>> >>: Who knows where peep pizza comes from.
>> >>KYLA: Mckinly elementary with the same
question.
>> >>: Let's start reading and then we'll
go down the line like we do and read the method.
>> >>KYLA: The cooking classes take place
in the school's kitchen, but today rolled
grim grills into the school's garden for a
pizza making class.
After picking a few toppings from the garden
to add to their pizzas, the students circle
up to learn the basics of pizza dough making.
>> >>: Your going to want to keep doing this.
>> >>KYLA: These kids aren't happy to just
sit back and watch how things are done.
But the school has more things on his mind
when he plans the classes.
>> >>: What I want kids to get out of it is
a basic knowledge of where your food comes
from, why it's healthy, why peopleÊ why farmers
are important, how to use a knife properly,
and to cook with their family.
I think that's something that us as Americans
are losing.
>> >>KYLA: Eight week classes at Albert Einstein
charter school for three years.
This is the first class they've offered at
Mckinly.
They hope the growing program can fit as a
model too for other schools.
>> >>: There's a field trip and the education
aspect of it, that relates to the gardens
they have growing typically, and it can also
relate to the programs in the classroom with
San Diego unified and other districts are
working hard to develop a system around healthy
eating.
>> >>KYLA: Parents pay 35 dollars for 8 after
school classes and for the chef jackets and
hats each sheef gets.
Any additional costs are absorbed by the restaurant,
an arrangement hoping to change with grant
funding.
The students, though, are more interested
in cooking, than how the classes came to their
campus.
>> >>: My mom would get mad at me because
I used to try to do things in the kitchen.
She would say no, go away, let me cook.
So I just wanted to cook by myself, so this
is the only place I can do it.
She thinks I'm going to ruin the food.
>> >>: I want to kind of learn how to do more
than just scrambled eggs.
>> >>KYLA: The idea that kids aren't interested
in new and different food doesn't hold for
this group.
Their favorite part of the classes?
>> >>: Getting to make new foods that I have
never made before, the egg plants, the tortillas,
the pizza.
>> >>: A little bitterÊ
>> >>KYLA: Shows up in a sophistication about
food.
>> >>: I have them describe flavor profiles
and it it's amazing.
I get a little bitterness from this, so that's
very smooth and buttery, so their descriptive
terms and seeing them think on that level
is surprising.
>> >>: You want to make your dough into a
ballÊ
>> >>KYLA: The students wear their mastery
of basic cooking skills un subconsciously.
Many like July are happy to tout their creations.
>> >>: I found some basal and mozzarella,
and carrot slices, and a bit of lettuce.
>> >>: How does it taste?
>> >>: It's delicious y.especially love the
sauce.
>> >>KYLA: Faculty adviser guy.
So does seeing the garden they have science
lessons in producing food.
>> >>: There's a big focus in the classes
on green and not wasting things, and the kids
are seeing with a garden that things are going
right into something they can consume.
That's been exciting for them.
>> >>KYLA: Students easily make connections
between the work they do in the kitchen and
their other classes.
One example comes up again and again.
>> >>: Fractions I've been learning in class,
but we kind of did it in the cooking class
too.
>> >>KYLA: In their last class, they will
make a three course meal for two friends.
While not all kids headed for a career in
the kitchen, they know they can carry out
a complex project and make a delicious dinner.
