From Cafeteria to Classroom: Make learning connections with CMSD School Nutrition in May

5/1/22

Spring is in full swing! This year, CMSD School Nutrition is providing educators across the district with resources to connect what scholars are eating in the cafeteria to what they are learning in the classroom. Each month, we will highlight special meal days, holidays, and birthdays featured on our menus. We’ll also include food facts to help educators engage with students about positive nutrition.

What’s on the Menu? 

• National Salad Month
• Gifts from the Garden Month
• National Pizza Day: May 20th

Celebrations

• International Harry Potter Day: May 2nd
• Star Wars Day: May 4th
• School Lunch Hero Day: May 6th
• National Frog Hopping Day: May 13th
• Tap Dance Day: May 25th

English Language Arts tie-in (Grades K-5): Friday May 6th is National School Lunch Hero Day! To thank our school lunch heroes, have students write notes to the school lunch staff. Younger students can write a thank you note and draw a picture, and older students can tell a story of a time they remember in the lunchroom. Have students deliver their notes at lunch on Friday to thank our awesome school lunch staff!

Social Studies tie-in: Heritage, Human Systems, Places and Regions (Grades K-3): Pizza is an American favorite, and different regions have their own take on the dish. Share examples of different pizzas with students (ie: New York Style, Chicago deep-dish, thin crust, etc). Have students think about why there are so many different styles of pizza. Ask the students to identify pizza styles that they’ve eaten. This is a good resource for images and information:  https://kids.kiddle.co/Pizza_in_the_United_States

Birthday Buzz: Lorraine Hansberry 

Lorraine Hansberry was a playwright and activist. She is the youngest Black woman to have produced a Broadway show, and is best known for her play A Raisin in the Sun. She is also youngest American to win a New York Critics’ Circle award. 

Biography: Lorraine Hansberry

Lorraine Hansberry was born on May 19th, 1930, in Chicago, Illinois. She was the youngest of four children, and her grandmother was a freed enslaved person. In 1938, Lorraine’s family moved to a white suburb. While there, white neighbors attacked their house, including throwing bricks through their window. The Hansberry’s refused to move until a court ordered them to. They fought the decision all the way to the Supreme Court (Hansberry v. Lee), where it was ruled that the neighbors were not allowed to force the Hansberry’s to move.

Lorraine Hansberry attended the University of Wisconsin for two years before moving to New York City, where she began her writing career at Freedom, a progressive Black newspaper. Later, she submitted letters about feminism and homophobia for a magazine called The Ladder. Throughout this time, Lorraine Hansberry was writing her show, A Raisin in the Sun, named after a line in a Langston Hughes poem. After touring independently, the show premiered on Broadway on March 11th, 1959, and was an instant success. In 1961, A Raisin in the Sun was adopted to a film and won an award at the Cannes Film Festival. Beginning in 1963, Lorraine Hansberry became active in the civil rights movement. In 1964, she released another show, The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window, and was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer the same year. She died on January 12th, 1965. A Raisin in the Sun was the first Broadway play produced by an African American woman and continues to be a success, with Emmy-winning television adaptions and revivals of the play winning multiple Tony Awards.

History tie-in (Grades 6-8): Lorraine Hansberry was very active in the civil rights movement. Using this website (https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/civil-rights-movement) or similar information, have students (either individually or in groups) choose a civil rights leader, event, or legislation to research either during class or as a larger, at-home project. Have students present their findings and discuss as a class. 

English Language Arts tie-in (Grades 7-8): A Raisin in the Sun was named after a line Langston Hughes’ poem Harlem. Have students read the poem, (which can be accessed here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46548/harlem) and answer discussion questions. Sample discussion questions are below. Discuss why Lorraine Hansberry might have named her play after this poem.

https://content.schoolinsites.com/api/documents/3501f154aabe4c2294c38b24aa9f7e4c.pdf

Montpelier, OH school district: https://www.montpelier.k12.oh.us/userfiles/504/Classes/747/hughes%20questions.pdf

Food Facts!

Fact: May is National Salad Month. Salads are a great way to include veggies in a meal!

Salads are on the menu at CMSD twice a week. Enjoy a tossed salad on Fridays and grab a Fajita Chicken or Crispy Chicken salad any day at the high school. 

Below are some ideas for boosting the nutrients in your salad. Try adding one ingredient that you haven’t eaten before!

• Choose darker greens: Dark greens are great sources of lots of vitamins and minerals, as well as fiber! Try starting your salad with spinach, arugula, kale, or swiss chard. 
• Choose a lean or vegetarian protein: Such as chicken, chickpeas, walnuts, or beans. 
• Add extra veggies: tomatoes, sliced carrots, beets, sliced bell peppers, and cucumbers are classic choices, but you can add anything you would like!
• Add some fruit: Fruits are a great salad topping and add tons of vitamins and fiber to your salad! Some popular choices include sliced strawberries, oranges, peaches, pears, blueberries, and cranberries. 
• Choose a dressing with heart-healthy fats: Good options include vinaigrettes (including balsamic vinegar), olive oil, and avocado-based dressings.

Science tie-in (Grades K-5: Science is a Way of Knowing):  May is both National Salad Month and Gifts from the Garden month. This is a great time to discuss with students where their food comes from. In the classroom, have students “build” a salad. Choose 5-7 ingredients (with at least 3 vegetables) and write them in a place where students can see them. Then, have students think about where each ingredient comes from. Ask if each ingredient could be grown in a garden. If not, where does the ingredient come from? How does it get to our salad? Does your school cafeteria offer the ingredients that the class chose? If you have a school garden, plan a class trip to look at the foods growing. Ask what foods could be added to the class’ salad. 

About the Author: Olivia Roder

Olivia is a Dietetic Intern from Case Western Reserve University, where she is also earning her Master of Science in Public Health Nutrition. Olivia is originally from New Jersey and attended the University of Vermont (UVM) for her undergraduate degree in Dietetics. While at UVM, Olivia discovered a passion for childhood and school nutrition and is thrilled to have the opportunity to intern at CMSD. In her free time, Olivia enjoys reading, yoga and dancing, and spending time outside, especially at the beach. Olivia’s favorite fruit is pineapple, and her favorite vegetable is asparagus!