Pocantico Hills CSD

The Pocantico Hills eighth graders have been busy the past several weeks, working on both an art project and a special activity in their FACS classes. All their hard work culminated in an evening of fine art and fine food during the Art and Recipe Design Show, held on Feb. 25.

During the evening, guests had an opportunity to peruse the school hallways and view original artwork created by the class. This year’s theme was “Gardens.” And the students delivered. Adorning the wall was a colorful display of flowers and the natural world and animals that the students had painted using acrylics.

If that was not enough, in the cafeteria guests were treated to an array of delicacies, with all the recipes created by the students themselves. In their Family and Consumer Science class, students learned about food fusion, and then, working in small groups, they developed recipes reflecting the cultural heritage of everyone in the groups. On this evening, guests had an opportunity to sample a selection of the recipes the students had developed.

“I’ve been looking forward to it since sixth grade,” said Evelyn B., as she stood in front of her painting, “Sunset Boulevard,” speaking of the art project. “You could paint what you wanted as long as it stayed within the theme.”

Her painting depicts a seaside landscape.

In the cafeteria, Colin G. had just finished sampling from the array of delicious options.

“I thought it was great opportunity to get away from the regular schoolwork,” he said of the recipe project, explaining that he worked with classmate Shreyan T. Together, he said, they developed Baked Potato Paneer Soup with Irish Cheddar Naan Crisp reflecting his Irish heritage and the Indian heritage of his recipe partner.

“We created this recipe completely from scratch,” he said. “It lets our cultures unite us.”

Art Teacher Jolene Morotti said she has been having the eighth- grade students work on this special project for the past 17 years.

“I love putting these up,” she said of hanging the students’ work. “I love the buzz from the other students.”

She enjoys providing a safe place for the students to work as many may not have much confidence in their abilities. But, she said, as they paint, they discuss their work with their classmates and talk about what’s going well, what may not be and offer suggestions that could help.

“They always amaze me with their work,” Ms. Morotti said.

Back in the cafeteria Chef Clyde Ripka was busy plating the food.

“We discussed with the student’s what fusion was and they went off on their own,” he said.

Chef Ripka made the recipes selected by some of them to serve during the event and the Pocantico kitchen staff cooked them up.

FACS teacher Alyson Morilla said she knew this particular class enjoys the culinary arts and would enjoy a project that focused on cooking. Each student received a recipe booklet of all the recipes they had developed.

“It brought out a lot of pride in their heritage and gave them an opportunity to shine in the kitchen,” Ms. Morilla said.

“I’m really grateful to the Pocantico administrators and the kitchen staff for showcasing the kids and the amazing job they did,” she continued.