Teachers: Pat Holder & John Santos
Grade & Subject: 12th Grade
School: High Tech High

On Our Tables was a chance for students to build a deeper understanding of the foods they eat and how they impact their health, values and the environment. Through developing & exploring their own questions around how our food is produced, prepared, and consumed, students developed a critical lens for what is on their tables, which they applied to discussions, potlucks, and creating an individualized wellness plan. With these perspectives as a foundation for their thinking, they worked to develop fabrication skills by creating planter boxes in collaboration with Barrio Botany, who installed them in local elementary schools, before designing and building products used to produce, prepare, serve, store or curate the foods on our tables. These products – cutting boards, tortilla presses, serving trays, and many more – were presented at our ‘Farmer’s Fair Exhibition’ where students shared their learning and proudly sold their professional work to our community.

Teacher Reflection

Not only did our students discover a great deal about the social, environmental, and health impacts of the foods they eat, but they also learned how to design with intention and build with craftsmanship as part of the process of bringing their ideas to life. As a teacher, there is nothing more rewarding than seeing a student stand proudly next to a product that existed as a rough idea in their head only a couple months before, and seeing how empowered they are when what they created is publicly celebrated.

—Pat Holder

Student Reflection

It was such a fun challenge to design and build the sushi trays that I made during this project. My teachers trusted my design work and invested in me with really quality materials, which gave me a chance to create my best work yet.

—Mia V.