Frank Mentesana

EcoSpaces, Founding-Director
 Frank

Frank Mentesana is the founding Director of EcoSpaces Education, a program created at Philip’s Academy Charter School in Newark, NJ. Frank has over 20 years of experience in foodservice, 10 of which were spent as the owner of Once Upon A Tart in Manhattan. He is also author/photographer of the cookbook, “Once Upon a Tart…Soups, Salads, Muffins and More” (Knopf 2004).

Looking to give balance to his career as a food consultant, stylist, writer, photographer, and culinary teacher, he developed and now directs EcoSpaces Education, a comprehensive program that teaches children about the interconnectedness of food, health and the environment. Through the use of learning environments, which include the school dining room (serving healthy, made-from-scratch lunches), a rooftop garden, a controlled environment growing lab, a hands-on teaching kitchen and an Eco Handwork Studio, teachers are able to incorporate curriculum while reinforcing key health and wellness concepts. His proudest achievement by far is his son Matthew in spite of the fact he still doesn’t like lettuce.

 

Catkin Flowers

Director of Programming

Raised in Oregon moving between a rural logging community and the city of Portland, Catkin became passionate about ecology at a young age.  While receiving her B.A. in Environmental Studies at Mills College in Oakland, CA, she developed a keen interest in how communities around the world address environmental issues.  This interest led her to study in Greece, Madagascar, and Brazil, and to explore over 20 other countries.  Catkin moved to the Bronx, NY in 1995 and discovered the joy of connecting with and inspiring young people to become leaders in protecting and beautifying urban greenspaces.  While working for Green Guerrillas, NYC’s oldest community gardening organization, she collaborated with young people, community gardeners and city agencies to complete projects throughout the city with a focus on the Bronx, Brooklyn and Harlem.

Catkin’s interest in gardening and nutrition drew her to explore health and wellness and in 2006, she became Board Certified in Acupuncture in Chinese Herbology.  She is now entering her eighth year at Philip’s Academy Charter School.

 

Joanna Garnett

Growth Initiatives Manager

Growing up in San Francisco, Joanna’s love of food started at an early age and followed her across the country to New Jersey where she is currently the Growth Initiatives Manager at EcoSpaces Education. Joanna’s interest in food led her to a Master of Arts in Food Studies degree from New York University focusing on the cultural, historical and sociological aspects of food. Turning her final master’s project into a reality, Joanna created Lucinda Burrito + Taco truck in 2005, one of the first gourmet food trucks on the East Coast. Featured in The New York Times and Food & Wine magazine, Lucinda’s set Joanna into a career of catering, food styling, and event management. Helping children gain access to food literacy is Joanna’s most important and rewarding work.

Abigail Daniel

EcoSpaces Coordinator for Philip’s Academy Charter School Newark
Abbey

Abbey’s journey to food is untraditional but fueled by passion. While majoring in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the College of Wooster in Ohio, she experienced the true realities of food insecurity and injustice during her three spring break service trips in rural West Virginia. After these experiences, she decided to change course and began pursuing food systems and agriculture. After graduating, she farmed on small and large organic farms in Eastern Pennsylvania for two years before finding her way into a gardening and nutrition education position at a small non-profit in Northern New Jersey. During her time there she learned about program development and eventually managed many of the offered youth programs. Her time in program management helped her realize she wanted more training and education on how to make sure programs developed for youth are as effective as possible; she is now working towards a Master’s of Public Health at Rutgers University. Today she joins us as the EcoSpaces Coordinator at Philip’s Charter of Newark. In this exciting role she educates PACS Newark’s PreK – 8th grade students about where their food comes from, and leads them to their own discovery of the joy of preparing healthy, wholesome meals and enjoying them in community.

 

Jodie Davis

EcoSpaces Educator for Mount Vernon School
Food Corps Service Member
Jodie

Jodie was born and raised in Jersey City, New Jersey to Jamaican parents. She found her passion at a young age by giving back to her under-served community. She is a recent college graduate (Class of 2018) from Stockton University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Health with a concentration on Community Health Education. At Stockton, she was involved with the Office of Service-Learning and became the Hunger and Homelessness Coordinator where she spearheaded numerous anti-hunger and anti-poverty initiatives.
This is Jodie’s first year serving as Mount Vernon School’s Food Corps AmeriCorps service member working with 3rd, 4th, and 5th-grade classes as an EcoSpaces Educator. She feels strongly that children should be able to have a healthy and fun relationship with food and know where it comes from. She wants children to learn that food is a way to express themselves and to discover new people.
When not at school, she enjoys traveling to new places, trying new yummy food, playing monopoly, and gardening.

 

Veronica Rechten

EcoSpaces Educator for The STEAMed Project

Veronica Rechten is a food educator with a Masters Degree in Nutrition and Integrative Health. Her passion is making healthy food fun and easy for kids and adults alike!
In her spare time, she enjoys hanging out with her husband, and her Greyhound, Luna.

 

 

EcoSpaces Culinary Team

A commitment to a “made-from-scratch” lunch program is our hope for all schools. Our food values and ingredient standards guide our meals made by a talented team of professionals. 

Bianca Medina
Darrell Snipe
Kedisha Dickenson
Jarrett Jackson
Fernando Rodriguez Perez