Teaching Eat, Learn, Live with Elly
Driving Healthful Change
The Mobile Teaching Kitchen, Elly (whose name was inspired by the Chartwells K12 “Eat.Learn.Live” philosophy), is a custom-designed container built into a fully-functioning kitchen. They’re using it to teach students not only how to prepare and cook delicious meals, but also about the foods in their meals—where the meals come from, and their impact on our bodies, communities and planet.
With the goal of reconnecting students to the food they are eating, Elly hopes to equip them with the knowledge and tools to make healthy choices and ultimately advocate for healthful change within their communities.
Food + Curriculum: On the Road
Chefs become teachers. Chartwells K12 recognizes that their team of chefs play an important role as powerful advocates for healthy meals and food education.
The Mobile Teaching Kitchen curriculum is taught by a chef and dietitian team and focuses on four key learning objectives:
- Culinary Skill: teaching 1-2 techniques per lesson
- Food Education: focusing on food origins and culture
- Wellness Message: providing practical nutrition knowledge
- Discovery Moment: discovering new foods.
Elly’s Journey So Far
Elly has travelled over 2,200 miles and impacted almost 2,000 students teaching a total of 69 lessons. Her students have included middle schoolers, high schoolers, special needs students, and culinary students.
A survey of participating students at Elly’s first two stops revealed positive outcomes that can impact students’ long-term food and health decisions:
- 8 percent more students were very confident following a simple recipe
- 15 percent more students were very confident about preparing and cooking new foods and recipes
- 29 percent more students were very confident about being able to cook from basic ingredients
Check out her most popular recipe below:
