Pizza Week Celebration for 8th Graders

The end of the year has arrived and amidst laughter and some tearful goodbyes, our 8th graders celebrated their final weeks of school with a pizza making extravaganza in the garden. Pizza week is a time-honored tradition here at The Edible Schoolyard and something that students look forward to throughout their entire middle school career. We were so excited to get to share their joy and nostalgia as they reflected on their time at King Middle School and look ahead to high school and beyond.

Students moved through three rotations throughout their pizza class, also having ample time to explore the garden, make bouquets, and say goodbye to their cherished chicken friends. Starting at the lemonade station, students used pressed lemon juice, freshly squeezed from our lemon tree back in prime citrus season (January-March in the Bay Area) that we freezed in anticipation for this event. Students helped us harvest and squeeze enough lemons for 40 cups of lemon juice in their garden classes and at lunchtime throughout the winter season! After making homemade lemonade, students then supported their classmates by delivering the fresh drink to their peers enjoying pizza at the wood fired oven. Our 8th graders then rotated to the toppings and dough station in the kitchen, where they got to show off the knife skills they’ve been learning throughout middle school and learn how to prepare pizza dough. Because pizza dough needs ample time to rise, students engaged in a pay-it-forward model where they prepared ingredients to be immediately used for the next class of pizza makers. Students then delivered any necessary refills of toppings, sauce, and dough to our pizza station at our outdoor wood-fired oven. At this station, students paired up and learned how to stretch pizza dough and create their own personal thin crust pizzas using farm fresh ingredients - some from our garden, others from a local market. After some time in our wood fired oven, ran impressively by ESY staff and CCAC Fellows, students got to sit in the shade of our fruit trees and enjoy their delicious pizza creation and fresh lemonade while reminiscing on their incredible time in our program.

We feel so lucky to continue to provide this experience to our students year-after-year and know that none of it would be possible without our enthusiastic staff and teachers and the willingness of our students to support each other. We will miss our 8th graders so much and we can’t wait to see the incredible things they will achieve in the future!

Here are the recipes we used to make pizza dough and pizza sauce. If you organize a similar event for your students, we'd love to hear about it! Let us know how it goes at info@edibleschoolyard.org. 

Shoutout to Bear Bottom Farms in Richmond for the amazing wood that fueled the festivities! 

Photo by Pauline Chatelan

Current CCAC fellow Elizabeth Bodenhamer enthusiastically shows off her finished pizza! 
 

The art of cooking with fire is mesmerizing for all!