16. Norquay Elementary School – Recipes Inspired by Norquay Garden

Organization Information

Organization Name

John Norquay Elementary School

Mission and Vision of Organization

We are a 30 division public elementary school that consists of just over 600 students. We also have the Early Mandarin Bilingual Program where students learn Mandarin half of the time from Kindergarten to Grade 7.

Guiding Principles + Values

All students have the right to education in schools. it is our job to ensure to teach the whole child, socially, emotionally and academically.

Contact Information

• Primary Contact Person(s): Ivy Chang
• Email: [[1]]
• Phone: 6047134666  
• Address: 4710 slocan street
• https://www.vsb.bc.ca/schools/john-norquay/Pages/default.aspx

Preferred Method of Contact

• Best method(s) to contact: Email
• Best day(s) to contact:Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays
• Best time(s) to contact: Mornings, Afternoons

Preferred Platform(s) for Remote Collaboration

• Email, Zoom
• I will be working full time Mondays-Fridays, so meeting online would be quite impossible during those time between 8:30-3:30. I can aim for 4pm during some week days. As long as we plan out the meeting times, I will try and accommodate as best I can.

Project Description

Context: What challenge or issue does the project aim to address?

Our school garden composes of 18 garden boxes which is signed up by different classroom teachers. We also have a 3 bin compost. The challenge we have is to encourage teachers to harvest their crops and prepare the food in the classroom. Our school garden is usually overgrown, and we learned that it is a sign of not harvesting enough and not eating the food we grow. ** Since Covid19, PAC and myself have planted seeds specific crops in each box ourselves and have continued to water the garden. We have an irrigation system built by another dedicated parent volunteer so it has made watering a lot more efficiently. With the support of the PAC and a very dedicated parent, we were able to purchase and equip two "cooking carts." Each cart includes a comprehensive list of different cooking equipment and utensils for serving. Sadly, the carts are still not being used as frequently as we would like. We would love to find a solution that includes thoughtful and intentional crop planning that leads to harvesting and preparing the food with the students.

Main Project Activities

We hope students will:

• Speak with teachers to better understand their concerns, constraints, and areas of excitement related to cooking with students
• Work with teachers to understand how age-appropriate food preparing and cooking activities can be designed to align with learning outcomes and the BC Curriculum - Understand the crops grown in the school garden
• Use all information to develop food recipes aimed for school-age students

Expected Project Deliverable(s)

• A simple excel or chart of crops grown in the school garden -
• Design simple food recipes that will use the anticipated harvest -
• A recipe guide for teachers to continue this process in the future years -
• Handouts for students to bring home after each cooking lesson

Intended Project Outcome

• Students gain a better understanding of our food system
• Students begin to appreciate the food that we consume
• Students are motivated to eat more healthy
• Teachers build more confidence in teaching food literacy to students

Student Assets and Skills (preferred or required)

• Interest in education, food literacy, and school food Interest in curriculum design Interest in working with children Some knowledge of the BC Curriculum and apply to recipe lessons (including the First People's Principles of Learning)

Student Assets and Skills (to be developed through the project)

• Community planning Creating relationships with students, school, teachers, parents and the community (Social) curriculum development

Are there any mandatory attendance dates (e.g. special event)?

No

Is a criminal record search (CRS) required?

No

If a criminal record search is required, when should the process be initiated?  

N/A

Preferred Days of Week and Hours

Mondays - Fridays, any day is fine as long as we coordinate ahead of time

Related Community Service Opportunities for Students

N/A