1st Grade Teacher in Chicago, IL
Heather Pedziwiatr (known as Ms. P in her school community) was a teacher at Lawndale Community Academy on Chicago’s west side during her year in the Food Education Fellowship. She has a degree in chemistry, and post-undergrad worked in a CPS school as a classroom assistant. She knew then that she was called to teach. After receiving her Master of Arts in Teaching from the University of Chicago’s Urban Teacher Education Program she began working with first graders at LCA.
Heather believes strongly in the individuality and humanity of each child, treating every child as an autonomous human even though they’re only 6 years old. Working in a system as large as Chicago Public Schools has its challenges, but Heather makes sure to find time in her classroom to play, explore, and socialize every single day. Students are encouraged to stand in their own power, solve their own problems, and make their own decisions. Kids are infinitely capable if we just get out of their way! Heather is passionate about quality early childhood education, as these years are profoundly impactful on children’s development. In her free time, she loves to cook and ride her bike around the city. She is an avid plant lover and has over 50 houseplants, some of which inevitably become classroom plants each year.
A favorite Food Education memory:
I loved my lesson on things that grow on trees. Even in first grade, kids were astounded by where cashews come from, and many of them had never tried a nut outside of peanut butter. It was amazing to see their eyes light up and have me write down “cashews” so they could ask their adults to get it at the grocery store.
Favorite Food Education Standard:
My favorite standard is FES 2 – food has sources and origins. I personally spend a lot of time thinking about where my food comes from. My partner is a sommelier, and he will often explain why champagne is so expensive. It involves farming, expertise, marketing, packaging, exporting – it’s both an art and a science. So many hands touched this one bottle in some way, and I feel the same way about food. When I go to the farmers market I think about all the labor that went into my cherries or eggs, and it really makes you realize what a privilege food access is. I love teaching this standard because kids are quite disconnected from where their food actually comes from (because of the way a modern grocery store works) and tend to be just as interested as I am in the whole ecosystem.
How Pilot Light changed my teaching:
My fellowship year was my last year at Lawndale, and I moved to a school with a much more established garden program. It was really a shift to have the infrastructure already in place to jump right in to growing food. My classroom has become a jungle with at least a dozen plants and kids are constantly taking home cuttings to cultivate on their own.