On Jan. 31, third and fourth grade students from the Brightfield School for Place-Based Education in Bath traveled to the Central Lincoln County YMCA in Damariscotta where they met with educator Lorna Fake at the FARMS at the Y kitchen for a cooking and poetry adventure.
After a grounding in basic knife safety and cooking overview, students broke into three small groups to make Chinese New Year spring rolls, a root vegetable salad, and an apple crisp.
Though an adult accompanied each group, the students, ranging in age from 8-10, took the lead at each station. The students read the recipes, applied recent fractions learning in measuring out ingredients, and chopped, grated, juiced, mixed, and baked the three dishes.
These students are seasoned in experiential education. The Brightfield School is a place-based school that utilizes fieldwork and intersections with people and places in the community to deepen and extend their learning.
Students in the multi-age classes do a deep dive each trimester into a theme study that integrates multiple subjects: science, history, reading, writing, and math. This winter, Brightfield teacher Megan Phillips and her intrepid students have been studying poetry and physics on the Maine coast.
The combined classroom has been exploring the themes of light, heat, sound, electricity, and weather through in-class experiments and then seeking out the applications of these scientific principles along the coast through trips to lighthouses, museums, and intersections with local people working on the coast and on Maine’s waters.
All the while, students are reading and writing poetry connected to each of these topics.
In between the making and the eating and then in between each course, the adults and students paused to make sensory observations and to author poetry.
The process, from the making of the food to the washing of the dishes to the setting of the table, was an empowering and engaging opportunity to tend to one of humanity’s most basic needs.
Before eating, each group shared about the process of making their dish. The students acknowledged and expressed gratitude for the farmers, volunteers, and cooks who made the meal possible.
For more information about Brightfield, go to brightfieldschool.org. To learn more about the FARMS at the Y program, go to clcymca.org/youth-programs.
