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Small kitchen? Trying to keep the house clean as you make each dish? Why not ibe grateful to have your children as a helpful hand? With some planning, preparing, and even creation, kids can feel rewarded and even be a time saver if they are included in Thanksgiving. As many of us understand, a Thanksgiving meal comes together with preparing the meal, straightening up the house, and mentally getting focused with the preparation of it all while children run around in the mix. In the school garden, kids have harvested, planted, composted and prepared food to taste with GEM's in the garden and we've discovered the pleasure and ownership a child feels taking care of the garden. This year, add a little spice and get your children involved with Thanksgiving dinner. You’ll be able to continue your kids to develop ownership and make your day less stressful and overall more meaningful for you as a family. Here are 3 ways to involve your children this Thanksgiving:
Which kid-friendly jobs do you delegate during Thanksgiving?   The Check presentation will be tomorrow, November 21st at Susan Rodriguez' State Farm office on 1317 Broad Street at 10:30am.
The event will be attended by Susan Rodriguez, Chris Jones, Principal of Pacheco Elementary School, and the Executive Director and staff of One Cool Earth. Ms. Rodriguez noted that gardens play an important educational and therapeutic role in our community,” and the School Garden being developed by One Cool Earth will enhance the nutritional and environmental literacy of our young children in San Luis Obispo. One Cool Earth is an organization founded in 2001 to provide environmental and nutrition education and resources to support a sustainable environment. The Pacheco School Garden Program is a partnership between the Miossi Charitable Trust, One Cool Earth, and San Luis Coastal Unified School District. The project includes the development of a new school garden in the middle of campus with a One Cool Earth Garden Educator serving for two years to teach One Cool Earth’s “Earth Genius” curriculum.  These jewels can be saved and grown again. Grow, Cook, Eat is an afterschool program One Cool Earth started this year with Atascadero Unified School District's Afterschool Lighthouse Program. In this 3-week program, students learn how to grow, fresh, delicious produce, then harvest and prepare it in healthy recipes right in the school garden. At Santa Margarita Elementary, students participating in Grow, Cook, Eat had the chance to try popcorn. Not just any popcorn. It was Glass Gem Popping Corn grown by students at San Gabriel Elementary who grew this corn from saving their kernels the previous year. One look and you’ll want to grow this beauty yourself. San Gabriel harvested it shared ears of corn with Ms. Natalie’s afterschool class at Santa Margarita Elementary. Glass gem, as you can see embodies in a variety of colors; you can see maroon, bright yellow, deep browns, and even grays find their way into each ear. The class took a moment to admire them. “Who can tell me what part of the plant these kernels are?”, the educator asked during Grow, Cook, Eat. “SEEDS!”, a student exclaimed. Once the kernels were dry enough, Grow, Cook, Eat students at Santa Margarita easily popped off corn from the ear by picking the kernels one-by-one. One student declared, “This is pretty relaxing” while fixing their attention on their own piece of corn, and placing the shelled kernels in a tin can. We ended up measuring 3 cups of popping corn from that day of Grow, Cook, Eat. Next, we had to clean the chaff off of the corn. We did this by pouring the seeds from one bucket to another slowly. The corn is heavier than the chaff, so the chaff flew away with the outside breeze. The result is this gorgeous popping corn you almost don’t want to pop, but we were too interested in the taste! The kernels pop white although it would have been pretty thrilling if it was as colorful as the glass gem. Grow, Cook, Eat sampled Pumpkin Glazed Popcorn in honor of the start of fall. The recipe came from Real Food Real Deals. Students taste tested the popcorn the week after shelling the corn. All in all, it was very exciting to give the students a chance to learn the process of popcorn and the life cycle of seeds. Sometimes, popcorn can get a bad rep, but it seemed pretty pop-ular for the students in Grow, Cook, Eat at Santa Margarita.  With the help of San Gabriel students and Santa Margarita Elementary Grow, Cook, Eat students, we have Pumpkin Spice Popcorn.  What story are we sharing at county libraries? Now that you’re wondering, One Cool Earth offered “The Story of Seeds”, a 1-hour activity for youth to learn about seeds, at Nipomo, Arroyo Grande, and Oceano libraries. Jenn Marshall, a Garden Educator Manager at One Cool Earth presented to Oceano Library on November 1st.
First, Jenn read two books, “A Seed is Sleepy” by Dianna Hutts Aston and “Seeds” by Ken Robbins to engage kids in similarities and differences between seeds. Using real-life props, Jenn presents students with 10 different seeds on a plate with their empty seed packets laid down on the table. The goal of this activity is for students to match the seeds to the corresponding packet based on size, shape, and colors of the different seeds. The National Science Education Standards asserts that observation is key to inquiry-based and discovery-focused learning in science instruction. We strive to involve students in problem-solving through observation and discourse. Students then are given a chance to share their findings with their peers and then reflect on their own understanding. After the seed matching game, students are given germinated seeds (seeds that have been sprouted), to observe the structure of the different parts of the seed explore their function. Students search for the seed coat, cotyledon, and roots on their baby plant. Jenn shares, “Kids love seeing germinated seeds! I encourage holding and touching seedlings”. One Cool Earth believes that students learn science best by doing science. Students are able to take seeds home to continue exploration and observations and will be able to draw the answer to the big question, “What do you know about seeds?”  One Cool Earth has been busy building and delivering custom garden beds for Pacheco Elementary School in San Luis Obispo. Funded by the Miossi Charitable Trust, the project supports the development of a One Cool Earth garden, and a dedicated Earth Genius Garden Educator to support the school's nutrition and environmental literacy education. To sponsor a garden bed, or to support this project through other donations and volunteering, visit www.onecoolearth.org/pacheco
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February 2019
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