On any given day, amazing smells waft through Redwood Day School. On Wednesday, it was freshly baked pan de muerto. Last week, it was whole wheat pancakes with blueberries. Before that, the cinnamon-goodness of warm applesauce. Our cooking specialist Thelma Lancaster works closely with classroom teachers from K-8 to integrate cooking into core academic subject areas from social studies to reading to science. "The more connections that the brain can make to a body of knowledge, the more deeply that knowledge is retained and understood," Thelma explains. "The sensory, kinesthetic work of cooking "imprints" knowledge in students beyond the reading-thinking-writing-doing work that occurs in their classrooms. It's not about teaching students to be amazing cooks -- although many are! -- it's about teaching students new avenues of learning."

At RDS, one rarely refers just to "cooking" -- it's always "cooking with Thelma", perhaps in recognition that Thelma herself and her holistic approach to education are essential ingredients in the process. A recent breakfast nutrition lesson with fifth-graders typifies much of what makes "cooking with Thelma" so powerful. Nutrition and exposure to a wide range of food choices are always a major focus of her work, and on this occasion, students had previously learned key nutritional concepts and submitted healthy breakfast menus for consideration. Applying lessons in multiplying complex fractions, the students had increased the cookbook recipe amounts to feed all their classmates. The lesson began with a review of the nutrition rules ("a healthy breakfast needs to include a protein and whole grains") as well as key safety concepts (Knife Safety 101). For this class, a review of sanitary dishwashing and drying rules was also in order; for a generation more familiar with dishwashers, positioning the dishdrainer so it drips into the sink and not onto the floor isn't always second nature!

Thelma is a strong believer in the educational power of making mistakes and in students taking responsibility for their choices. "I reviewed your recipes," she tells the fifth-graders before setting them to work at their stations.  "Some of you made some choices that I wouldn't have made [meaningful pause...], but that's up to you. And some of you need to take a close look at your math again where I've made a note on your recipe." Thelma doesn't hand students the answers; she helps them identify the problems and work through them to success. And, on this occasion, the results were delicious! (RDS families who want to keep the learning going at home can check out the online archive of many of Thelma's cooking class recipes. When students come home raving about the breakfast scramble or the seaweed salad or other new food that they've tried and -- surprise, surprise! -- loved, you'll find the recipes there).