Our very own Cassie Thomas is published in the Times-Picayune!

Cassie Thomas, a Junior at Joseph S. Clark Preparatory High School, had an editorial published in the Times Picayune today, November 22, 2014. 

Cassie's essay is in response to student protest at Clark Prep last week.  At FirstLine Schools we are committed to the academic success of each of our students. Having a voice is a part of that success. To take a few words from Cassie - we hope the students at Clark Prep continue to feel empowered in their own education, as we continue to work to close the achievement gap. 

We want to wish Cassie the best of luck in the coming year, and that she may continue to inspire us and others in the community. 

Cam Jordan visits Langston Hughes Academy

The New Orleans Saints' defensive end, Cam Jordan visited Langston Hughes Academy this week. Cam Jordan joined a group of third graders at LHA, during their Playworks class time. The third graders and Cam Jordan played "multiball" - a modified version of kickball. Jordan threw the ball for the kids, while they ran in his place. In addition to a ton of high fives and hugs, Cam Jordan talked to the third graders about being in the NFL and took the time to answer all of the student's questions.

A big thanks goes out to Cam Jordan and the New Orleans Saints for making this day possible!

Iron Chef ESYNOLA!

You are probably familiar with cooking reality shows: chefs looking fierce and competitive, dramatic music, sweat, barked orders, fire and smoke, slander and tears, and at the end: disappointment or bragging or a plot of revenge.

Well, Iron Chef ESYNOLA-style is nothing like that.

When adapting the event to our garden-based cooking program, Edible Schoolyard New Orleans only kept the good parts. On Wednesday, November 6, at Arthur Ashe and Thursday, November 7, at Samuel J. Green, chefs from restaurants across the city joined FirstLine students to concoct creative dishes using a secret ingredient: Satsumas.

At ESYNOLA’s version of Iron Chef, esteemed chefs were paired with student cooking teams. At Ashe, teams bustled in the hallway, kitchen, and garden classroom, and the fifth graders who participated were the envy of all the passers by. “Do we get to do that one day?” an Ashe third grader asked a cooking teacher. “Yes you do!” she replied. At Green, teams of seventh grade teams set up in the teaching kitchen and outside in the courtyard overlooking the garden.

During the competition, students were engaged in the planning process, and offered suggestions about preparation, names for dishes, and presentation. Everyone pitched in to get all the tasks done: shelling peas, stirring batter, dicing and stir-frying veggies, and boiling pasta. Visiting chefs relayed their expertise in small lessons, like how to filet a fish, how to brown butter, how to candy a kumquat and quick-pickle a turnip.

In the final dishes, Satsumas appeared in the most unexpected places: dessert soup, with apples and lavender in smoothies and juices, ceviche, sweet & savory bread pudding, barbecue sauce, beignets. All of this made for a tough job for the judges from each school and the two surprise celebrity judges (record-breaking barefoot runner Joseph Michael Liu at Ashe and Green Charter’s recent retiree sweetheart Grandma Luke). As the judges tasted and scored each dish, visiting chefs told the crowd how impressed they were with the creativity, hand skills, intuition, and teamwork of their student teams. “I wish my kids at home were this good in the kitchen,” one told the judges. “I look forward to this event all year. It is an honor to be part of it,” said another.

Yes, our Iron Chef was a competition, just like on TV. And at the end of each day only one team got to go home with golden spoons. But the difference is that at FirstLine Schools, it doesn’t really matter who won. What’s more important is that, in the words of a fifth grader, “This makes me feel so special.”

Thank you to everyone who made our children feel special: FirstLine faculty and staff, our celebrity judges; Fresh Market, who donated the food for the event; and the generous chefs from Woody’s Fish Tacos, Pizza Delicious, La Petite Grocery, Sylvain, NOLA Pie Guy, Delachaise, Juan’s Flying Burrito, Louisiana Seafood Exchange, Moe’s Pizza, Pagoda’s Café, Dinner Lab, Shortall’s BBQ in 12 Mile Limit, Full of Flavor (Chef Gason Nelson), Restaurant August, Broussards, and Whole Foods Market, Arabella Station.

Get Excited! John Dibert at Phillis Wheatley Construction Update

Dibert's new home, at the former Phillis Wheatley Elementary School campus is coming along.

John Dibert is moving to a brand new building in the 2014-15 school year! The former Phillis Wheatley Elementary School campus is being rebuilt into a state-of-the art education facility.

We got to tour the construction site this past week, and our new home is looking great! Our new cafeteria will have an incredible view of all the historic shotgun houses, in this historic location at 2300 Dumaine Street, just behind Dooky Chase restaurant. Our new facility will have beautiful large windows to let lots of natural light in, as well as an outdoor reading area, a music room, a computer lab, and an expanded ESYNOLA garden.

Please check out Dibert's website for construction updates. 

Sweet Potato Fest!

Sweet potatoes are sneaky. They hide beneath the soil under vines that bloom like morning glories. They are shape shifters in recipes, and can be used in everything from deserts to salads, soups to sushi, burgers to bread. They seem like junk food in French fries and pie, but are packed with potassium, vitamin A, and beta-carotene. When cooked correctly, sweet potatoes are healthier than broccoli or spinach.

Edible Schoolyard New Orleans can be sneaky too. We throw an event like Sweet Potato Fest (which was Saturday, November 2, at Arthur Ashe Charter School) and at first glance it looks like it’s all fun and games: kids frolicking in the dirt, discovering not only 8-pound sweet potatoes but frogs and worms and butterflies; siblings helping each other roll dough for their sweet potato pizzas, complete with pesto made with basil from the garden; sack races; spoon relays; jams blasting from a speaker in the back of a truck; and at the end of the day everybody walking away with goodie bags and sacks of potatoes and smiles.

But we have our ways. While celebrating this seasonal food, Sweet Potato Fest also had a health and wellness slant. What tasted like a milkshake was a nutrient-packed smoothie. The sachet that looked and smelled better than potpourri actually uplifted the mood and calmed the nerves, because it was aromatherapy. And while families played games and made pizzas and tasted Satsumas and got massages at the event, they also received health screenings and pedometers and flu shots, learned how to reduce stress, exercised with a yoga mat and a shovel, and helped us harvest 311 pounds of potatoes.

So I guess Sweet Potato Fest accurately reflects the sneaky essence of its signature vegetable; under a veneer of sugary delight, it packs a healthy punch. We hope to see you next year! Don't forget to check out ESYNOLA's Facebook page. 

LHA's 6th Annual Fall Fest

The LHA community came together last Friday to celebrate the 6th Annual LHA Fall Fest! The festival featured an inflatable obstacle course, wrecking ball and joust, and an inflatable bounce from About to Bounce. Other activities include face painting, cookie decorating, Imagination Playground time, snacks, sno balls, a haunted crawl-through bat cave, and a pie toss at School Director, Mark Martin. There was even a dance floor for scholars and teachers to groove out to the tunes of DJ Class-E.

A big shout out to Jamie Trent for taking home the best individual Dreamkeeper costume, and to the 2nd grade team for winning best ensemble.

Without our parent volunteers, Fall Fest would not have been possible. Thank you to everyone that worked to make this our best Fall Fest yet.

Thank you Capital One!

As part of Capital One's One Week service project, volunteers served at Arthur Ashe Charter School. The group did a variety of gardening activities including sowing seeds. However, the biggest accomplishment was the 4 beautiful benches the Capital One group built. The benches even have wheels to help with transport!

A big thank you for all of your support, we hope to see you again next year! 

Capital One has helped create a serene space for our teachers - check out one of our Ashe teachers is enjoying our new bench, and the beautiful Ashe garden during her lunch break.