I love kids, for real. I can't wait to have my own volleyball team of children haha.
Teaching is a skill/talent I have that I am very proud of. I thank the religion I grew up in for that. We were taught to reach the hearts of our students, like Jesus did. He taught using metaphors and imagery. He made you feel seen and special. Now, understanding how the brain works, it makes sense that so much emphasis is put on creating an emotional connection to what is being taught. If we are given visual examples or a new concept is compared to a task or idea we are in contact with every day, it makes sense that lessons like this are powerful.
We were taught to pay close attention to the concerns and viewpoints of the students, listening carefully to find common ground and reason to validate and commend them. Someone holding space for you like that and giving you that detailed attention, makes you feel good, right? Yeah, when you feel good it's easy to learn. Even better, we learn so much quicker through play. *Side rant.. if it takes 400 repetitions to create a new synapse, but only 10 when done through play, then what does that mean? {Dr. Karyn Purvis' research.} Teachers, Educators, Authority? It means that you need to be nice to your fucking kids. I am so sick of watching Teachers be nasty to their students to scare them into sitting quietly and 'doing their work'. ... might speak on this in an entirely new article.*
Having this kind of base to my teaching approach way before I got my degree, greatly sets me apart from other Teachers. So much so that when I opened up the opportunity for high school kids to come learn from me during my Exhibition "Brockhouse", I was overwhelmed by the number of kids excited about this opportunity. I thought bartending was good for my ego, nah, working with high school kids surpasses that tremendously haha.
I wanted to give the kids experience specifically catered to what they wanted to do as a career. Let me talk about the hospitality and service industry first.
These kids learned how to build mocktails. I loved watching how much fun they had in this. It's rare for kids to get this kind of opportunity so I LOVED getting to teach them this. I remember playing bartender since childhood. If I had been given the hands-on training and support from when I was young, who knows what kind of award-winning cocktails I'd have created by now 😜 .
I taught them about the balance of flavors in drink development. We learned about the local, in-season, foraged luxuries that are all around us. We made Lilac sugar-rimmed Lilac Lemonade and Rhubarb Chaga Iced Tea. How very 'Modern Contemporary Hippy' of me hahaha. I took them to the backyard and showed the kids the rhubarb, lilac, and wild pansy plants. I showed them how to identify them, and how to harvest sustainably and for the betterment of the plant. Having already made the syrups I taught them how to make them themselves and gave a taste to each person. I got the kids to tell me what they noticed, and to describe the flavors. Then we got to build the drinks.
Lilac Lemonade Recipe:
1 oz Handcrafted Lilac syrup
1 oz Lemon juice
3 oz water
Lilac sugar rim
Rhubard Chaga Iced Tea Recipe:
1 oz Handcrafted Rhubard Syrup
1 oz Chaga concentrated tea
3 oz water
Wild Pansie as garnish
We also displayed in-season delicacies to pair with the drinks.
A savory delight
Cucumbers and tomatoes were tossed in extra virgin olive oil and seasoned perfectly with Himalayan salt and pink, white, and black peppercorns. Served on a buttery cracker and topped with a dollop of ranch with chickweed as a delicious accessory.
A sweet treat
Homemade rhubarb triple berry upside-down cake. Sweet and sour blend on top of a moist orange vanilla cake.
All made with love.
I trained the kids on how to speak about the deliciousness at hand. We learned about the benefits the ingredients have on the body, and how healing it is to partake in foods like this. I had them teach each other as well. In Russian, we say "повторение — мать учения", "repetition is the mother of learning". Especially when done in the energy of play. We had so much fun, I loved it, and I loved watching them have fun too.
Maybe one of my favorite details; I had foraged bark that was partially burned from the same space as I wrote 'a prescribed burn' about. We laid burdock leaves over them to display the Hors D'oeuvres. Burdock is a multipurpose plant cherished since time by the Indigenous, the kids learned.
I am so proud of these brilliant kids.
My heart loves this. I can't wait to do more of this.
Comments