Empathy?
“Empathy is defined as the ability to identify and understand another person's
feelings at a particular moment, without experiencing them yourself.”

23. “Experience Empathy” Exercise
Half of the Room: Hand in Ice Water
Other Half of the Room: Hand in Room Temperature Water
(about 30-60 seconds)
With your hand in the water, predict how painful it would be to sit in a freezer
for one hour (use a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 as the most painful).
*Keep your number to yourself until the group discussion

24. “Experience Empathy” Exercise
Hands Out!
Discuss
• Lukewarm Water Group Results
• Ice Water Group Results
“Closing the Empathy Gap”

25. Challenges of Everyday Life
1)The reality is that ALL students encounter challenges and obstacles
2) Our job is so important because YOU are a major of part of the solution
* It is important it is to place yourself in someone else’s shoes-

26. Last Thoughts
Say NO to the 3 L’s
No one should feel Lonely, Left out, or Less than
CULTURE SHIFT!
THIS IS THE KEY:
NO MATTER WHO YOU ARE, WHERE YOU’VE BEEN, WHAT
YOU’VE DONE, WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU, WHAT YOU
HAVE OR DON’T HAVE, YOU BELONG HERE

27. In their words
• https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8CBjOjYHpIUY0g4SnFiazBTdHM

28. Guest
Albert B. Jimenez, Director, Learning Resource Center, Norco College

29. Thank You
Questions