PreK Special Education Teacher in Brooklyn, NY
PS 142 Amalia Castro
2024-25 Fellow: Elisa Stevani is a 3K special education teacher at PS 142, Amalia Castro, located in the Lower East Side in NYC. She has been a special education teacher for the past 16 years, first in Italy then in the US. This is her 4th year at PS 142 and she is excited about integrating Food Education into the preschool curriculum. She is an educator who strives to guide young children toward self-awareness, a love of learning, and a strong sense of community, and believes that food education is a wonderful tool to foster these skills.
Elisa first became interested in the Pilot Light Fellowship in the 2023/24 school year, when, together with a colleague, she applied for a food education grant and participated in the Pilot Light Classroom to Cafeteria program. This program allowed many teachers in her school to spend time and resources on food education which was welcomed by the school community. She was thrilled to witness how well families responded to invitations from their children to cook and try a variety of different foods. During the School to Cafeteria program, she led a workshop about cooking with whole foods and showed families how the class had applied that knowledge to their classroom day to day activities. Elisa lives in Queens with her children and her husband and loves to spend time watching movies, traveling, and volunteering in the community with her local church.
Favorite Food Education Standard:
FES #1: Food Connects Us to Each Other. I believe that choosing and cooking food is first and foremost a social act which can foster cooperation, creativity, and problem solving, all skills that empower communities from within.
A Favorite Food Memory or Recipe:
As a child, my parents owned a supermarket and we were always taught to respect food and never waste it. My favorite memory is making fresh pasta with my mom and folding the little “cappelletti”, a kind of ravioli typical of my region.
What I’m Most Excited About as a New Fellow:
I am excited for my students to learn more about food and to make better nutrition choices that will help them grow into healthy adults. In addition, I am eager to work with Pilot Light and the other Fellows to share ideas and find ways to ensure that our school and neighborhood have access to whole foods.
