Kindergarten celebrated their “1st Annual Dumpling Day” on November
3, marking a unique collaboration between Lower School Science and World
Languages disciplines. This garden-to-table project involved
Kindergarten students harvesting the pak choi (Chinese cabbage) that
they grew in the Lower School Garden and using it as the main ingredient
in preparing Chinese vegetarian dumplings for snack time.
Lower
School Chinese teacher Anna Zhao, assisted by Upper School Chinese
teacher Wei Sun, taught the Kindergarten students how to make dumplings
using the Zhao family recipe. Miss Zhao educated the students about the
significance of a dumpling’s pouch shape and its symbolism of
prosperity, as well as the importance of the cabbage plant as a winter
food staple in Chinese culture.
The kindergarten
students sowed the pok choi seeds in early September during science
class, and watched them flourish for 60 days. “For their fall crop this
year, I chose to raise pak choi because it is super-nutritious,”
explains Mrs. Martin. “It is rated second out of 40+ powerhouse fruits
and vegetables for its nutrient density--far surpassing kale, spinach
and broccoli.”
The Lower School Garden is one of GA’s six
primary outdoor learning spaces, along with the Preserve, the Academic
Courtyard, the Green Roof and Apiary, the Wissahickon Creek, and the
Woods. The Lower School Garden is an outdoor living laboratory that
provides opportunities for teaching science, environmental awareness,
and nutrition. Through firsthand experience, our early education and
primary students learn to grow, harvest and prepare fresh vegetables.
They watch the cycle of change during the spring and fall growing
seasons, connect with where their food comes from, and hopefully learn
to make wise, healthy food choices in the future.
