Farm to table

What do you do with 4 HUGE Hubbard squash in the school garden?  What do you do with two mystery pumpkins or Kabocha squashes?

This is one we picked and started with!

You take a big risk and teach outside the box.

Here is how it went down:

Over the summer, one of our substitute teachers who is avid gardener suggested making squash or pumpkin gnocchi with the students.  I actually prayed that the squash would spontaneously disappear or not be harvestable.  True story...those beasts SCARED this amateur gardener.  I really did not think that even the new food service department wanted them.

So on Monday, I put on my "Big Girl Pants" and we (Bethany and I) picked two of the squash.  One of each type.  Bethany (the physical education teacher) took home the mystery item which we are calling Kabocha Squash to roast on Monday night, but her oven broke so we roasted at school on Tuesday.  Tuesday night, I roasted a big Hubbard squash.   She pureed hers after roasting while I just lumped my in a bowl.

Our mystery item

Cut open Kabocha squash

Before roasting the Hubbard squash

All cooked up and smells divine

You are supposed to tell it is roasted when the back droops

On Wednesday, Bethany and I co-taught a lesson on FARM to TABLE.  Students were able to help mix squash and flour together to make edible "playdough".  My recipe was off because the kobocha squash turned out like applesauce and the other was more like fork soft baked potatoes.  Two very different consistencies.  A parent helper, Annette, and I mixed the dough.  It took extra flour,  but came together. Students rolled out dough "logs".  Next, they cut those in pieces.
Then Mrs. May assisted in cooking.  Finally, the students tasted the gnocchi.  At this point, Mrs. Pinzok and I switched classes.  My first group went off for some exercise and hand washing with Mrs. Pinzok while Annette and I made the recipe with the second group of students.

The best part was that 90% of the students tried and LOVED the pasta!  The Kabocha squash that we used was a lighter yellow so it looked like regular noodles in the end NOT squash noodles.

On Friday, we wrapped up our squash gnocchi unit with a follow up from our local news station!

Here is the video clip - Farm to Table News

Now we are figure out how to spread our success and 16 cups of left over Hubbard squash to 2nd and 3rd grade next week!

The question is more gnocchi or a new recipe???  Time will tell!

Here was our inspiration recipe - gnocchi link - search Spoon University Pumpkin Gnocchi

Kabocha squash information

Garden Update and NEWS!

The spring garden season started with an amazing $500 grant from the Erie County Farm Bureau.

We immediately priced out fencing as well as some rock/stone walkways between the beds to minimize maintenance and make it more aesthetically appealing.  The animals made last growing season less successful.  We knew that this was our next big "need"!

The hard work began in late April.  A team of families and teachers met for a wet, cold day of work!  Unfortunately, we did not have the right equipment to do everything that day.  Over the next few weeks, several parent volunteers came in to get this done!  It has been amazing.

April 27th Earth Day Work Day

In late June, there was another work day to weed, transfer seeds, and getting our garden off to a strong start.

It was a wet June followed by a dry, hot July.  The garden started producing in early August.   Wattsburg School District also contracted with a new food service company, The Nutrition Group, who create our menus through Nutrislice.  They are super excited to partner with the garden and feature our produce as the "vegetable" of the day.

What are we growing?  Yellow beans, snap peas, cherry tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, squash, and melons.  We know the names of some of our produce that we are growing.  Some produce is unknown!  Sticks fade and get lost/removed.  The seeds were donated by Baker Creek. 

Our Daisy troop added a small section of plants.  The green bean plant did the best!  They are frozen with our yellow beans for the school lunches!







THEN ON THURSDAY AUGUST 29th, Senator Brooks surprised and presented Wattsburg Elementary Center with a $50,000 grant to expand the garden and STEAM programs.  WOW....It was so shocking!

So here are some pictures of the garden pictures from Senator Brooks.

Pop bottle greenhouse and picture with Senator Brooks

Kindergarten exploring the garden
(You can see the rock paths and fence!)

Garden Abundance

Everyone Has a Story

I have been working on the"mom and dad" homework...SCHOOL FORMS, teacher letters, etc...

Both TJ and Bella-Ann's teachers asked me what is my goal for my child this school year.  One even wanted to know what my goal for her was and for the school.  My open speaker, Denise McDowell, at our inservice asked us to mentally think about our goal as an educator.   In addition, our administration talked about their goals for teachers in the district!  Th

I get it...I need to talk about goals. 

So here are my morning thoughts on goals for STEAM this year.

First, I have a theme or topic that I want to follow..."What is your story?".  Think about it...

Every student has a story

Every teacher has a story

Every administrator has a story

But more than that...in STEAM...every day items have a story.  Think about the computer...it has a story.  Think about a pencil...it has a story.  Think about  the ___________ (you can fill in the blank)...it has a story!

I want students to start asking questions on their own and I hope that I can spark them to be curious about the items that we use every day.  2nd and 3rd grade are going to start this with the book

So my first goal is to get everyone asking "What is his story?  What is her story?  What is this items story?"  Asking leads to learning!

Secondly, I want to increase my students knowledge of the keyboard.  Students in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade will spend about 15 minutes typing in STEAM about 3 - 4 times per quarter or about an hour every quarter.  This equates to 3-4 hours of typing practice over the course of a school year.  My GOAL is that these students will know the home row of keys (and type them correctly) by the end of the year.

Third, is a personal goal to be more organized.  I can organize a schedule or a calendar.  Paper organization is my biggest problem.  Students in 2nd - 4th grade are going to try my new folder system.  I will take pictures and share more as it is developed!  This will hold a keyboard for tracking progress, log in cards, STEAM journal, and it will hold all of the PAPERS that are usually floating around STEAM when a project runs longer than a class.

Welcome back to the 2019-2020 school year!  Set some goals whether you are a parent, a home schooler who follows me, or even a member of the community.  We all need some direction in life.  I know that some goals should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-Bound), but this is my starting point.

HAVE A GREAT 2019-2020 school year...look for updates on our goals 

FULL STEAM AHEAD

As I prepare my first week of lessons, schedule the last minute meetings, set up new displays, etc., I am trying to be thankful for an awesome summer. 




What do we have planned this fall?

Kindergarten will be working on Tin Foil Boats and then Lakeshore Engineering Kits (Goldilocks is up 1st thanks to Donor's Choose!)

First grade is going to work on growing herbs, learning about internet safety, engineering a car, and more!

Second and third grade are going to learn about internet safety, slinky experiments, plus logging into technology.

Fourth grade is going to learn internet safety and all about electricity. 



Plus I have some new fun surprises like a STEAM pet, stick-it together mural new organization system, plus new engineering products.








What are some year long activities planned?
Container Garden contest - Carton to Garden
Mastering more robotics and electronics
Learning how to research, type, and code -
Plus there is a year long focus on SPACE (hint for the spring STEAM and art show!)

Project Fun!?!

It is  July and summer is half over!

Ha ha...I started this post a month ago.  Now August is coming to a close.  Summer is almost over, but I can say that I stretched my comfort zone.  My husband will be thankful for the end of my projects.  It was kind of like Phineas and Ferb every day.  I still think their summer adventures might be more "fun"!  My children helped as you will see below.

Look for STEAM posts soon!


Here are the top 3 that you might find of interest:

1. We cleaned out a overgrown scrappy patch to create a garden.  This was heavy and messy, but we do have a small garden growing.  Beans and tomatoes are doing best!

The "before" picture of the garden 

Just planted in June...look for a current picture soon

2. Build a bench from the blocks from the garden project.  Thanks Pinterest for ideas.

Cleaning the blocks before my 7 year old got the power washer out!

Scraping off moss, mud, and more!

Bella sealed the boards with a clear coat.

The bench!

The beautiful backyard 

3. Barn demolition - well more of a cosmetic face lift before construction begins. There is a great old horse barn that we hope to turn into a meaningful space eventually.  This was a huge project including filling an 11 yard dumpster with debris and old build material and animal feces.
We did salvage an amazing picnic table in the process.

Barn condition 

All cleaned up

Loved eating dinner, visiting family and friends here, and watching my children explore.

THE BARN

Removing old paneling and styrofoam "insulation".

The ugly ceiling that needed ripped down.

These are the sheets that were on the ceiling then covered in white tiles seen here.

The ceiling is solid, dry, and, beautiful without the ugly tiles!

Attic was next

Digging through history!

Found on 7-8-19

We can see potential now!

Mostly cleaned out

The 11 yard dumpster

Epic box burn pile

June 2019

As I go through the summer, I hear these questions:

1. How is your summer going?
2. Do you have to work in the summer?

Here are the answers and some pictures to go with them!

CRAZY and 10 "contractual days".

So what made June 2019 so crazy or what has been keeping me busy?

I had to complete 4 contractual days where my fellow librarian and I weeded 1500 books and inventoried the entire 13000 book collection as well as working with my grant team.
The weeded books were officially marked surplus at the June board meeting, so we can start to stamp them DISCARD and then cross off the barcode.

Here is a few of the titles that were chosen to be discarded for a variety of reasons.  Age, cultural sensitivity, condition, etc... Who would disagree - mold is gross ?!?

In addition, I "worked" at our local cub scout camp.  I was at the cooking station.

It has been busy but fun!
Up next...household improvements and project post!

Library work

Mrs. Fonzo and I started the summer with an overhaul of the "everybody" section or picture books. 1300 titles are worn, outdated, cultural inappropriate, etc...

This allowed us to move all the picture books up off the bottom shelf to assist withADA requirements.

Here are a few pictures of our progress...

Shelves before the weeding and reorganizing 

Another before picture 

All re-done

All re-done!

Cleaned up and ready to inventory 

After picture 

Still a few bottom shelves

Next goal!

Summer 2019 Thoughts

First...Phineas and Ferb lied!  There are not 104 days of summer vacation...actually I have about 72!

In all reality, this post is a rambling of my thoughts and opinions as I began SUMMER 2019!  I try to keep my post free of religion or controversial topics.  However, this is a deep part of who I am and this post.  Please keep that in mind as you continue to read.


To start, last week I was listening to a priest that I follow on You Tube.  His video was on the idea of TIME! 

He talks about the idea of our life in one day as well as how we spend our time.  One big take away - PUT DOWN THE ELECTRONICS!  

As a mom, how do I balance a summer of fun, relaxation, and technology for the children and myself.  There is the phone in my pocket to take pictures, but it is always vibrating with some notification.  I can check work email 24 hours a day - 7 days a week.  I am still dreaming about work.  So I know that I NEED to disconnect! 

For the children, it is easy to watch a video.  There are computers, tablets, google home, and more!  Do I ban them 100% for the summer?  My answer is no...we all need to have an outlet.  But the balance is tough to maintain.  Today, we chose to spend our time working in my library, burning down the bonfire pile in the backyard, and a variety of small tasks.  The kids did not ask for devices in the busyness of today and we had fun working together!  However, as the rain comes down, I find them turning on devices before bed.  Tomorrow is a new day ;)  I will take each day, one moment at a time. 

Another reminder of time and living in the moment came on Sunday during my pastor's homily!  (I am so lucky that he posts them so that I can re-listen when I am not creatively keeping a 3 and 1 year old quiet.)  My take away was to BREATHE more.  Sounds easy...but boy do I need that reminder in my crazy world. Father Larry's homily

So I am going to try to balance relaxing with my family, accomplish many household projects, work my ten contractual days of library work, and take care of myself over the precious next 72 days.  This sounds daunting in all reality, but I will keep you posted on how I find TIME to BREATHE and live in the moment!

It is time to sign off the technology, snuggle up with my children before bed, and maybe squeeze in a few minutes to read or reflect before going to bed myself.

What are you doing this summer?  What is your theme for summer?