Ishpeming Middle School students cook for Upper Michigan Today after winning healthy cooking competition

NEGAUNEE, Mich. (WLUC) - Each year, Ishpeming Middle School fifth and sixth graders take an 8-week healthy cooking course in partnership with Partridge Creek Farm.

The class culminates with a healthy cooking competition.

The winning group brought their recipe into the TV6 and FOX UP studio to share their new skills on Upper Michigan Today.

IMS sixth-graders Kian Gauthier, Adam Aponte, Cash Klements, and Kane Welters start making their winning mashed potato bowl, beginning with the gravy.

The recipe calls for:

4 TBSP butter

4 TBSP flour

3 Cups broth

salt and pepper to taste.

Melt butter over medium heat, whisking in one tablespoon of flour at a time. Slowly pour in the stock, one cup at a time to prevent lumps. Stir constantly over medium heat until the gravy thickens and reaches desired thickness.

Marquette-Alger Regional Education Services Agency (MARESA) provides the food products for Ishpeming Middle School’s healthy cooking course.

Science teacher Kaitlin Rich says she sees a major shift in students’ attitudes toward vegetables from the start of the class to the end.

MARESA Health Education Consultant Rachel Bloch adds that the class is possible with a grant from the SNAP-ed federal program and that it’s helped students get creative in the kitchen.

Partridge Creek Farm’s Executive Director May Tsupros says it’s important to expose kids to healthy food because it changes their attitude about healthy eating.

They give thanks to the Marquette Food Co-op for its past food donations to make the expansion of the cooking class possible.

Tsupros adds that the class teaches students much more than the fundamentals of healthy cooking: it teaches leadership, delegation, how to grow food, and creativity in the kitchen.

Tsupros wants to expand the course to other schools. If you’re an educator and want to bring this program to your school, contact May at may@partridgecreekfarm.org.

A USDA SNAP-Ed grant funded the food for this project.

MARESA’s SNAP-Ed programming was made possible with funding from Michigan Fitness Foundation, a State Implementing Agency of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services for the education component of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). SNAP-Ed is an education program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that teaches people eligible for SNAP how to live healthier lives. Michigan Fitness Foundation offers grants to conduct SNAP-Ed programming in Michigan.

You can watch Upper Michigan Today on weekdays at 9:00 a.m. on FOX UP.