News

Apollo Bay P-12 off to a great start

Apollo Bay P-12 College received funding to implement the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Victorian Program in early 2011 and have forged ahead in leaps and bounds since. Term 1 of 2012 saw the Apollo Bay students enjoying their very first kitchen and garden classes. The garden is thriving, abundant with beautiful produce, and the first term of kitchen classes was a huge success.

At the beginning of the school year Kitchen Specialist Holly Munday hosted an introductory session for people interested in volunteering to help run Kitchen Garden Program classes. This meant that potential volunteers were able to learn how a kitchen class runs – it can be quite chaotic! During the session the volunteers created four dishes, just as students do in kitchen classes. It was a great way to show potential volunteers what they would be involved in and many of them enthusiastically put their names down to help regularly. Volunteers are an essential part of running the Kitchen Garden Program successfully, as they are needed to supervise the tasks of small groups of students. Thanks in part to the success of this special volunteer introduction class, Apollo Bay now have a wealth of helpers.

Holly is thoroughly enjoying her role as Kitchen Specialist; here’s her description of the joy of the very first kitchen class at Apollo Bay P-12:
 
‘All the preparation, late nights, unpacking, sorting and everything that goes into a kitchen garden class proved itself to be so unbelievably worth it. I cannot tell you how much I LOVED taking the class and even though it went into lunchtime not one child complained about taking up their outside time or about washing a single dish. Proof was that there was not ONE scrap for the chooks that day! I had someone eat salad for the first time on my very first day and received a late-night email from a parent whose daughter struggles within the school system, but skipped home all the way and set up a workstation at home to make a summer salad for the family that night.

The interest within the College and the wider community is great and the College have had many offers of assistance.

The Kitchen Garden Program is good for the soul on so many levels of all of us. For myself, I cannot even put into words how the pleasure that giving some of these kids a chance to thrive on so many levels aside from the normal education system, I am proud to be a part of it all.’
 
Congratulations to Apollo Bay P-12 and the wider community for embracing the Kitchen Garden Program with such enthusiasm.

If you are interested in volunteering in kitchen or garden classes at Apollo Bay, please just contact the school.