Service learning starts early at RDS.  Both first-grade classes have been thoughtfully collecting donations for the Alameda County Food Bank and recently toured the facility on separate outings. "Prior to the field trip we sorted our food donations and talked about the food pyramid and what a nutritious meal consists of," explained 1B teacher Kim Kita. "Our friends in 1A do a year-long food collection project and other lessons related to food."  Both groups toured the Food Bank facility where the nutrition staff hosted a workshop, preparing fruits from the warehouse and using dry spaghetti to make edible art or shish kebobs. Students got a kick out of getting weighed and seeing the inside of the warehouse refrigerator and freezer -- and seeing the truly impressive quantities of food needed to supply area soup kitchens on an ongoing basis.