New Year; New School

Did you miss me? So much to write about, but no energy to write.  I missed you too.

My daughter says I have too much stuff. She may have said too much crap. I forget.

 She's right, though. But not all of this is mine. Honest.

New Year; new school! Earlier this month we moved into our brand-new school, so the Home Ec program needs a radical facelift. Botox! Stat!

Say “goodbye” to groups of students in mini-kitchens and look instead to one long kitchen. There are four sinks along the main wall (two more on the sides) and three ovens with two baking compartments. Additional workspace is in the form of mobile units.

How does it work? We’re still sorting it out. It will be a big help with the room is finished – finished. Missing shelves and drawers that don’t fit are cutting into our workspace more than you’d think. In a space like this, every cubic inch counts.

We’ve learned that you must be about 5’6” to use the microwaves. But you should be UNDER 5’5” to wash dishes without bonking your head on the cupboard and/or cupboard handles. But I did discover that it would be essential to keep one of our old microwaves on a counter for the smaller kids to use.

If I named the cabinets I'd call them "Ow" and "Not Again", or "Dammit!"

I’d thought that the mobile units would hold similar items as the old “fixed” units. That was Plan A. Plan B was to use one side for anything with a cord and mixing things on the shelf side. Electric grills don’t fit. Onto Plan C and D… I think I’m onto Plan G or H by now.

The units are named - Jamie, Gordon, Betty...

 Well, time and timetables won’t wait for me to hit on the perfect plan so, one week in, we picked up the pieces and set to explore our new space. I had the 8^th graders try a super easy recipe (fruit kabobs) with the condition that I wasn’t marking THEM, they were marking how I had arranged the ROOM. We learned a lot from the experience… they ran overtime on a lesson that was almost entirely putting fruit on a stick. At least there was chocolate. They looked awfully cute (and much younger) with their chocolate smeared mouths and twinkling eyes.

Fruit - the way Nature intended... Trust me on that

Prep and cleanup are tricky in the new linear space. It looks like we’re going to have to move the tables well out of the way in order to make room for 28 kids to work. The units confuse them. I noticed that they’d work on the surface of one unit, and help themselves to equipment from the next unit without even noticing.

Too many kids are trying to squeeze around five sinks to wash and dry dishes without enough counter space for two sets of drain-racks. It’s harder for the 8^th graders because they’re used to putting things away (more or less) in a set place in their own kitchen. Now, almost everything has to get put in a central location.

Again, though, it’s the clean up that really hard. Kids really hate drain-racks, for one thing. They hate to pull them out from under the sink. Hate to put a tray under them. But they really hate to put them away.  That much hasn’t changed between the old and new schools.

I’m still in the midst of labeling; the cupboards, drawers, mobiles…I'm hoping that clear identification will help make things more comprehensible. Of course, the kids need to read and comply with the labels...

I gave the mobile units chef’s names. The band teacher liked the idea so much he immediately had his music classes “name” all the music stands. I’m still undecided on names for my demo table and matching supply table (which now holds my entire sewing program)…