PreK and Kindergarten Teacher in Evanston, IL
Chiaravalle Montessori School
2024-25 Fellow Tracey Steffora has been teaching for 30 years and is entering her 14th year as a Montessori early childhood teacher. She first became interested in the Pilot Light program after learning about it in their alderperson’s newsletter. The opportunity particularly resonated with her as she was experiencing great student and parent enthusiasm toward a “Try it Tuesday” ritual she had just started at circle time, in which she introduced her preschoolers to a new plant-based food every week. As a Fellow, she is looking forward to exploring food education possibilities and sharing them with her students and families.
Favorite Food Education Standard:
Standard 2 (Foods have sources and origins) resonates with me because young children are in the process of wanting to understand all they can about the world around them. To help them make connections about where their food comes from will open new doors of understanding and organically lead to more questioning and learning.
A Favorite Food Memory or Recipe:
When I was young, I always got to spend one week every summer with my grandparents without my siblings. Every morning, I would pick blueberries from the bushes in their back yard to put in our breakfast cereal. It felt absolutely magical to harvest them. I inherited my grandmother’s colander that we used to wash the berries, and it is hanging on my kitchen wall. I use it daily and think about the generations of use it has experienced.
What I’m Most Excited About as a New Fellow:
First, I am most excited to see the excitement in my students as we share new experiences with food together. I am equally as excited to connect with a network of educators to share our experiences in this program.
