Penn Manor townlively.com
JUNE 7, 2023
SERVING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
VOL LX • NO 6
Advocating Students collaborate on meal project for educators nationally BY ADRIAN ESCHENWALD
t the end of April, students from Penn Manor High School’s nutrition and food sciences and plant science classes joined forces to complete a handson learning project. The students worked together to harvest produce that was grown in the greenhouse on campus and used the vegetables to prepare a meal to share together. Mary Wurzbach’s plant science class started the project during the spring semester by planting a variety of herbs and vegetables. Instead of the traditional planting method, the students used hydroponics, which employs a water-based solution of nutrients as opposed to soil during the growing process.
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Mindy Rottmund’s nutrition and food science class visited the greenhouse to learn about various hydroponic growing methods. Wurzbach offered an educational presentation and discussed the pros and cons of farmland growing and hydroponics. After the presentation, the group of students harvested the vegetables and returned to Rottmund’s classroom to spend the next two days of classes preparing the food. The yield from the greenhouse included lettuce and herbs such as basil, which the students used to prepare a basil garlic aioli spread. Rottmund brought in chicken, peppers and onions to sauté for the meal, and the lettuce was used to make lettuce wraps. The students from the plant science class learned about
various cooking techniques as they assisted in Rottmund’s classroom. “My students knew nothing about hydroponics for the most part, and it was a nice way to lead into my fruit and veggie unit,” Rottmund said. “It was also nice to introduce the plant science students to my classroom. Both groups of kids were exposed to each other’s curriculum; it was a win-win situation.” Rottmund had the idea for a partnership between the two classes several years ago and wrote a grant for the project. For the first year of the collaboration, students used produce from the greenhouse to make paninis and salads. Although Rottmund will retire this year, she hopes that the Family and
Consumer Sciences (FCS) department and the Agriculture department continue the partnership for years to come. In addition to the partnership with the Agriculture department, Rottmund has previously collaborated with other classes to combine FCS learning material with other subjects. Rottmund has teamed up with history classes for a Colonial cooking unit, partnered with the Foreign Language department for a global food course and worked with students in the life skills class to make meals for children. “The students are always very receptive to the projects,” Rottmund said. “We’ve been really pleased with the learning process in both areas.”
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Students worked together to harvest produce from the greenhouse, which they used to prepare a meal.
Since January, Elizabeth Raff has been speaking at conferences and events across the country to advocate for teachers and to highlight the importance of education everywhere. Raff, who works as Penn Manor School District’s elementary learning facilitator, was selected as Pennsylvania’s Teacher of the Year for 2022-23. Raff ’s journey to become the state’s Teacher of the Year began with being nominated for the award in 2021, followed by an extensive application process. During this time, Raff completed phone interviews, filmed lessons and wrote essays to display her skills as a teacher. “It was the best professional development I’ve ever received,” Raff said. “It really allowed me to reflect on my craft and become a better teacher.” At the end of the application process, Raff was selected from 12 finalists to represent Pennsylvania in a cohort of all states’ and territories’ award recipients. As the state’s representative, Raff committed to two years of service: one year to advocate at the local level and one year on the national stage. Her duties have included speaking at workshops for educators and traveling around the country with her fellow teachers as they have worked to encourage support for the country’s schools. In February 2023, Raff and her group of teachers visited the headquarters of Google in California, where they discussed how to use technology to benefit students in the classroom. In April, the education advocates traveled to Washington, D.C., for the 2023 National and State Teachers of the Year Celebration at the White House. Raff and her cohort met with several legislators to elicit