Hands On Learning at Kendalwood’s 1st Annual Food Day

Today is Food Day, a celebration and movement for healthy, affordable, and sustainable food. Originally launched by Jamie Oliver‘s Food Foundation, Food Day is aimed at bringing awareness, celebration and enjoyment back to real food via schools. Kendalwood Montessori and Elementary is tremendously proud to be the first school in Canada to participate in the Food Day movement. We are joining many other organizations and institutions across North America as they take part in Food Day on Oct 24th, 2014, encouraging everyone to eat real!

Essential Montessori

Learning about food and cooking has always been an important element of a Kendalwood education. Practical life activities, such as food preparation, cultivate independence and self-esteem while developing purposeful self-care skills. Food Day expands on this foundation to further educate our students and parents on the benefits of shopping and eating locally grown food.

This week, our students have been participating in a number of activities in preparation for our Food Day celebration. Upper Elementary students visited a local farmers market to purchase fresh local foods while our Casa and Elementary classrooms worked to prepare those locally purchased foods. Project work has focused on the importance of choosing healthy foods and plenty of interesting discussions around healthy food and the broader issues have taken place.

The week culminates with today’s Food Day events. Our campus is bustling with excitement as we prepare for our special lunch of foods prepared by the students. Each class is wearing a specific colour to represent the different food groups and we have several guest speakers with us. A dairy farmer is sharing the process of “Moo to Milk” and a personal trainer will be here to highlight the connection between fitness and food while leading an activity with students.

At Kendalwood, we believe in helping our students learn about the world around them in applied, experiential ways. As we strive to develop leadership skills, students are provided with opportunities to practice becoming good stewards of their community to create positive impact. Food Day has been such a wonderful addition to our curriculum and we plan to make it an annual tradition!