Athena Elementary School's Family Cooking Event held Tuesday, January 28, Was a huge success! They prepared Homemade Pizza and Black Bean Brownies! Check out the video!
Athena Elementary
02-04-25 Students and Families Cook Together
About 25 students and family members affiliated with Athena Elementary School cooked
together during a Family Garden/Cooking Night at the end of January. They made homemade
pizza dough, topped it with some delicious toppings, and then moved on to making black bean
brownies.
The event was part of a district program run by Walla Walla Valley Farm to School and the
Oregon State University Extension Service. It was led by Karen Wagner, OSU Extension Service
SNAP Educator and Corey Wallis, Garden Education Manager.
Wagner said programs like this can occur during the school day or after school. She said they
relate to school curriculum because nutrition, healthy living and garden education all touch on
many different subjects. “It’s very multi-disciplinary because it includes science, math, health
and physical activities so it’s really amazing,” Wagner said. She wants kids to get an
experiential, hands-on, skill-building opportunity so they understand they can help in the
kitchen, be independent, learn how to make healthy food and have healthy eating habits.
Wagner said for this event they chose two well-loved American classics, pizza and brownies.
The black beans in the brownies were kind of a mystery ingredient. Wagner said the recipe
highlights that using a protein like beans teaches that sweets can be healthy.
The other instructor, Wallis, said she chose this specific pizza dough recipe because it doesn’t
take very long to make and people always think cooking food from scratch takes a long time.
Wallis said the recipe is quick and easy and something you can do with your kids. “I just wanted
participants to come together and do some from-scratch cooking. Kids love the mess of
cooking, and they tend to appreciate the food more when they are a part of making it,” she
said.
Jennifer Parker is a parent who attended the cooking event with her two children, Brant and
Aubri. They made a great-looking pizza and helped with the brownies. “We enjoy cooking
together; it’s something we can do after school and spend some family time. From an event like
this, I want my kids to experience the joy of cooking,” Parker said.
Brant, a third grader at Athena Elementary, said he liked the hands-on part, but his favorite part
was decorating the pizza with the toppings.
Second grader Aubri said although it was difficult to get the dough to all the corners of the pan,
“I like cooking, and I like eating stuff.”
Another parent, Colton McGee, brought his two children, Cora and Conor, because it’s a good
extracurricular activity in their small community. He said he wants his kids to leave the event
with ideas for healthy food choices that utilize things like the garden program at the elementary
school. He said Cora and Conor enjoy the hands-on approach, too, as well as the chance to
follow instructions and produce something at the end of the process.
Conor, a first grader at Athena Elementary, liked kneading the dough by hand, but said waiting
for the dough to rest was hard. But he was excited to try their pizza with the bell peppers and
cheese toppings.
Michelle Madrid, IMESD