School is back insession and Pilot Light is excited! We are bringing the Pilot Light curriculum to classrooms at six new partner schools throughout Chicago, reaching even more students with our healthy message.
Throughout the fall semester, we will provide six one-hour lessons to 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students at our partner schools. The lessons, conceived by our chefs and Chicago Public School teachers, integrate food into the subjects students are already learning in their classrooms, allowing students to make connections between food and its role in their lives. The lessons feature chef visits, garden activities, and hands-on learning opportunities so that students can touch, taste, and smell the food they are learning about!
Our fall semester schools include:
- Anna R. Langford Community Academy (Englewood)
- Darwin Elementary School (Logan Square)
- Disney II Magnet School (Irving Park)
- Durkin Park Elementary School (Ashburn)
- Mitchell Elementary School (West Town)
- Richard J Daley Elementary Academy (Back of the Yards)
What are Pilot Light lessons?
Through the lens of the Chicago stockyards, third graders are learning about how food production technology has changed over time and its effect on how food gets to our plates today.
Fourth graders are learning about civil rights and the work of Jane Addams to feed the immigrant population served by Hull House. The lesson prompts students to think about advocacy issues we grapple with now, like food insecurity in Chicago.
In fifth grade, within a unit on the early migrations of people, we teach about the origin of the foods we eat today and how food may be genetically modified or adapted to meet our needs.
Each lesson includes cross-curricular connections to various subjects, including science, math, social studies, technology, physical education, and English.