Lakota visit

Got to meet another twitter friend in person today.  I took advantage of our long weekend and went to Lakota School District near Cincinnati and visited Dr. Greg Finke @DrFinkeIndy  , the Principal at Independence Elementary. They have some nice things going on with plans for more. Many  teachers have added alternative seating ideas and the kids love it. Around the building you see projects that students have created. As we walked by some students, one wanted to show Greg their’s and talk about it. That is the great thing about Maker, students like to talk about things they build. They have a Makerspace with design projects that students can find via QR code (iPads & Chromebooks) and all students go through it on a 3 week rotation. They have a STEAM lab. It is very neat and organized and needs to be because of the number of students that go through it in a day. They want to create another Innovations room (there are some grade level/building changes coming which opens a room). They have a space in their courtyard to put  a small greenhouse right next to the STEAM Lab and Innovations room. The courtyard is an outdoor learning space utilized as Ohio weather permits. There are plans for more whiteboard walls for the students planning sessions.

Greg took me over to Union Elementary to see their Culinary Institute. Yes, they have a room to teach kids nutrition and how to cook. Awesome space. Would be great for every school. They have 5 stainless steel work stations. There is one big demo/work station with plug in burners and hood. The room also has 4 small (larger than toaster oven) a refrigerator freezer, a dishwasher, and a good amount of storage space. .Mod Pizza is coming soon to teach the kids how to make pizza.  Union also has a STEAM Lab and some other awesome space in the building to work with.

By going to Lakota, I also go to see La Soupe, a place that rescues food from stores and restaurants and re-purposes it to help feed people who are “food-insecure” . There are some scary statistics when you look at how much food we actually throw away. https://www.lasoupecincinnati.com/