How do I: Populate a drop-down

The schema.xml will look like:

 <Field Name=”NomStatus” ID=”{6f37ad73-3881-4411-bb98-b2f4dd0273b0}” DisplayName=”Status” Format=”Dropdown” Type=”Choice”>
        <CHOICES>
          <CHOICE>Pending Approval</CHOICE>
          <CHOICE>Approved</CHOICE>
          <CHOICE>Rejected</CHOICE>
        </CHOICES>
      </Field>

The elements.xml will look like:

<Field Name=”NomStatus”>Approved</Field>