Hands-on Learning and First-Hand Knowledge at Shaker Middle School!
Wow! This is Won “Dill” ful!
The Foundation is proud to support Mr. Jeremy Bishko’s DILLicious endeavor at Shaker Middle School, where the students use their Design Cycle to investigate food waste and develop ways to reduce it locally, nationally, and globally. They practiced and reduced food waste through lacto-fermentation, the oldest and safest method of preserving food. The students learned to lacto-ferment fruits and vegetables by making mustards, pickles, and hot sauce.
“It’s been fascinating to witness the evolution of my class. During the second quarter, I had students asking if they could undertake additional work! Rarely in my teaching career have I seen students so eager to engage more deeply with our class activities. While teaching my current class, I encountered a group of students who were eagerly “bugging” me for more and varied fermentation projects. It’s the highest compliment to a teacher when students are hungry for more learning. None of this would have been possible without the support of Tom Flood, Dr. John Moore, and, of course, the Shaker Schools Foundation.” Jeremy Bishko
In Fall 2023, Mr. Bishko’s class was awarded a $5,000 Ohio STEM Learning Network Classroom Grant. The grant was awarded to the “Waste Not, Want Not!” program, which helped take the project to new heights. Mr. Bishko used the grant money to purchase commercial dehydrators to make seasonings out of the solid leftovers from making hot sauce, thus reducing food waste. He also bought a commercial label printer to create professional-grade, waterproof labels that enabled our students to learn how to brand and market their creations.
In addition, his students also had the opportunity to attend two assemblies with two notable chefs, Brandon Edwin Chrostowski and Doug Katz. Chef Chrostowski shared his inspiring story and mission of providing second chances and social responsibility through his business model at EDWINS. Chef Katz talked about his lifelong passion for cooking and his challenges in pursuing his dream. The students were thrilled to hear from both chefs, well-known in the industry and right here in our hometown of Shaker Heights! Both chefs held a question and answer session for the students, and our amazing students asked engaging and insightful questions!
Mr. Bishko recently presented an hour-long talk at the Ohio Educational Technology Conference in Columbus. The presentation explored how he took a concept that has existed for thousands of years and applied modern technology to make it accessible to the students at Shaker Middle School.
