Mexican culinary experience spices up students’ day
Hamilton principal seeks ‘fun and engaging experiences’ that showcase student diversity.
HAMILTON — Hamilton City School’s culinary trip around the world made a stop in Mexico with chef Jonathan Zaragoza.
The district, through its food service provider Chartwells K12, has focused on providing its students with culinary and dietary experiences, from the Discovery Kitchen and Mood Boost in the elementary schools to the Global Eats program at the middle, freshman and high schools.
Zaragoza spent lunch with the students at the Hamilton High School Freshman campus Thursday, showcasing some specially crafted dishes for the Global Eats program. He’s been working on menu items with Chartwells and Global Eats for about two years, fusing food and culture, he said.
“I don’t think we can talk about food without talking about culture, and that goes across the globe,” said the owner of Birrieria Zaragoza and El Oso restaurants in Chicago.
“Specifically in Mexico, we have seven different regions of Mexican food that’s recognized by the government, and within those seven regions, it gets so nuanced and very specific. We definitely touch on those things with these kids.”
Zaragoza is an acclaimed chef who works at Michelin-rated restaurants and has traveled to Mexico, learning more about his culinary heritage and traditions, which he brought to the United States, as well as to London, Dubai and Paris.
Being a part of the Global Eats program, which goes to schools around the country, is “a sense of pride” for Zaragoza, and he hopes what he shared on Thursday “resonates with at least a
Lunch
Seitz said the proposal would give half of the students in the school districts selected the money, while the other half would not get the money, to see if the program works.
“Then at the end of the pilot, we’re going to see did the incentivized kids do better in attendance than did the non-incentivized kids?” he said.
Seitz noted the legislation also calls for the Ohio
Department of Education and Workforce to pick one school in a rural district and one in an urban district.
Rep. Josh Williams, R-Sylvania, asked during a Jan. 16 primary and secondary committee hearing on the bill why the state would be paying students to follow a law.
“I mean, are we going to get to the point where we’re paying rapists not to rape?” Williams said. “Are we really going to start that trend where we’re going to go in and invest to prevent people from committing crimes?”
Seitz said the penalties for rape do help stop rape, while truancy officers are either not available at districts or don’t have enough resources to do the job.
“We have tried just about everything else when it comes to chronic absenteeism and low graduation rates,” he said.
“So as Donald Trump once famously said, what do we have to lose?”