The fourth grade students at Greenwood Elementary did a discovery walk through the Parklands of Floyds Fork this year. During that walk, they learned about nature and identified plants in the Kentucky ecosystem. One of the plants that was brought to their focus for this classroom program was the pawpaw tree.  

For this program, 84 students were able to taste pawpaw ice cream for the first time. The students were very excited about the opportunity to try a fruit that they had not be able to try before. I partnered with our local office 4-H Agent to present this program. We met to discuss plans and how this could be implemented so the students could learn about the local fruits and have a chance to taste them.

Our reason for doing this ice cream social program was to get the children excited about Kentucky's natural tropic fruit and make them aware of local tasty options they could find in the region. The recipe for the ice cream and info sheet was given to each student for them to take home. After the first round of tasting, by a show of hands, over 85% of students wanted seconds. 

It was said by one student, "This is the best tasting ice cream that I have ever had because it smells fruity and doesn't taste too sweet." The students also appreciated that color and thought it was "cool" that Kentucky had a tropical fruit.