2011-12 THemes
healthy lifestyles: food
In the city, it can often be a challenge to find healthy foods. Along with access, there is often the challenge of reconnecting with the source of our food. In this unit we considered some of our favorite foods, where they come from, and how we can make them healthier. We focused on pizza, a repeated favorite.
Most of the pizza we eat from the frozen food section or from pizzerias is unhealthy. So we set out to make our own pizza with healthy alternatives that could be found locally. We started by making our own sauce with many ingredients grown right in the church garden or in Mr. Matt's garden at his house. These included tomatoes, garlic, and herbs. Next we watched as a valued church and community member showed us how spelt grain, grown locally, is ground into flour and can be used to make the pizza dough. Finally, we set out to make our own cheese using skim milk to reduce fat content. Bringing all the ingredients together we watched as one of our favorite commonly unhealthy foods turned into a healthy local option that we could enjoy.
Most of the pizza we eat from the frozen food section or from pizzerias is unhealthy. So we set out to make our own pizza with healthy alternatives that could be found locally. We started by making our own sauce with many ingredients grown right in the church garden or in Mr. Matt's garden at his house. These included tomatoes, garlic, and herbs. Next we watched as a valued church and community member showed us how spelt grain, grown locally, is ground into flour and can be used to make the pizza dough. Finally, we set out to make our own cheese using skim milk to reduce fat content. Bringing all the ingredients together we watched as one of our favorite commonly unhealthy foods turned into a healthy local option that we could enjoy.
Our City Environment
It's spring! GRACE After School is starting its next unit, continuing to discover the world around us and concentrating on basic elements like air, soil and water. We interact with these basic necessities very differently in the city than in the country or the suburbs. They come to us in modified forms to fit the design of our built environment. Fusing together the built environment and the natural (albeit still modified) environment is key to the future of sustainable living. We are planting outside in the garden as well as inside starting plants to beautify the neighborhood.
Our final project outcome for the Healthy Environment unit was a rain barrel designed and painted by our students. Many trees, sunshine, rain, worms, and responsible human interaction with them now adorn this water saving device that will be put to good use in our community garden through the hot summer months.
Family
In the final weeks of program we decided to focus on the importance of families; what they give to us, how they shape us as people, and how everyone's family is unique. Capitalizing on our previous unit, we used the image of a tree to demonstrate and study the different aspects of family including the cultural they root us in, the values they instill in us giving us a sturdy trunk, the members that make our branches unique and ever-changing and growing, and finally the fruit that result from being a part of God's family. The result was a arboretum of family trees that grew throughout our 3 week unit. As a final celebration of families and our year-long program we invited the families of our students to come and enjoy a meal students helped prepare. We created a family in our program this year rooted in diversity, valuing education, healthy living, and peace. Our branches were ever changing and growing with a group of strong solid branches holding us all together. Our fruits are LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS, and SELF-CONTROL as Galatians 5:22 tells us. We must never stop growing.