7th & 8th Grade Botany & Culinary Arts Teacher in Waukegan, IL
John Lewis Middle School
2024-25 Fellow: Brian Greene is entering his 32 year in education. He has been a classroom teacher and a principal. For the last four years he has given up a traditional classroom and now works in a greenhouse classroom! He was tasked with creating a middle school botany program and it has now turned into a botany / culinary arts program. Being part of the Pilot Light Food Education Fellowship will allow him to bring even more ideas and opportunities to his students. When he was 10, his family opened a fast food restaurant and his love for cooking began. Today, he combines his passion for teaching with his love for cooking. His students learn the entire process from seed to table (actually to stomach). They plan, plant, cultivate, harvest, cook and even eat the produce they grow at school. Currently there are over 25 different crops growing using aquaponics, aeroponics, raised beds and a student created food forest. Being part of Pilot Light will help broaden the opportunities students will have to learn about all the facets food plays in education. Their personalized aprons proudly read: JUST COOK IT!
Favorite Food Education Standard:
Each of the 7 Food Education Standards is vital to the overall success of the program. Standard 5: Food impacts health, is one that I feel very passionate about. I teach in a low-income, high minority school district located in a food desert. For many of my students, processed foods are more easily accessible than fresh fruits and vegetables. While I may not be able to change all of my student’s eating habits, I want to at least instill in them the importance of food nutrition. We teach ‘eating the rainbow’ and how nutrition plays a vital role in their development. Students have the opportunity to try new foods and even learn how to make them using the fruits and vegetables they grow at school. Knowledge is power and along with Pilot Light, I hope to empower my students and the community even more.
A Favorite Food Memory or Recipe:
The first project of the year is when students have to develop their own salsa. They work in teams and have to create their own recipe, their own brand name and their own marketing campaign. Their recipes must contain 75% of the things we grow at the school. Watching them go through the steps of researching ingredients, developing the recipes, doing the cooking and then working on marketing strategies is such a reward. In the end, they go head to head in a salsa contest judged by the teaching staff at the school. There is a great deal of pride for them to say they created the number 1 salsa at the school. Past students continuously ask about the winning salsa and often ask me if I think the new winning salsa was better than theirs!
What I’m Most Excited About as a New Fellow:
We can’t do this alone! I am so excited to meet others with the same passion and dedication to infusing education with cooking. The networking the Pilot Light Fellowship will provide will make everyone a food champion!
