Slippery Rock Middle School still keeps students in the kitchen
Before students walk out of the doors of Slippery Rock Middle School for the final time, they have to complete “egg boot camp.” It’s a weeklong crash course that teaches them everything they need to know about cooking eggs.
It’s a relatively simple chapter in their middle school careers. Students learn how to crack an egg, sometimes for the first time, season it how they like and cook it in a style that suits their tastes. But Anna Eckhardt, family and consumer science teacher at Slippery Rock Middle School, said it’s the first step in teaching students that they shouldn’t be intimidated by cooking. It can be fun and interesting.
“It's cool to see them do it for the first time,” Eckhardt said of teaching students to crack an egg. “Our first lab is a quick scrambled egg and by Day 40, we do a big breakfast cookoff.”
According to Eckhardt, Slippery Rock Middle School has had a family and consumer science since at least 2005. Students start learning food safety techniques and silverware usage when they enter the school in sixth grade. They move on to cooking and baking when they reach eighth grade. Proper knife handling, kitchen cleanliness, food safety, refrigerator temperatures and safe minimum cooking temperature for different proteins are included in the curriculum, she said.
Eckhardt’s classes are required courses for students in each grade. “Everyone takes family and consumer science in eighth grade,” she said.
Eckhardt and her students don’t start a recipe without learning about the ingredients.
She explains how particles in baking powder, meats and fats interact with one another, and how combining certain ingredients and adding a little heat can make dough turn to succulent sweets.
“We’re not only making muffins and cakes, but also talking about what is happening with the baking powder,” Eckhardt said. “We talk about pH in cookies. The Maillard reaction is responsible for flavor in the brownie and compounds.”
She teaches students about food science for a few reasons. The first is so they understand why ingredients interact in the way that they do. That knowledge can lead to them understanding a little more about food safety.
She recalled doing an experiment in her youth that involved baking.
“It’s so fun to teach this to my students because I was in eighth grade and I did a science experiment about the role of baking powder in banana bread,” Eckhardt said.
After giving a few book lessons on food science, Eckhardt moves her students into the lab portions of her class. She buys all the ingredients, talks with her students about the upcoming recipe and the food science behind it. Students are typically separated into groups of three. They plan out their cooking process by assigning duties to each person.
Eckhardt’s half-year class teaches the basics, plus takes students on a culinary tour around the world that typically includes a pasta unit that’s popular with the students.
“They’re excited to make pasta dishes,” she said. “They learn specific words like ‘Al dente’ and what that means.”
Her students have progressed beyond scrambled eggs this school year, now learning how to make different kinds of sweets.
“Definitely the chocolate chip muffins,” said Ben Shuty, an eighth-grade student at Slippery Rock Middle School, about which sweets he preferred most.
Eighth-grade students in Eckhardt’s family and consumer science class were preparing to make cookies in the lead up to winter break. She said the cookie unit was one of the most anticipated by her students up to this point. The class plans to tackle snicker doodles, as well as her personal favorite, chocolate chip crinkle cookies.
“They are a chocolate covered cookie that you roll in powdered sugar,” Eckhardt said.
Ben said he was looking forward to the cookie-baking class since he’s usually the helper when making them. He said he would apply lessons he learned previously in Eckhardt’s class to make the cookies.
“Always read the directions first,” Ben said.
William Jefferis, an eighth-grade student at Slippery Rock Middle School, said he has enjoyed the family and consumer science class because he already likes to cook. As opposed to Ben, he is a little more familiar with making cookies.
“I really enjoy cooking,” William said. “Last week I made a T-bone steak; and I have made cookies before.”
Sophia Novak, another eighth-grade student at the school, said she was “so excited” for the cookie-baking class with Eckhardt. She said she learned a thing or two about the proper way to prepare batter for baked goods.
“Don’t overmix the pancake and muffin batters,” Sophia said.
She said she hopes to also learn how to make more breakfast foods.
“I’d like to learn how to make waffles, because then you can have a variety of options to make for breakfast,” Sophia said.
Even after months of going through the class and learning how to make many more dishes, William said he learned a lot from Eckhardt’s egg boot camp, even though he had already cracked an egg by the time he enlisted in the camp.
“I learned to cover the skillet with a lid when making a sunny-side-up egg,” William said. “I never did that before, and now I do it all the time.”
With the semester winding down, Eckhardt said the improvement in her students’ abilities in the kitchen is noticeable. Aside from the enjoyment she and her students get from trying the food they make in her class, Eckhardt said it is equally satisfying to see the students exhibit confidence in the kitchen.
“Within the span of 45 days, it’s so cool to see how much everyone has improved,” she said.
