Classroom Happenings: A Recipe for Connection

All Steward students take Spanish classes, starting in junior kindergarten and continuing through Upper School. This deep cultural immersion offers many benefits beyond an excellent understanding of grammar and vocabulary. It also creates connections for students of all grade levels.

Recently, juniors and seniors in Spanish 4 College Prep taught kindergarten and first-grade students how to make tostadas while using Spanish vocabulary.

“We wanted to create an opportunity for Spanish students of different ages to come together and share their appreciation for Hispanic culture and cuisine,” explained Lower School Spanish Teacher Valerie Donnini, who created the project with Upper School Spanish Teacher Khadijah Luqman. 

Ms. Luqman added that “Our Upper Schoolers love Steward’s buddy program that pairs seniors with junior kindergarten and kindergarten students. My juniors were excited about getting to know our youngest Spartans even before their senior year!”

Prior to gathering in the Bryan Innovation Lab kitchens, Ms. Luqman’s students learned the mandatos (commands) for cooking as well as the food vocabulary they needed to give instructions to the Lower School students in Spanish. The Upper School students also created a video for Kindergarten Teacher Amy Hendrick’s class to watch, in which they addressed each student by name while teaching them the vocabulary.

In advance of the tostada festivities, Lower Schoolers discussed culturally Hispanic foods, the Spanish names of their favorite foods, and practiced cooking vocabulary. When they met up with the Upper School students, they were ready to follow instructions in a mix of Spanish and English. 

The older students assisted the younger ones with skills such as cutting tomatoes, peeling avocados, shredding/crumbling cheese, and assembling ingredients on their tostadas. Upper School students also provided grilled chicken, refried beans, salsa, and sour cream for the tostadas.

After preparing and enjoying tostadas, the older students taught the Lower Schoolers a simple song about chocolate. Students then enjoyed churros con chocolate, a traditional treat in Spain and Mexico.

“I really enjoyed working with the younger kids in a fun kitchen setting,” Jack Frankenburg ’27 said. “I thought it was impactful to use our strong Spanish skills to give the younger kids a fun learning experience. This experience also gave us juniors a chance to use our Spanish outside of the classroom.”