By Natalie Schneiter and Teresa Wiemerslage
For several years now, Turkey Valley schools have participated in Farm to School Cross Age Teaching program. Teams of high school students lead lessons for elementary students featuring foods from local farms and businesses. Because of considerate donations from the Turkey Valley Education Foundation (TVEF), Cross Age has continued to be a classroom favorite from both the big and littles!
School nurse Natalie Schneiter leads the group, and was concerned when COVID hit that the program may not be offered due to the segregation of student age groups. To her luck, the program was approved, and with some work, Nurse Natalie and the Cross Age student teachers found a way to make the monthly lessons happen.
The biggest challenge was that the high school students were not able to go into the lower elementary classrooms to deliver the lesson and help serve the taste-test. The students made a video of their lessons instead. Each month, Nurse Natalie would print their entire script in large writing on colored paper. Then she would set-up her cell phone to record the students teaching the monthly lesson.
Nurse Natalie made sure each of the 1st - 3rd grade classrooms watched the lesson and received their monthly taste test. With some luck, the leftovers were shared with the cross age teachers. Just this year, Turkey Valley lower elementary students were able to taste test an awesome variety of local foods that included apples, cauliflower, carrots and hummus, beef sticks, yogurt with granola and honey, pumpkin muffins, microgreens, spinach, and radishes!
The lessons were provided by Teresa Wiemerslage, farm to school field specialist with ISU Extension and Outreach. Wiemerslage worked with the Iowa Food Hub in Decorah to source and deliver foods from 12 area farms and businesses.