Ellington High School

Child Development

Child Development students had another very successful meeting with their Sister School kindergarten friends at Silver Lane School. The Science Center of Connecticut presented a program on insects during which the children conducted several hands-on experiments. The experiments were to determine the larvae’s preference for light, color, smell and direction. The high school students assisted each group and urged the children to use language to describe their experiences. We also brought a butterfly craft to do as well as bug-related stories to read. The children were very excited to have their high school friends visit. The child development students witnessed how to conduct science experiments at the kindergarten level and how to incorporate simple math skills. It was a valuable experience for everyone. On May 11 th we will be visiting a farm and in early June we will go with the children to a convalescent home.

The preschool is going very well. The children love to come! We are starting to see progress in socialization and school-readiness skills. Interaction with the children related textbook knowledge to real situations. Soon we will be conducting parent meetings during which we will share our observations and insights about the children and collaboratively set goals for the remainder of the program.

Foods and Nutrition and Multicultural Foods

Recently all foods classes participated in preparing and serving a luncheon for the Girls Group for their etiquette lesson. FCS students practiced quantity food preparation and table service while the guests practiced manners and conversation skills.

The International College of Hospitality Management in Suffield conducted an outreach program including making Bananas Flambé and a knife skills demonstration for some of the foods classes in March. Several students later attended an open house at the college.

Multicultural Foods students are taking a culinary tour of the world, experiencing a myriad of new taste experiences as well as learning a vast vocabulary of food terms. Studying the geography, climate, and religion of the areas enhances their understanding of global cuisine.

Currently the Foods and Nutrition students are watching an educationally-enhanced version of “Super Size Me” which is proving to be very enlightening about the drawbacks of fast food, processed food, and obesity. Following this the students will write a CAPT-style position paper and complete a small group project involving nutrition information, healthy alternatives and decision making.

As you can see, FCS is a healthy mix of life skills, hands-on training, career education, and academic rigor. I encourage your students to check it out.