In the classroom we watched a short Brittanica video about the Irish Potato Famine in the mid-19th century and learned how a million Irish people died and how others fled the country. Many arrived in California right as the Gold Rush began. SFUSD has an elementary school named after Frank McCoppin, the first Irish-born mayor of San Francisco. By 1880, a third of San Francisco’s population was Irish.
In the kitchen we made colcannon, a delicious potato and cabbage dish with loads of Irish butter! We enjoyed the meal with some local, seasonal fruit gifted to us by the produce company we use for many of our ingredients. I brought in mini Irish soda breads—a new taste for a number of students. The weather was quite rainy, which only added to our celebration of Irish culture.
