From garden to lunchroom
Hilltop Montessori School in Mt Laurel would like to be the “only school we know of to harvest and serve organic lunches.”
That’s what Head of School Michele Wilensky says, and they’re well on their way to being just that. Every day, students get their snacks from the 18 gardens the school tends on its grounds.
“That’s part of who we are,” she said.
With a new $3.4 million expansion to the school — to be completed with help from their annual farm-to-table dinner this November — the vision for students to grow, harvest and even help cook what they eat will finally see fulfillment.
“It’s quite expensive to have a commercial kitchen, so the proceeds from the dinner will go toward purchasing those appliances,” Wilensky said.
The Nov. 12 event, Hilltop on the Green, will allow dinner guests to experience the Montessori eating tradition for themselves by eating from the school’s gardens that night. Organic, locally grown foods will be on the menu.
“We will harvest whatever is available and bring it to the dinner for the chefs to cook,” said Cindi Stehr, who founded the school and heads up the preschool and gardens.
That will mean cool-weather plants like broccoli, Swiss chard, mustard greens, sweet peas and radishes, as well as microgreens, Stehr said.
“Our bees will also provide about a half gallon of honey to be used in the dessert,” she said.
The dinner, which will be held at Shoal Creek Golf and Country Club, will include a live auction and a silent auction featuring items like beach vacations, artwork, gift certificates and other services.
“Last year the event raised $70,000,” Wilensky said. “This year we’re hoping for $100,000.”
The kitchen it provides will be “empowering” for the children, Stehr said.
“Already the children are able to see where their food comes from, and if they get a bell pepper out of the garden, wash it off and slice it, they are more likely to eat it,” she said.
In her classrooms, young children happily and willingly make smoothies with spinach and drink them, she said.
“With the kitchen, which will be geared toward the children, we will really be able to do some cooking,” Stehr said.
The children love working in the gardens already, she said, so they are excited about getting to interact even more with their food.
“They water the gardens, weed them and keep them going. They use math to map out the gardens. And they harvest the crop and eat it themselves. It impacts their lives,” Stehr said.
The new building will benefit the community, too, Wilensky said. The facilities will be available to Mt Laurel after hours for use as a community center that offers activities geared toward healthy living, such as exercise classes and cooking demonstrations.
Tickets for Hilltop on the Green went on sale in October. For more information, visit hilltopmontessori.com.