Students at Evansville Day School engage in immersive learning with salsa!

On Friday, April 15, 3rd and 4th grade students at Evansville Day School participated in a salsa competition. This is part of a larger project the students have been working on in their Spanish Language classes. They have been learning about fruits, vegetables, and Mexican meals in their classes, and teacher Anna Newton is turning this into a hands-on experience.

During their classes, students used iPads to research recipes, then voted on their top three favorites. Next, they translated the recipes from English to Spanish and created shopping lists (in Spanish) for the ingredients they purchased together last Thursday. They also utilized marketing skills by coming up with imaginative names, such as “Tropical Dream Salsa” and “Perfect Pico de Gallo.” Students used their art skills to create promotional materials and signs (in Spanish) that helped them market their salsa to the taste-testers this past Friday.

Last Friday, students put their math, cooking, and collaboration skills to work (in both Spanish and English). After lunch, they presented their salsas to teachers and staff in the hopes of winning the most votes. Six recipes competed, and local restaurant Los Portales is donated tortilla chips for the competition. The winners were announced during afternoon recess. The winner was the Amazing Fresh Fruit Salsa, garnering 33% of the votes!

This project is one of many examples of Evansville Day School’s unique educational experience. We are developing tomorrow’s local and global leaders. Through projects such as these, we are inspiring balanced, resilient, globally minded, entrepreneurial learners who will be the innovators of the future.