Fifth-and-sixth-graders at Churchville-Chili Middle School have a unique opportunity this year to explore educational and career areas that they find interest in and meet community experts in those fields. Students can choose from monthly workshops on topics like Renewable Energy, Electronics and Programming, Engineering, Theatre and Drama, Government, GPS/Orienteering/Geocaching, Nanotechnology and Public Safety. The Career Exploration Workshop series kicked off on November 24 with guest speakers and hands-on experiences in Agriculture and Food Science.
Students visited guest experts at six education stations. Bob King, Laura Penman and Suzanne Long from Monroe Community College explained how to tell which part of the plant is used for food, and the difference between fruits and vegetables; Greg Sharpe from Genesee Community College demonstrated the importance of sanitation in food preparation; registered dietician Rachel Schur helped students measure the amount of sugar in a variety of different drinks; Ted Miller, from Worm Power, revealed the secrets of worm composting and fertilizer; and local farmer Kim Zuber showed students sheep’s wool in all of its stages from raw, just-sheared to yarn.
A favorite station was run by fellow middle school student and aspiring chef Noah Jenkins, who introduced his audience to simple, healthy cooking and home food preparation. (Noteable mention: Noah will be competing on “Chopped Junior” on the Food Network on December 8, at 8 p.m.)
Student feedback was enthusiastic: “I loved learning about all the different stations! It was a great two hours and I’m glad I got to do this.” “I really liked the cucumbers at the cooking station. Also, I really liked bringing home some wool from the wool station. I loved joking around at the worm station and my group had a lot of fun. I think this was a great experience and I would love to do it again!”
Upcoming workshops will take place on the last Tuesday of each month. Community experts interested in participating as guest speakers are invited to contact program coordinators Andrea Lynch (alynch@cccsd.org) or Patti Saucke (psaucke@cccsd.org).
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