We ended our third grade unit on the history of San Francisco with a final meal celebrating the future of Indigenous people and culture. In the classroom, we watched a video from the Oakland Museum of California featuring four generations of Ohlone women talking about their relationship to the oak tree, acorns, and how they are passing their traditions on. It’s so important for all of our students to see examples of Ohlone people in the present day not only surviving but thriving!
In the kitchen, the third graders worked with a special ingredient—acorn flour—ground by hand from acorns harvested in the East Bay. They also made a delicious tea with five native plants, including bay laurel from our Harvey Milk school garden. As we all waited for the tea to steep, we played an Ohlone game of chance called the game of staves. In lieu of willow or elderberry branches, our game pieces were made of popsicle sticks, but that didn’t stop us from connecting with the human instinct for play and building community that’s been around for thousands of years. Can’t wait to see all the chefs back in the outdoor classroom this fall!
