Yesterday’s snow storm did not stop the Speyer Legacy School scholars, grades 2, 3 and 4, from an exciting day of learning during the HealthBarn USA optimal health experience at Speyer Farm in Yorktown Heights, NY.  The day started a 10:00 a.m. sharp when the scholars arrived by bus and went straight to the garden to observe what’s been happening during the winter season.  This discovery activity was led by Wilson, a new member of the team, who will be working closely with the scholars on the ecosystem of the farm, its conservation and how-to grow and enjoy the edible fruits of their labor.  They all sampled the yummy baby spinach (cool crop) that is thriving in the soil since the winter weather has been so mild.

The grades were split into two groups at 10:30 a.m.  Grade 2 braved the weather and went outside for the ultimate winter scavenger hunt in the snow and found all the items (and made some new discoveries, too) on their worksheets.  While grade 3/4 got hands-on with one of the favorite HealthBarn USA recipes, the Yum! Yum! Dumplings!  Everyone (teachers, too!) was smiling while making this fun, hands-on recipe stuffed with tofu (high in protein and calcium).  Eric and Scott, parent volunteers and chefs in training, were busy cooking up the dumplings while the scholars transitioned to their healthy-lifestyle lesson.

They worked in teams of 3-4 students to create skits that told a story about how to reduce stress as part of a healthy-lifestyle (we all need this lesson!).  The major topics to act out were sleep, social connections and exercise.  The scholars learned the importance of compromise and everyone performed their skits well with highlights including:  resolving a bullying situation, helping with homework and doing push-ups to get their heart rates pumping and heads cleared with all of that fresh oxygen.

The grades switched at 11:15 a.m. instead of having a break for lunch because we wanted to make sure that everyone was able to participate in the learning experience in light of the snow falling harder!  Lunch happened promptly at 12:00 p.m. and at 12:30 p.m. the bus departed post-bathroom breaks!  WOW are the Speyer teachers organized and flexible.

From our table to yours, we hope that you will download the Yum! Yum! Dumpling recipe and make them at home because this recipes received double thumbs up.  Enjoy!


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