If you’re looking for a great homemade salsa recipe, you’ve come to the right place.
Second and fourth grade Plainfield students discovered this recipe during their recent Imagination Lab visit, thanks to the guidance of Plainfield Community School Corporation food service managers.
As part of their September Odyssey to The Imagination Lab, students encountering the “Connect” Experience heard from adults who work in the food service industry. Food service managers from each of the four elementary schools acted as “Guides to the Future” by talking about what they do at work and they went on to discuss a variety of other food service career options. At The Imagination Lab, students are exposed to many different vocational options as they begin to think about the path they will pursue as they grow.
This brings us back to that delicious salsa recipe we mentioned. Food service guides then led students through the steps of how to make salsa, just one of the many products of tomatoes. Guides sent the students off with the recipe so they can try it at home with their parents.
Several of the ingredients used in the recipe are currently growing at The Lab in the Duke Energy Foundation Learning Garden -- including onions, cilantro, and tomatoes. The Learning Garden offers students a chance to see how foods are grown, harvested, and prepared for healthy eating.
With tomatoes on the brain, students visited the Hendricks Regional Health Room at The Lab, where they learned about other heart-healthy foods and the hearts inside their bodies.
They squeezed the pump of a tabletop device to show how blood flows in and out of the heart. Students were also introduced to CPR, and they even got to put on glasses to examine realistic 3D models of the human heart on high-tech computers. The computer models clearly illustrated what the heart looks like, and students could click on the model with a stylus to learn the different parts of it and even feel it beat!
Students left The Imagination Lab that day informed about what food service workers do, educated about their hearts, and reminded to make healthy choices to care for their hearts.
“I’m going to make that yummy salsa with my mom this weekend,” said one second grader as she departed to board the bus, holding up her recipe card. “And my heart will be happy,” she added.