My students need basic supplies like measuring cups, cutlery and cutting boards as well as larger items like a mini-fridge and hot plate for an upcoming cooking unit.
$546 goal
Hooray! This project is fully funded
Hooray! This project is fully funded
Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month
This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because
it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.
My students have just finished building a window garden full of herbs and spices. Tiny green buds are pushing their way through the black soil and my students are excited. The next step, however, is to learn to cook some meals they can use these spices on.
I teach a Mild/Moderate ASC-SDC class.
In layman's terms, it's special education for students with a variety of different learning disabilities. Most of my students are classified as having an Autism Spectrum Disorder. Most of my students are also classified as English Language Learners, who speak a language other than English at home. They all come from poor, urban areas of East Oakland, a part of California that is sometimes described as a "food desert" due to it's lack of readily available, fresh produce.
My students are all 9th through 12th graders (ages 14 - 18), enthusiastic, social and friendly. They love video games, cartoons, comic books and drawing. One thing they don't like is eating nutritious, home-cooked food.
My Project
As you may know, one symptom of autism is a hypersensitivity to sensory input which can manifest itself in highly particular eating habits. Because of this, young people with autism often struggle to receive adequate nutrition. Furthermore, this also often results in difficulty managing and maintaining a food budget in adulthood as well as issues with overall health and obesity. In order to alleviate these difficulties in their lives after high school, I plan to teach my students basic cooking skills and a few simple recipes - such as how to cook Spanish rice, or how to steam vegetables. In addition to learning to cook, students will learn about meal planning, food safety, nutrition, and budgeting.
As for specific materials, we need a mini-fridge to store perishable food items; we need hot plates to cook food, knives, cutting boards, measuring cups and other supplies to transform my classroom into a kitchen and teach students how to prepare their own meals.
This project will address one of the bigger, less spoken of issues facing young people with autism.
As part of our Life Skills curriculum this year, my students will learn how to eat healthy and how to prepare healthy meals - a truly valuable skill that will last a lifetime, and one, I'm sure, many wish they would have learned in high school.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mr. Lovejoy and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
