Success StoryCooking with the Presidents: Homeschool Cooking Series
Cooking with the Presidents: Homeschool Cooking Series
Author: Sarah Drysdale
Planning Unit: Ballard County CES
Major Program: Nutrition and Food Systems General
Plan of Work: Accessing Nutritious Foods
Outcome: Initial Outcome
Ballard County FCS agent partnered with the Truth and Grace Homeschool Coop for a fourth installment of a ten week cooking series. Students and parents wanted to incorporate a learning lesson along with cooking in the kitchen. FCS agent worked with parent leaders to create a ten week syllabus called Cooking with the Presidents. Students learned about ten U.S. Presidents and students prepared a dish that was either historically popular during that timeframe or the presidents favorite dish. U.S. Presidents highlight during this series included George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Ronald Regan, and Theodore Roosevelt.
On average there was a total of fourteen youth participants and three adult parent volunteers. Students ranged from ages 13-17, with the majority of the class being males, six returning students from previous series. Students learned or built on food safety and preparation skills. This included hand washing, produce washing, general knife skills, and kitchen safety when working with others. 100% of all those that participated stated they learned a new skill. Throughout the ten weeks parents that volunteered in the kitchen expressed learning something new every time the class met. The most popular U.S. President dish was Andrew Johnson with mini-Pecan pies. Students showcased what they learned in the Coop's end of semester showcase with each student making a sampling of one of the ten dishes for other students and parents to try. For the fifth installation of this cooking series, FCS agent is working with parent leaders to create another ten week international cooking series that will be the same lesson style but the students teaching each other about the country and leading the recipe for the week.
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