Athens' Own

Mar 282016
 

The above documents are expected to be flawless with respect to syntax, grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc.

  • If you need help with these skills, find the appropriate resources BEFORE submitting your documents. Our intake review team DOES NOT look favorably on errors in this regard, or at any time during internship. If you want us to certify you as ready for employment, then we expect you to perform to those standards.
  • If we feel that your materials need additional attention, you will be notified as such, so that you can make the necessary adjustments before continuing.
  • The above applies to ALL materials submitted for the duration of your internship. Find ways to get it right the first time, or we will continue to spend remedial time doing so. The choice is yours.

 

Mar 222016
 

Good evening Alec, and thank you for expressing interest to intern with our firm.

Your next steps in application will help prepare you for interview and tryouts, as well as increase the chances of a positive outcome on this adventure.

First, if you don’t already have one, procure a copy of  ‘At Home With Holistic Management’ by Ann Adams. Your local book store may be able to source it for you. You can also find it on line. If you need tutorial assistance with the material or exercises, please advise and we’ll see what we can arrange at distance.

Prior to interview, we will be looking for:

  • your description of your whole and your holisticgoal, using the workbook as a guide to format of your presentation
  • you to create a new post to begin to log your internship journey
  • you to create a new post to begin to log your HM (Holistic Management) journey
  • completion of IS-100.B: Introduction to Incident Command, ICS-100. More on this to follow as we look further into credentialing from online completion.
Mar 222016
 

Good morning Sara,

Thank you for expressing an interest to intern with our firm.

We noticed on your application, where it ask “what are three contemporary issues/problems you are most concerned about?”, a response of n/a.

Can you explain further?

Mar 162015
 

This blog thread will:

  • Communicate with all 2015 Summer Intern applicants

This blog thread will attempt to:

  • Answer questions applicants may have in a manner that can be of benefit to current and future applicants
  • Paint a picture of our approach to business, education, and resilience that may currently be unfamiliar to our applicants
  • Offer applicants an idea of what they might expect, and what will be expected of them
  • Augment content that is already covered by Alyse in existing threads below and elsewhere
Aug 142013
 

It has been almost two weeks since my announcement of my intention to move on from my position here at Athens’ Own. In that time, I have been working very hard to complete many outstanding projects. I am currently feeling very satisfied with the progress I am making, and I also see many more tasks set ahead for the next two weeks. I am enjoying the feeling of crossing old projects off of my to-do list, and feeling a sense of completion and optimism that these things I have created will be extremely helpful to the person who picks up the hat after me. I know that I would have been very grateful to have this help when I first started!

 

A few updates on my progress:

Website info packet/tutorial nearly completed. I underestimated the time it would take me to get it all together and in an easily readable way. It is a lot of information, even including all the write-ups I have been doing along the way.
Finished (1st drafts) AFM handbook and Seaman’s handbook/ tutorial. The folder with Seaman’s info will be added to with more tutorials/info on other places we deliver to. It can be the “delivery driver” info binder.
Miles education: I have been checking in on him and supervising some activities over the last two weeks to make sure he (and I) feel confident that he can do those tasks solo. He is progressing very well, and he made his first solo delivery to Seaman’s yesterday, which went well for the most part. I believe he learned from his mistakes and will be better prepared for the next time.

The website is running much smoother, and some long outstanding issues have been solved, which will make the task of updating and maintaining the site much easier for the next person, although I plan to remain available for help and tech support in the future.

 

As I complete this week, I am turning my attention to the Athens’ Own team and the community, to ask what you think my last two weeks’ time should be spent on? I want to use my time and Constantine’s investment in me to help others as much as possible, and to try in some way to pay him and everyone involved “forward” for the opportunities I have been given. Please feel free to comment on this post with your thoughts, comments, or ideas.

Aug 122013
 

On Monday, August 12th, Constantine and Alyse met with several teachers from Federal Hocking Middle School to further discuss working to develop educational partnerships between Fed Hock, OU, and Athens’ Own. The following is the abbreviated transcript and notes from that meeting, as taken by Alyse.


 

 

Third Education meeting: August 12, 2013

 

Present:

Bill Elasky

Constantine Faller

Alyse Carter

Bill Clark

Cliff Bonner

Sarah Russell

 

BE: CF and AC have been trying to get working with me for about a year now. He’s interested as a business in the area in developing some kind of partnership with fed hock. We had a meeting a few weeks ago to explore possibilities, to see if we could get anything going between FH, AO and CARE. It sounded like you (teachers) were interested in getting some educational programs happening.

CF: Our approach to building resilience is based on the six basic needs. In that education is one of those six, we are open to areas where we can take an active role in building education. Knowing Bill was active in education at OU, I asked him if he was connected to other teachers who might be interested in developing some programs. We [Athens’ Own] have developed a worker readiness certificate to help address some of the gaps we see in education, and help students develop skills that we feel they aren’t getting from traditional education. How can we give college students the opportunity to develop modules, even self-help, maybe online? Even before they start working with us actively. In pursuing that with Bill, he came back to me with: “Hey, one thing I am doing is this program with student teachers at Fed Hock.” So I say, in trying to build community resilience, how can I be of service to Fed Hock’s mission, the care program, and to you as educators? How can we as a business help make your vision happen? Instead of just making widgets happen, our widget is community resilience. How can we build an opportunity to make what you want to happen, happen? How can what we do possibly be of service to what you are doing and what you are trying to accomplish?

BE: So we thought we’d start with something small and concrete with a specific goal in mind. One possibility is to center things around local food production, and looking into the possibility of maybe a meal for the cafeteria, some kind of end thing where we’d draw from local businesses. That would be the end, but the important part would be showing kids that there is a use for what they are learning and building resilience, critical thinking, research skills, composition skills, teamwork, social skills, creativity, all the things you are interested in seeing. It’s something that deals with real stuff, instead of filling in bubbles on a sheet. We thought the 8th grade team might be interested. With the past things that we have worked on together, it seemed logical that we could try to work together again.

CF: Looking at the FH mission statement, teamwork was strongly in there, as well as not just student teamwork, but multi-layered teamwork. The students have a hands on opportunity, and there’s latitude around what they can do. And that type of thing fosters creativity.

CB: At the end of the year, we were having conversations about doing things like this. So when CF showed up, I immediately thought this might fit in. It does fit perfectly with our operating principles. Particularly at the middle school.

SR: My goal is to make the kids think they have a purpose in life, that they can be a valuable citizen: How can I survive, but also learn all the core concepts along the way?

BE: I think it’s a perfect match to what CF is talking about. The students want to learn something to feel like it’s real and important right now. So we need to figure out what to do next and how each of us can contribute.

SR: So is our end goal to plan a meal for the cafeteria?

CF: I don’t think we got that far, it was a possibility. I think we’d rather start with you; what are your goals, how can the student teachers and CARE make something happen?

SR: Within the common core, the language arts portion is huge, and social studies has been pushed to the side a bit. If we could bring that back in, maybe we could add in social studies: what did they eat during a certain time? How could we tie in these other lessons and what he is doing? They could dress in character maybe. So, this could tie in social studies as well.

CF: Am I correct that both of you encompass the entire curriculum?

SR: No, I teach math, he teaches social studies, language, other things. Together we work on projects that encompass all of them.

BE: I think one of the things we’d like to incorporate into it is what is going on in the local area. Transportation, marketing, etc. I think you could do that still. If we’re looking at community development, one of the things that would be nice to look at is what are people doing in Athens county? Food production, distribution, etc, whatever’s involved. How does it get on the shelf? What’s the advantage.

CF: The opportunity there – where do we buy things? There’s math, science, social studies, in that. What does it look like now, what are some of the alternatives to that now?

BE: And I think the idea with different periods of time, I think it could be melded together. We’re not pushing anything in particular on you, but I think it would be great to incorporate what’s going on in the area.

SR: What is the time frame for this thing?

CF: As a pilot program, one year is a good goal. From my perspective, I am not going to only offer one year, these kids are the future, this is a long term investment. How can I be a part of this now, make a more grass roots involvement?

SR: If we started somewhere small, and added a different portion each time?

BE: Yeah, we can evaluate after each time and see what we think.

CF: Sometimes things like this can get too big too fast. I want to hear what you two think would be substantive. Here’s one example: how important dirt is. If food is the window we are going through, the importance of dirt, in a very simple way. That kind of simplicity.

BE: Ok so, I guess maybe if you’re interested, part of it is then how we will be able to work together. One of my goals is to help facilitate things between you guys.

SR: I think I have three oo four care students this year. Are you thinking they would be focusing on this project? You might be able to start with some younger OU students and as they go through the program they would become exceptional leaders.

BE: I think that would be great, I’d like to slip some sophomores and freshman in there if you’d be open to it. I’d like them to see some of the planning, maybe contribute to it as well. If that works.

BC: My imagination is going wild with all this.

BE: To me it boils down to language, language is key to everything. I think Constantine comes with a business perspective on the kind of skills you’d like to see creativity, teamwork, etc. I think we have a wealth of resources available locally to us. I think we have a totally unique vision of business here.

CF: Just to throw this out there, one of our partners is the red bird ranch. We buy their beef, that is happening in this circle, in any way that that could be beneficial in this effort. There’s definitely a lot of math opportunities, yields per animal, how much sources to feed a certain number of people, etc.

SR: Or even just to understand that beef comes from a cow! We have students who don’t know that!

BE: There are people that make a living, making that bacon and sausage.

SR: We have kids who have to give presentations on things like that for their 4H group. We want to tie in what these kids do outside of school, bringing that into what they are doing in a school day.

BE: Alyse has experience working with kids in non-traditional settings, so we can bring that to the table today.

CF: I should mention, I live out at the Broadwell stewardship center, in any way that might be of interest for any of the academic disciplines.

SR: Keith does a lot with soil composition. Mixing in Volume with me, cubic yards, etc. That was going to be one of our trips, tying in science with math, looking at the soil in our area.

CF: I’m glad you bring that up, Kathy is an avid worm farmer, she studies soil health, etc. That is definitely an area of strength.

SR: the kids struggled last year with the difference between a square and a cube. So someone brought up the idea of having them dig, and that ties it into science. How can we put all that into it, if we make raised beds, to plant new things, etc.

CF: That’s an awesome challenge of conveying 3d thinking.

SR: So he said, let’s make them actually dig a square foot, how do they measure it, where do they start? Now, let’s make a raised bed, what’s the volume we need to fill it? Proportions, scale drawings, they plan out their garden, then start the process of building it. As teachers, with the new evaluation system, we have to involve businesses, etc in our lessons. We can bring in construction companies, etc to show them how to build, measure angles, etc. Measurements aren’t in the common core anymore, its all algebra.

BE: Is there any modeling involved in that?

SR: It’s used about three different ways with the word modeling in math. There are a lot of different ways to model equations, etc.

CF: With the raised bed thing, it ties in decision-making and critical thinking. Do we just buy dirt? What’s the cost/benefit? If we have compost that we carry out of Athens, there’s a choice, could we build it, with compost, worms, etc? Maybe stepping down from buying it first, and start building it over the years. Building soil out of clay, with Kathy you can see the sequential progress, she has different areas at different places in their life cycle.

SR: Even figuring that out, when the kids do soil testing, what would it cost to transport some of that soil here? There’s a math tie-in again. What PH scale of the soil do you need to grow certain plants? Just getting them to understand just everything that goes into it. What process did food go through to get to you? Kids can memorize equations, word problems, they probably don’t read it, but what does it mean to them, they need to be able to connect to the words in it, make a real-world sense from it.

BC: The only thing I’m personally lacking, I can appreciate the goal of eating a fully supplied meal in our cafeteria, and I think we can understand how to get there. So I need a direction to go in.

SR: It think that is definitely an obtainable goal. I don’t think that is diving in too deep.

BE: There is a lot of stuff available about farming in this area in different time periods.

SR: Maybe we can even have some type of open-community event where the kids can show off what they did and learned. Maybe that can help get out the awareness to the community, or would that be too much?

CF: I don’t think it’s too much. Potentially we could do something with vendors at school events, even. It is important to convey to the public, why this hot dog costs more. The whole goal with the AO model is taking the profit and putting it back into these other efforts.

AC: I don’t want to forget about the OU students. Maybe they can help with some of this planning, creating a budget, presenting it through an educational light to the board if there are budget concerns. Maybe they can help describe this whole web of possibilities, which might help the whole thing actually happen and not get stuck in red tape somewhere.

SR: Our school has done pretty well, we serve Shagbark chips now, we have better lettuce, etc. I think students help making a presentation would be great. Our students are always texting, email, etc. they need practice speaking.

CF: Rationalizations like that would help us rationalize our investment as well. Why should we be directing community resources to this task?

BC: Somebody point a direction, I’m ready to go!

BE: It sounds like you two and Keith need to discuss some ideas and make some plans. We are looking at some culminating things, a sampler, a meal, etc. to celebrate everything they’ve done.

CF: It would seem like the hurdles for a sampler would be less than actually making a meal happen that is actually going to get served. Cooks, supportive staffing, etc.

BE: Let’s give some time for you three to talk, to brainstorm. I need to think about my students as well.

BC: School starts next week, so we need about three weeks to get everything settled.

BE: I’d love to sit in to the common planning meetings to see how CARE can get involved. Maybe even bring some students in to get involved. I’d like to be a part of it from the early stages.


Aug 052013
 

It seems that I have been travelling quite a bit this summer. From teaching at scout camps to family vacations to wilderness treks, I feel like I have been seeing a lot of the world recently.

This past week, I went backpacking to a family cabin in Ontario.The cabin itself is an old logging resort, and it buried deep in the wilderness. So deep that the closest “city” is over 20 miles away, and that city comprises only a gas station and a few houses. The pristine silence that descends on that cabin, broken only by the occasional call of a loon, brings on an incredible sense of not just the raw beauty of nature around me, but a calm meditation on the entire scope of the world and my small place in it. There really is no better place to contemplate life and the path you are on than the wilderness, in my opinion.

At the end of my ponderings, reflections, and journalings during this trip, I came to a hard but necessary conclusion: I believe it is time for me to begin my process of leaving Athens’ Own. I will be resigning my post at the end of August. Over the next day, I will be writing and developing a plan of action for the next two weeks and four weeks, which will explain not only how I came to this conclusion, but also how I will spend my Athens’ Own time over the next month, preparing myself and the rest of the team as best I can for my departure. I also feel I should note that I do not intend to simply leave the team entirely. We are still part of the same community, and the connections I have made with everyone over the past year mean more to me than I can put into words. It is my sincerest hope to remain in close contact with everyone and to continue to help with Athens’ Own’s efforts as much as I can.

 

The plan I am preparing will cover at least these topics (and potentially more as it develops)

 

  • My personal rationale of my decision
  • Detailed thank you letters to the team
  • Continued volunteer work plan
  • Two-week strategy

    – Recruiting

    – Job Descriptions

    – Internship postings

    – Finished tutorials of website

    – Additional blog posts

    – Completion of writings/ stories/ etc

  • Four-week strategy

    – Compilation of documents

    – Detailed plans for replacement

    – Educational models for new recruits

    – Completion of odd jobs on to-do list

    – Additional writings

 

As I mentioned above, this list is just an initial overview, I am sure this does not cover everything I need to do and say before I conclude my employment. I have learned and grown significantly in the past year with Athens’ Own, and I hope, in this plan, to express the depth of this growth and how everyone involved can move forward from it.

Jul 252013
 

 

 

What is Athens’ Own doing?

 

I wrote recently about picking up turtles from the highway, in an attempt to save them. I also mentioned that in this metaphor, Athens’ Own is trying to do more. However I didn’t say exactly what more means. And unfortunately, I don’t have a simple answer for that. The bottom line is, there are two options when you pick up that turtle. The first one is, you can say: “Good for me, I did something great!” and carry on with your day. The second option is that when you set that little turtle down in the nice cool grass, you think: “Huh.. Is that really the best that I can do?Is it possible that I am I capable of more?”

 

Sometimes, when you do your best, it doesn’t look like anything at all. The first person to hold up a sign in protest likely went home that day without physically seeing the results of their actions, even if their actions that day happened to start an avalanche that changed the course of history. But that person followed their heart, voiced it, and it catalyzed something happening. Doing more, doing your best, is not about spending time wondering if something is going to happen, its about having no doubt that there is a convergence of forces greater than oneself, that just might join together because of something you did or said. You might not always know what will happen, but the people that make the most difference are the people who do something because they know beyond a doubt in their heart that it is the right thing to do at that moment. And it usually happens that people of like mindedness are drawn together by these actions.

 

There is a moment in any action when you realize what you are doing is no longer the most powerful thing you can do. For the protester, it might be when they realize people are looking at them and actually listening, and they put down the sign and pick up the petition and start talking to individuals. After that it might be a presentation, a rally, or a roundtable. After that it might be something even bigger, but each action first began with a thought of: “How can I do better?”

 

This is the feeling that has driven Athens’ Own throughout the many years of work we have done. Keeping in mind our goal of building a better world for our grandchildren, we consider what we are doing everyday, and if it is truly our best. And if it’s not, how can we do better? We aren’t making decisions based on next year’s profit, but on the lives of our children’s children. We may not be able to see them and see how their lives will be just yet, but if we go to bed everynight knowing we did our absolute best for them, then both we and the turtles can get a good night’s sleep, and be ready to do our best tomorrow.

Jul 162013
 

Faller Foods and Constantine’s Dry Aged Beef

On a sunny Saturday morning in Carlisle, PA, as the church bells were chiming their last note, a little boy named Constantine Faller clung to his mothers’ arm as they walked down the street to the local butcher shop. This was the routine every Saturday morning; Mass, then a stroll down the street to order lunch from a nearby restaurant, and on to the butcher shop to pick up an order of meat to feed the family for the coming week. From those early days, when little Connie had to stand on his tip-toes to see over the top of the butcher block, to when he was old enough to walk down and pick up the family’s order by himself, he learned to understand and appreciate what true local quality meat was and what it meant.

 

A few years (and a few more younger siblings) down the line, a new local meat processing plant opened up in Carlisle. By now there were eight Faller kids. Every penny had to go as far as it could, and Constantine’s mother made the frugal decision to purchase meat at this new plant, instead of the small butcher shop. As a young adult, Constantine had little to no interest in where or why his mother bought groceries, but for some reason, his mother’s decision greatly upset his grandmother. Constantine realized that there was something clearly different about this new store and its beef, and his Grandmother was not happy about it. He soon discovered that particular something had a bit to do with texture and a lot to do with flavor.

 

Around this time, and even a bit earlier, a new practice of wet aging was becoming common in the commercial beef market. Most commercially available beef was no longer aged by hanging. Instead, to save money and time, beef was being hung for less than a week, then vacuum sealed in plastic packaging, boxed, and put on a warehouse shelf. Although the beef can still age in these sealed packages, the taste which results from wet aging is not at all similar to the rich, naturally flavorful taste gained from the traditional dry aging process. Unfortunately, this type of hanging (which was the method used in that little butcher shop Constantine used to go to,) takes time, effort, and energy. Wet aged beef can be boxed and neatly stored on shelves, as compared to the inconvenience of a room filled with whole, hanging carcasses. Even though it has a far superior flavor, very little beef is dry aged today. Because of this, the commercial beef industry made the decision to switch to wet aging.

 

Throughout his life, Constantine has never forgotten the little butcher shop and the superb taste of dry aged beef. Around 1995, after moving to Athens, Ohio, Constantine began experimenting with dry aging single cuts of beef. Unfortunately for a man who loves learning new things, there was no one around who could teach him this technique. It seemed like everyone he talked to about it had a story from their own childhood about helping their grandfather age beef in their barn, and running out to cut off a bit for breakfast in the morning, but it seemed the actual knowledge of the aging techniques died with those grandfathers. Never discouraged, Constantine attended beef production classes and workshops, conducted his own research, and experimented with his own processes and ideas, in diligent and passionate pursuit of that perfect steak.

 

Through his research, he discovered many unsettling trends in the beef industry. One of these was the practice of electrocuting entire beef carcasses to burn off the protein, and to accelerate the aging process, and Constantine found the sight of it horrifying. Witnessing this practice in particular drove him to decide to create a product which would uphold the absolute highest standards of not only taste, but also honor and respect, even after the animal is dead.

 

While experimenting with his own dry aging techniques, Constantine spent a good bit of time trying to find a meat processor to work with who would dry age his beef long enough. Most processors were willing to hang beef for no more than ten days. Constantine needed to find a local processor who would prepare the beef to his particular specifications. He searched high and low, made countless phone calls and visits, until he finally found Dick’s Meat Packing Plant, in New Lexington. Having already made connections with local beef farmers at the nearby Red Bird Ranch, he began to develop these two partnerships to make his dry aged beef a reality. Constantine knew that beef is generally a product that people are willing to pay a premium for. He also knew that bringing a truly exceptional local beef product to an already strong local economy would be one way to begin work to get the farmers a fair wage. Constantine was eager to establish a system which would explore ways to provide sustainable economic development for everyone involved.

 

Around this time, Constantine was already beginning to sell coffee in a few local stores. The coffee as a product was relatively easy to bring to the market. Using the cooperative relationships he had already begun to create with these local businesses, he was able to begin selling his own dry aged beef. Constantine’s first commercial sale of his beef was in April of 2005, to the Wild Horse Cafe in Pomeroy, Ohio. Since then, he has created collaborative partnerships with many Athens county businesses to distribute and sell his dry aged beef, including Jackie O’s Pub and Brewery, which today serves a burger he created, (called the “Athens’ Own Burger”), made with Constantine’s dry aged ground beef patties. Retail offering includes Poston’s Carry out in Stewart and Seaman’s Grocery in Athens.

 

Throughout the story of this beef, Constantine has never had anything more than word of mouth to know he was doing a good job. He never entered any contests, or pursued any national recognition. He just knew he liked the beef, and hoped other people would like it too, which turns out to be exactly what happened. By word-of-mouth, Athens’ Own dry aged beef has been compared to beef available in the finest New York steak houses, and has been hailed by many local chefs as a truly exceptional product. Even so, Constantine is still working to continuously learn more and refine his methods. He still experiments with aging methods, temperatures, grain, and genetics. He hopes to never be entirely finished crafting and perfecting the quintessential delicious steak. For Constantine, Athens’ Own dry aged beef is truly a life-long labor of love.