When a field trip to the pumpkin patch was canceled due to the weather, kindergarten teachers decided to change directions and focus on rolling dough and painting tiles.
Aislyn Reaves, a kindergarten teacher at North Ridge, fills her summers teaching kids camps at Clay Café. Reaves reached out to the owner, Lori Flemming, and current manager and Frenship Alumnae, Emily Bayliss to organize a visit to the pottery studio. Flemming and Bayliss were excited at the chance to have students come and learn about the clay painting process.
Since Cici’s Pizza is located next to the pottery studio, the teachers reached out to the manager to see if the students might be able to see how the pizza is made. Juan, the Cici’s manager, quickly agreed and began to organize a tour of the kitchens.
The kindergarten team at North Ridge wanted to give the students a chance to go somewhere they may not have been able to go outside of school and to give them a real-world experience. “We feel it is important for students to see places of business that are fun and interesting outside of a classroom,” said Reaves.
In class, the students have learned about needs and wants, as well as ways to earn income. They felt this was a great way for them to show the kindergarteners a fun way of making money and to talk about the different things they may want, painting pottery, versus things they need, food/pizza.
After hearing about the evolution of the field trip, a community member graciously decided to donate the funds to feed all the students at Cici's. The donor wishes to remain anonymous, however, they said that they wanted to donate because "[they] love enhancing education by real experiences. Knowing all it takes to see how the pizza is made will bring new meaning to the delicious fun and taste."
The North Ridge PTA also donated money to cover the cost of the clay café tiles. “North Ridge PTA supported our cause to get students out of the classroom and into some life experiences,” said Reaves.
On the day of the trip, all kindergartens split into two groups. One group of students started the field trip at Cici's while the other group painted at Clay Cafe. The groups switched halfway through, and at the very end, they all sat down at Cici's to eat pizza.
Juan at Cici's took the students into the kitchen to see how dough was made, and then how the dough was used to make the pizzas. Each student got to hold and play with a piece of dough to see what it was like before the dough was cooked. Students learned that the ovens at Cici's move like a conveyor belt and are cooked quickly to get lots of pizzas out at one time.
At Clay Café, Bayliss taught the students about pottery and painting glazes on the pottery. Students used one color at a time to paint a reindeer ornament for their parents as a Christmas gift. Students used their thumbs to make a print for the reindeer's nose and then used their fingers to paint Christmas lights around the reindeer.
“You could see students get excited,” said Reaves. “Especially when Emily led the students in a song about Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. One group of kids said that they sang the song wrong and had to sing it again!”
The kindergarten students truly enjoyed the field trip and are still talking about how they played with pizza dough and painted on the field trip. When asked what their favorite part of the trip was, they all said, “EATING PIZZA!”