Inside Thomson Elementary Part VI: A semester to remember

This spring, Gabby Ingersoll, a student at American University, is volunteering for DC SCORES by spending each Monday afternoon with the poet-athletes at Thomson Elementary School observing them as they go through the stages of their service-learning project.

Each week, Gabby will write about her first-hand experience with the Thomson students as they strive to make improvements to their school and greater community. 

See pictures from Gabby’s trips to Thomson on Flickr.

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Where to even begin. I cannot express my gratitude enough. I’m so thankful to have gotten the opportunity to observe this semester’s service-learning project at Thomson Elementary School. I must give a very special thanks to the coaches who always welcomed me with open arms.

Compared to the various activities I’ve blogged about before, something special stood out about following the actions of the Thomson students once a week this spring.

Every time I visited them, no matter the occasion, the kids were always interested. They wanted to learn. They were —and are — fully drawn into the program that DC SCORES made available to them.
 
That is truly spectacular. Motivating youth, especially a large group, is no easy task. But the amazing DC SCORES staff at Thomson has managed to do just that. They have created a program which, for the students who join DC SCORES, is an instant recipe (no pun intended!) for success.

The kids are driven to grow more in the garden, to cook more in the kitchen, to sell more at the bake sales, and to put more into their community to benefit others. Most importantly, the program has instilled in kids a desire and a work ethic to live and eat healthier. Through weekly cooking lessons with Chef Susan and soccer practices with Coach Pharis, the kids are staying on top of their nutrition and fitness.

These early impressions are crucial and can — and should — make a difference for their futures.
 
Although my time at Thomson was short, it will always be remembered. I learned so much in so few weeks from these inspiring students. I come away certain that in the future, each and every one of them will make their own, positive mark in this world.
 

Inside Thomson Elementary Part V: Learning to like salad

This spring, Gabby Ingersoll, a student at American University, is volunteering for DC SCORES by spending each Monday afternoon with the poet-athletes at Thomson Elementary School observing them as they go through the stages of their service-learning project.

Each week, Gabby will write about her first-hand experience with the Thomson students as they strive to make improvements to their school and greater community.

See pictures from Gabby’s trips to Thomson on Flickr.

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Our dearest Chef Susan made yet another visit this past week, and the immediate question what, What’s on the menu?

The answer? Salad!

The fourth graders slowly inspected their freshly harvested lettuce to decide which leaves they wanted to use for this “interesting salad.” “Interesting” is what Chef Susan calls it since the ingredients aren’t what you would find in any conventional salad. The recipe called for tomatoes, carrots, strawberries, lemon juice and zest, pineapple, melon, nuts and golden raisins.

A couple of students seemed skeptical about this concoction, but I’ll save their reactions for the end.

Each took turns tearing up the spinach while one asked if he needed to eat this mixture. Derek responded, “You for sure NEED to eat it, it’s healthy for you!”

Thyme, parsley and chives were then placed into the bowl; Arlet said that the chives “look like grass,” a comment that made the rest of the DC SCORES team giggle. Chef Susan explained to the class that these herbs added flavor to the salad.

After mixing the ingredients, a couple drops of oil and white vinegar were added, a gentle dressing to adorn this already flavorful salad. I took a bite — YUM! It was a bittersweet mixture that the kids had produced. Some loved it — like Derek, who craves sourness. Others only wanted the sweet stuff — like Arlet, who sneakily grabbed an extra spoonful of strawberries.

Meanwhile, on the third grade side of town, students were plenty busy helping Coach Eric make peanut butter bars for the next bake sale! Instead of using real peanut butter, you know, from peanuts, they chose a healthier route and used sunflower butter instead.

Glob after glob was added to the container and combined with granola. The mixture started to take shape and the students slowly cut perfect squares to be sold.

As Thomson’s service-learning project begins to wind down, I can already see how much these students have learned. I cannot wait to see what’s in store for next week.  

Inside Thomson Elementary Part IV: A successful bake sale and more beautifying

This spring, Gabby Ingersoll, a student at American University, is volunteering for DC SCORES by spending each Monday afternoon with the poet-athletes at Thomson Elementary School observing them as they go through the stages of their service-learning project.

Each week, Gabby will write about her first-hand experience with the Thomson students as they strive to make improvements to their school and greater community.

See pictures from Gabby’s trips to Thomson on Flickr.

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I cannot express how proud I am of the Thomson students!

A few weeks ago, those in the DC SCORES service-learning program held a bake sale that raised $217.30. They sold everything they baked, earning all of their profits back!

Because their program is focused on gardening and healthy eating, the students used what they had planted in the garden (with the help of Miss Margie, of course) and created some delicious snacks.

What did they have?

Fruit cups were the biggest and most popular sell. The runners-up were zucchini cupcakes, bread and muffins.

After the sale, the students began winding down and Coach Pharis asked them to brainstorm what they would like to put their earnings toward. Tracy suggested that we help the community, a very lofty but heartfelt goal.

A few other suggestions were mentioned: DC SCORES soccer equipment,; a promotion party equipped with a DJ; purchasing and planting blueberry bushes around the front of the school; and what I believed to be the greatest idea of all — adopting Brooklyn Park across the street.

Now, the park isn’t positioned in a very large space where you can add dozens of new features, but it does have some potential. Derek suggested adding benches and tables where they could write in their journals. Coach Eric believed a small playground could possibly be built, with a swing set. Nora asked for a fence so that the kids would be out of danger from the street’s infinite amount of traffic.

Of the many attainable goals set forth that day, I’m curious to see which ones will come to fruition.

While this debate was ongoing, the surrounding 3rd and 4th graders helped find worms in the compost, once again, and began rotating the soil for future planting.

With their first successful bake sale under their belts, I can already tell that Thomson’s poet-athletes are anxiously awaiting the next one.

Inside Thomson Elementary Part III: Teaming up with Jamba Juice!

This spring, Gabby Ingersoll, a student at American University, is volunteering for DC SCORES by spending each Monday afternoon with the poet-athletes at Thomson Elementary School observing them as they go through the stages of their service-learning project.

Each week, Gabby will write about her first-hand experience with the Thomson students as they strive to make improvements to their school and greater community.

See pictures from Gabby’s trips to Thomson on Flickr.

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Our fabulous students at Thomson Elementary were recently chosen to receive a grant provided by one of the nation’s leading health and wellness brands, Jamba Juice, in partnership with the National GardeningAssociation (NGA). 

Each year, in honor of Earth Day, the “It’s All About the Fruits and Veggies” grant is awarded to school and community gardening initiatives across the country. This year, Thomson was chosen as one of three schools in the District to receive the grant to support their gardening programming. 

A special event was hosted last Thursday by Jamba Juice Chairman and CEO, James D. White, and the NGA at City Blossoms’ Girard Children’s Community Garden. When I arrived at the event, our Thomson team was sitting right beside Mr. White and Mike Metallo, President of the NGA. 

After the Chairman and President shared a couple of words with the audience about the benefits of consuming more fruits and veggies, the awards were distributed by Jamba Juice’s very own bananaman. DC SCORES coach Pharis Owens gave a warm thanks to Margaret Fineran, the creator of Thomson’s rooftop garden. 

“I am so proud to say I was a part of Thomson’s first harvesting this semester,” Owens said. “Without Margie’s guidance, none of this would have been possible.”

After the awards were given, the kids were informed that they would, in fact, be doing some gardening right then and there! A station had been set up in the back of the gymnasium, where tables were covered with pots already full of soil and an array of seeds to be planted.

Before running back to plant the seeds, special guest Ashley Robinson, center for the Washington Mystics, made her way to the podium. Although it was her first day gardening, Ashley knew she had the Thomson team fully behind her. 

Through her experience in the WNBA, Ashley said, “Much like basketball, with gardening you have to get down and dirty, work as a team, and when you do that … something beautiful is going to come out of it.”

As the students anxiously waited to plant their seeds, Ashley asked them to make one promise to her before doing so — eat healthy, garden and be active. With many nods of agreement, the kids were finally ready to plant!

I walked around the different tables that were set up, all with plenty of seed packets for everyone. Omar and Samuel decided to plant watermelon seeds to bring back to the garden, a very smart move since summer is rapidly approaching. Nora wanted to plant sunflower seeds, one of my favorite flowers. 

Ashley went around to the different tables as the kids taught her the basics of gardening. And although she broke a nail in the midst of the excitement, she continued to “get down & dirty.” 

Once the seeds had been planted in each student’s respective pot, the smoothies were distributed! The berry mixture was slurped down by Samuel, who, in turn, received quite the brain freeze. 

The event showed the Thomson Elementary team that their hard work really does pay off. With such an incredible experience coming to a close, the students were motivated, more than ever, to keep up the good work.

Inside Thomson Elementary part 2: Working in the kitchen

This spring, Gabby Ingersoll, a student at American University, is volunteering for DC SCORES by spending each Monday afternoon with the poet-athletes at Thomson Elementary School observing them as they go through the stages of their service-learning project.

Each week, Gabby will write about her first-hand experience with the Thomson students as they strive to make improvements to their school and greater community.

See pictures from Gabby’s trips to Thomson on Flickr.

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Even before Chef Susan began last week’s demonstration at Thomson Elementary, a student interjected, “Did you wash your hands?!”

The third graders here are a step above the rest; they’re alert, awake and enthusiastic, as if they have just arrived at school to start their day. Today’s task to tackle: strawberry lemonade.

Much like the fourth and fifth graders from the prior week, the third graders on this day were first taught about knife safety and skills. They learned about three different knives: a chef’s knife, a paring knife and a tournade knife (titles I didn’t even know!). Once again, the classmates eagerly stood, single file, for their chance to use the knives. Congratulations and high fives were exchanged during this activity.

As the knife lesson wrapped up, Chef Susan began preparing the class for the strawberry lemonade making. She explained the use of a micro plane, a utensil similar to a cheese grater as Mequias pointed out.

As with the knife scenario, DC SCORES lined up once again to take turns grating the skin of the lemon for zest. The students discovered that the zest was, in fact, a key ingredient and even had more flavor than the actual juice! The white part of the lemon, known as the pit, is very bitter.

Chef Susan reiterated that you shouldn’t grate once you’ve “hit the pit.” Samuel added, “When it feels smooth, it’s done!” Once enough zest was collected, it was time to squeeze the lemons. A competition erupted as to who could squeeze the lemons the fastest.

The lemony aroma quickly engulfed the classroom air.

Once all of the lemons were squeezed dry for their juice, Coach Eric began working with a kid-friendly blender to dice the strawberries. Ava and some other students shouted out, “it looks like salsa!.” After that, the strawberries, lemon zest and lemon juice were all added together and mixed with some sugar as well as water.

The kids tried their concoction without seltzer water at first, then with seltzer water. When asked to compare, they voted for the original mix. I voted for the original mix as well while the other coaches and I joked about how these students are officially equipped with the experience to now open their own lemonade stands.

Let’s hope I see some this summer!