Market-to-Table at Arthur Ashe Charter School

The Edible Schoolyard New Orleans put on its annual Market to Table event with our third graders at Arthur Ashe Charter School. Local chefs work with students, sharing their passion and knowledge of cooking, to help create a dish with local ingredients from the Crescent City Farmers Market.

The day before the big cook-off, students ventured out to the Crescent City Farmers Market to purchase their ingredients. Then, on Wednesday, students and chefs worked diligently to create some delicious dishes to share with their friends and families.

 

There were eight stations, each featuring a pair of chefs, where the students joined in and helped prepare an array of dishes. Immediately, smiles came across the faces of the chefs and children alike as the day began. Some groups prepared appetizers, some main dishes, and others desert.

The groups were split up between the two teaching kitchens, which are beautiful facilities featuring stoves, refrigerators and prep stations, designed to teach our students and families about making nutritious and delicious food. Two of the groups set up in the hallway just outside the teaching kitchens.

Teachers and students walking by would stop to peer in and get a glimpse of the action and take a moment to appreciate the wonderful smells. The students all got the chance to go through different stations doing prep work, then cooking activities and finally, all helped with the cleaning duties.

After students and chefs were done cooking, everyone, including parents and guardians of the students, gathered in the band room to enjoy the food. The chefs set up a buffet-style line and served the students and guests, before partaking in food themselves. The room was filled with conversation and laughter. It was a great moment for all involved with the event to relax and enjoy one another’s company.

FirstLine Schools would like to give a shout-out to ESYNOLA for putting together such an amazing event. We would also like to send a shout-out to all the amazing chefs and volunteers who took time to come and get involved with their community and teach our wonderful students. Finally, we would like to give a shout-out to the parents and guardians of students who came to the event to show their support. Learning, community and food, can’t beat it!

Jesse Short is a Louisiana Delta Service Corps member serving at FirstLine Schools as the Technology and Social Media Coordinator.

Thanks to you, they've found the dirtiest job they'll ever love

"I woke up thinking about this party!"

"This is the best party ever!"

"This is the best job I’ll ever have!"

What are these third graders at Arthur Ashe Charter School talking about? Their Compost Employee Appreciation Party, of course.  

At Ashe, the Edible Schoolyard NOLA garden team “hires” student-employees to help with composting after lunch. Even though it’s technically a volunteer position, being a Compost Employee is a pretty big deal for a third grader. 

Interested students submit applications for the position. Then, each applicant has an “interview” with a garden teacher, which sounds something like this:

What Ashe core value will you be exemplifying by being a compost employee?

“I want to help my community and keep things clean and nice.”

Why do you want to be a Compost Employee?

“The more we compost the nicer our garden looks, and I want our garden to look beautiful.”

Do you have any responsibilities at home that show that you can take on more responsibility at school? 

“I sleep at home. I sleep like an angel.”

Next, the new hires (p.s. they all get hired) are trained, sometimes by the garden teacher and sometimes by a former Compost Employee, to perform their daily duties: teaching other students how to compost correctly (no plastic bags in the compost bucket!) and collecting all the leftover food from that meal to bring to the compost outside.

When you see a third grader pulling a dirty compost bucket off the lunch tables, it's not a punitive task for bad behavior, but a reward. These students take pride in their jobs, and they ought to because their jobs are important. Thanks to kids like these, ESYNOLA composts over 20,000 lbs of produce every year across five school cafeterias.

At the end-of-the-year Compost Employee Appreciation Party on Wednesday, the workers celebrated their term of service with a snack of seasoned popcorn, a mint and fruit spritzer, and a dance party. They each received a trophy for their efforts—a tiny golden Dixie cup with a plastic insect on top. During the award ceremony, it was the students, not the teachers, who spoke about why each Compost Employee should receive an award:

“He’s a good person and helps me when I’m sad.”

“She’s a really good friend.”

“She has a lot of integrity.”

“He cares about the community and the earth.”

At the end of the party, one third-grade Compost Employee told his teacher, “When I grow up I want to be a composter and a gardener.” It doesn't get much better than that.

MLK Basketball Tournament Final Standings

Thank you so much to all the teams that participated in FirstLine Schools' first annual MLK Weekend Basketball Invitational. The event was a huge success, and we can't wait to do it again next year!

Please see below for final standings.

Boys Final Standings                       

1. John Dibert
2. LHA
3. Esperanza Charter School
4. Green
5. Fannie C. Williams Charter School
6. Arthur Ashe

Girls Final Standings   

1. KIPP NOLA
2. LHA
3. Arthur Ashe
4. John Dibert
5. Green

Look what our parents have to say about FirstLine's schools!

Why LHA?

Why Green?

Why Ashe?

Why Dibert?

We love our schools, but we wanted to hear from our parents on why they chose our schools. So with the help from New Orleans Video Access Center (NOVAC), we put together some videos.

Watch our videos and find out for yourself - Why FirstLine?

All of our schools accept the RSD OneApp. The next application window opens January 13, 2014. For more information about how to apply click here. 

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.