9-12th Grade Family Consumer Science Teacher in Mt. Vernon, AR – Mt. Vernon-Enola High School
2023-24 Fellow: Ashley Bonds is entering her fourth year teaching Family Consumer Science to 9th-12th grade students at Mt. Vernon-Enola High School. Prior to making the switch to Family Consumer Science, she was an elementary Library Media Specialist in an urban elementary school. There, she noticed the growing need for Food Education to combat food insecurity in her school’s community.
That experience gave her a strong desire to teach her students about food insecurity and what we can do about it. She’s been interested in food and cooking for her entire life. Both of her grandmothers taught her from a very young age how to prepare family favorites, and how to grow and preserve fresh fruits and vegetables from their garden. Since she began teaching Family Consumer Science, Ashley has been able to implement a hydroponics garden in her classroom. This allows her students to grow fresh herbs and vegetables to use in their food labs. Ashley’s main goal this year is to get her students involved in our school’s food pantry through volunteering in the pantry, and learning more about food insecurity in their local community. She’s incredibly excited to be a part of the Pilot Light Fellowship Cohort!
Favorite Food Education Standard: FES #1: Food Connects Us to Each Other.
Food Connects Us—I’m from the South, and food is our love language. We celebrate with it, grieve with it, enjoy our favorite sports with it, and live life with it.
My second favorite is #2 – Food Has Sources & Origins. I love investigating where our food comes from. After participating in the Pilot Light Fellowship, I have learned even more about our food origins and I can’t wait to integrate this standard into my Foods class this school year.
A Favorite Food Education Memory:
I really enjoyed working closely with Chef Tamieka to develop my advocacy project and integrate it into my lesson plans. I used a unit on global hunger issues to help advocate for the elimination of food waste, specifically as it relates to our food truck project. It was so enlightening to connect the two projects, and Chef Tamieka’s expertise was invaluable in making the connection.
Ashley’s Food Truck Project:
“Right after Spring Break every year, the students in Food Safety & Nutrition begin their final project of the year by developing a food truck business. Kitchen groups work together to decide on the type of truck they want to have, the food they will include on their menu, a business plan, a location to park the truck, and a truck design. This year [through Pilot Light], we added a new twist. They had a limited number of ingredients they could use in their preparation. Our goal, [aligned with Food Education Standard #7] was to limit food waste, by utilizing certain ingredients in multiple ways. This was a challenge for some who had a preconceived idea as to what they wanted in their food truck. Overall, they all did a great job paring down their offerings, and ingredients. As usual, the project ended with a competition with a panel of judges tasting their food, judging their truck designs, and hearing their presentations.
How Pilot Light changed the way I teach:
My Food Truck project will never be the same after our connection in the Fellowship. When we do our food origins project, we will also include Indigenous foods from the Indigenous people who lived in our area.
Would you recommend the Fellowship to another educator?
Absolutely! It is a great way to connect with like-minded teachers from all over the country from every walk of life.
