Teacher chosen to take national program

CELINA - Ahead of teaching her first year of family and consumer sciences courses at Celina High School, veteran teacher Heather Lefeld sought to give herself an edge in what would be a much different classroom.

She was one of 32 teachers from across the country picked to participate in a national food safety and nutrition training program entitled "From Farm to Table, Teachers Explore the Science Behind Nation's Food Supply."

The 40-hour training program was developed by the Food and Drug Administration, the National Science Teaching Association and Graduate School USA.

"I just wanted some additional training before I started this new role and the resources they gave me where phenomenal," Lefeld told the newspaper.

This is Lefeld's first year heading up family and consumer sciences, which she said is loosely aligned with Tri Star. She was intervention specialist for seven years with the district but leaped at the opportunity to keep alive a series of classes she believes equips students, whether they plan to attend college or enter the workforce after graduation, with essential life skills.

"I love cooking and baking and life skills. That's part of my special ed background, but I didn't know that I could teach this," she said.

Lefeld, who holds a professional teacher license, passed a state test this summer allowing her to teach the family and consumer sciences. Looking to come fully prepared into a year of new classes, she successfully applied for the national food safety and nutrition program.

"Usually they have them go to Washington D.C. for that program for a week," Lefeld said. "So this year it was virtual. I came in here every single day and we did hands-on labs. The one day was seven hours in the kitchen with food labs."

The program aims to educate teachers about critical food safety issues such as foodborne illnesses by exploring the science behind them. It provided teachers with instruction as well as teaching materials, lesson plans and ideas for them to covey the knowledge to their students.

"One of the components is I have to train my peers in this. So I will open it up this summer," Lefeld said about sharing her newfound insights with other teachers.

FDA experts, according to a Graduate School USA news release, gave lessons about microbiology, nutrition, food allergies and dietary supplements safety.

Lefeld learned about the development and spread of foodborne illnesses; the vulnerability of at-risk populations; and the science behind safe food handling, storage and preparation as well as how to use the Nutrition Facts label to assess the nutritional value of foods.

Some of the virtual labs she took part in showed how a single bacteria cell can multiply to millions in just a few hours and how different temperatures affect bacteria growth.  

"The teachers then explored these concepts by putting their culinary skills to the test: after cooking hamburgers to various temperatures, the teachers tested them for bacteria and other organisms that cause disease," the release states.

Lefeld, in turn, applied her training and teacher materials to the classroom. This first semester she's teaching healthy and safe foods and child development. Next semester she'll also teach managing transitions, another life skills course.

This knowledge helps students prepare safe meals for themselves, their families and the community at large, Lefeld said.

"At least half of my kids or more are serving you food around town here," she noted.

Reflecting on her first year of family and consumer sciences classes - electives open to all high school students - Lefeld said her students embraced the concepts and enjoyed a fun, direct-involvement approach to learning.

"Teaching an elective, I get to see a different side of kids," she said. "Anything hands-on that they want to learn - and that's kind of how I drive my classes is student-led learning. 'What are you guys interested in? I want to teach you about eggs, what do you want to know about it?' We do a lot of project-based activities."

Students, though, must first pass a food sanitation and kitchen safety quiz before they can begin preparing food. The students are assigned different roles in the kitchen.

"A lot of students, they just have never tried to do certain things at home and we have jobs in the kitchen," she said. "There's usually three or four in a group and some of them aren't too sure. They'll start out washing dishes and then after a few rotations they're volunteering to be head chef."

Some students, she said, didn't know how to make a grilled cheese sandwich before taking the class.

"Then by the end of it they're making their own homemade gravy. The one kid was showing off a family recipe," she noted. "They're all really excited. Some of the kids are asking me to do a foods 2 class next year, just more advanced recipes."