Garnish Contest = Tasty Exam: Kathy Binder's Innovative Teaching

Students in Independent Living class were not making delicious meals in an attempt to bribe their teacher, Kathy Binder; they were competing for a first place grade in her garnish contest. The criteria? Make a potato and pasta taste good and look appetizing.

In this unit, Kathy Binder's objective is to teach students how people's sense of taste is affected by their senses of touch, sight, and smell. To put this concept into practice, teams of her students cooked up a meal to be judged by Deans Jim Hughes and Erin Johnson and two other students. They judged on creativity, appearance, and taste.

Hands-on learning, problem solving, and assessment by real audiences are all part of 21st-Century Learning, which aims at providing students with skills and knowledge to succeed in work, life, and citizenship. While many schools don't offer a traditional home economics class anymore, Campion values how Mrs. Binder's class combines science and practical skills in a way that prepares students for living on their own.

Independent Living class is a senior elective focusing on basic home and family skills. This semester students are learning about basic food preparation, nutrition, and meal planning. Next semester focuses on child development, sewing, and housing. While this may sound old-fashioned to some students, it will only take a college year of dry cereal and Ramen to convince them that this is a class worth taking! You'll never have to ask, "When am I ever going to use this in real life?" 

Kim Supit, a member of the winning garnish team, said, “If you’re not sure how to do domestic activities, it’s worth your time, because you learn how to cook and sew. I already knew how to cook, but I learned how to organize a kitchen. And I learned [the hard way] that you need to follow the recipe, or you might mess up the consistency of your cookies.”

Seniors Claudia Balbin, Kim Supit, and Xander Assa won first place for their work (shown 2nd from right).