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Would you like to know the recipe for collaboration and inquiry based learning in Washington Township? Then take a look at what Nora Elementary students and high school students from Culinary Arts at the J.Everett Light Career Center did last week.
Growing vegetables in the Nora Elementary Garden Club, just wasn’t enough for these young farmers. Upon harvesting their crops which included samples of vegetables grown all over the world, students took their bounty (and their teachers) and headed for the district’s career center which houses the Light Cafe. Just starting its second year of operation, Light Cafe’s head chef Brad Nehrt was happy to welcome the young students AND their vegetables to the kitchen. Together, high school students from the J. Everett Light Career Center’s Culinary Arts program along with the Nora students, met around the table to not only clean the vegetables and to prepare them for eating, but also to use the vegetables in actual recipes!
“Clearly, the garden project in itself has been an inquiry based learning opportunity,” said Principal Suzanne Zybert. “The students have been working hard to develop the IB Learner Profile Attributes by being principled and caring as they tend this garden for the Nora school community.”
The Nora Garden Club students are also practicing being risk takers as they are tasting a variety of healthy foods, some of which they have never before seen.
“Every activity in the garden is connected to learning,” concluded Principal Zybert. “Reading, writing, math, health, weather, and science, all clearly tie into the various International Baccalaureate units of study at Nora.”
Director of the J.Everett Light Career Center, Mrs. Shawn Wright-Browner said, “Collaborating with a district elementary school has been so much fun for our students at the Light Cafe. We have a wonderful Culinary Arts program here, and when we can share it with younger district students who might get inspired at a young age to make career choices, then that is something special!”
To learn more about the IB Learner Profile and the J. Everett Light Career Center, follow the links below the photo gallery. The Light Cafe is open to the public for lunch on Wednesdays and Thursdays, starting in September. Call 259-5265 ext. 44067 for more information.
