The Edible Schoolyard and A Night in the Global Village

The Edible Schoolyard video is about the students at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in Berkley, CA. These students are planting, harvesting, and eating what they grow in their garden. The teachers incorporate Social Studies, Science, Math, and Life Skills into this project. The children grow it, cook it, and eat it. They learn values as well. Most families today are not like they were back in the day. The children are learning how to cook, where there food comes from, and how to set a table. The students do not feel like they are in school but they are learning. They also learn the values of sharing and talking with their classmates. They learn about compost, ecosystems, photosynthesis, building community, and how to cooperate.

The program was started by Alice Waters who is a chef that wanted to improve school lunch programs. She refers to the program as a "Delicious Revolution". From this video I have learned the importance of teaching children simple values that they need that they may not be learning at home. I think this project is fundamental for middle school age students.

Heifer International is a company that has Global Ranchs throughout the U.S. They donate livestock to impoverished countries around the world. The video was about a group of kids who spent a night at one of Heifer Intl. ranches. The ranch is divided into different poverty stricken countries. There is Guatamala, Thailand, Zambia, Appalachians, and a Refugee Canmp. Each village is given different supplies to survive through the night. The only village not given anything is the Refugee Camp, wo must go around and see if they can have food from one of the other villages but they must only use non verbal communication.

The students that participated realized how important it is to help others and got a feel for what it is like to live in a poverty stricken country. They learned what its like to go to sleep hungry. I think that because these kids voluntarily did this it built character in them. These children understand now what this is like. I have learned that children really do care about whats going on in our world and not just about video games and television.