School: Nānākuli High and Intermediate School
Grade Level: Grade 7-8
Teacher: Sandi Christensen
Driving Question: How can we learn to be healthy through growing, cooking and eating?
What did the students DO?
This school year, Ms. Sandi’s ALC class has been focused on healthy living and answering the driving question: How can we learn to be healthy through growing, cooking and eating? Students helped to prepare different grow beds and garden areas before planting a variety of plants such as sweet potato, eggplant, tomato, carrots, cucumber and herbs. Ms. Sandi also acquired a caged nursery this year and has been preparing it for planting and set up an aquaponics system with the help of some sustainability academy teachers. Students were inspired to learn recipes from the different vegetables they were growing as well as from the mushroom and microgreen kits they got from Get Local Hawaiʻi, a UH Mānoa Cooperative Extension. With the help from Auntie Terri, students learned over six different recipes to try and were compiled into a “Garden Recipe Book” that students could take home. The following pictures highlight some of the recipes as well as the progress made in both the garden and the nursery.
Mushroom Dip: This was the first recipe students got to try with a virtual tutorial from Auntie Terri. Students had been growing oyster mushrooms in their mushroom kits that they took home.
Mango Jam: Before the winter holiday, students had another virtual tutorial with Auntie Terri to learn how to make mango jam! Students put their jams into jars to give to their family as gifts.
ʻUlu, Kalo, ʻUala, and Tapioca Chips/Frites
A quick and simple recipe we tried a few different ways was the various chips and frites made from ʻulu, kalo, ʻuala and tapioca. For this recipe, we got most of our produce from Hoa ʻĀina O Mākaha and followed Auntie Terri’s easy instructions to make. Students even said they liked these chips over their regular potato ones!
Eggplant Parmesan: One recipe that Ms. Sandi remembered from last year was eggplant parmesan. She got these eggplants as a donation from Hoa ʻĀina O Mākaha. This day, students got to enjoy with some spaghetti.
Cucumber and Dips: After harvesting their huge cucumbers from the garden, students originally wanted to make cucumber kimchi. We watched Auntie Terri’s video on making kimchi and students learned about fermentation and how long it would actually take to make it. So instead, we made a kimchi dip and just dipped our cucumbers in; it was a hit.
4S dressing: Inspired by their microgreen kits, students wanted to make a salad dressing to try with them. They used Auntie Terri’s famous “4S” dressing. The S stands for salty, sweet, sour, and sticky. Everybody got to use their own ingredients and different amounts to make a unique 4S dressing, then there was a taste test! Students voted on the dressing they liked best then all tried with a salad.
Salsa and Ketchup: The final harvest from the garden this year was tomatoes! Students learned a quick easy recipe for salsa and ketchup. They even got to use the hand-cranked blender to make their salsa, no electricity required! This turned into a fun potential/kinetic energy lesson.
Nursery Progress: As mentioned before, students in Ms. Sandi’s class worked on the garden and the nursery throughout the year. These are some progress pictures.
