Kids in the Kitchen is a first-year club at Apex for second- through fourth-grade scholars where participants follow different recipes that they can make at home. Each meeting has a different menu, but Third-grade Teacher Sarah Lance is making sure students have recipes for a variety of small meals and snacks.
The group’s culinary creations have included smoothies and pizza bagels, just to name a couple. These chefs-in-the-making see the recipe through from start to finish. While making smoothies, scholars were tasked with cutting up fruit, measuring what they needed, and operating a blender.
Lance supervises students, ensuring safety while they use the equipment in the school’s kitchen. While the club used real blenders for their smoothie-making adventure, they used plastic knives to cut their ingredients.
The snacks scholars make are selected by Lance, who said she is particular when she makes the club’s menu.
Third-grade Teacher Sarah Lance leads the club and said choosing recipes kids can make at home is a priority at every meeting.
“I usually will choose things that are readily available for them,” Lance said. “I don’t want to make something in the club and have that be the only time they’ll make that recipe. I’m picking things they have access to, but also things they will enjoy and are healthier than the junk food they eat.”
Scholars meet every other week and are always eager to get back in the kitchen at the club’s next meeting. Older scholars have expressed interest in joining, and while they might down the line, Lance said she wanted to offer younger kids an extracurricular activity.
She mentioned her third-grade students had expressed interest in an extracurricular of their own after seeing popular snacks around school. Kids in the Kitchen serves as a solution to both concerns.
“A lot of the snack kids bring to school are just junk food,” Lance said. “I wanted to give them different options. We have other things like Anime Club or sports, but a lot of kids might not be into that, so I also wanted to give them something else they could even do at home.”
Moral Focus is weaved into meetings, and Lance said respect is one of the virtues the group has discussed. Scholars emphasize respect for the tools and space they use, always making sure to leave it as they found it.
With engaging clubs like Kids in the Kitchen, it’s no surprise Apex has outperformed the local district for the past five years.
While students make and eat treats once every other week, scholars are flexing their skills in other areas like math and Moral Focus.
Keep up the great work, Sarah, and all of Apex Academy!
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About Apex Academy
Apex Academy is a tuition-free, public charter school in East Cleveland, Ohio, serving students in kindergarten through eighth grade. It is part of the National Heritage Academies network, which includes more than 100 tuition-free, public charter schools serving more than 65,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade across nine states. For more information, visit nhaschools.com.
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