Pikeville Teacher Uses The Kitchen as Science Classroom

Kelly Scott is cooking up learning and science at Pikeville High School with creative teaching strategies.   Kelly is using the kitchen as her science classroom.

Seeing students learn, be part of our classroom family, seeing them come up with an idea or a solution and be so very proud of what they have accomplished, makes each day worth it as a teacher, Kelly says.  “I want students to see that science is all around them, and not just in the classroom.  This idea is what inspired my project, “What is cooking in science? 

“I am a foodie, and I am all for making things instead of buying them because it is cheaper and much better for you,” Kelly explains.  “I am also all about knowing what goes into your food, if you can’t pronounce it, maybe you shouldn’t be eating it.  I wanted my students to be part of this idea as well.  When I talked to my students about this concept of cooking in the classroom, they were so very excited!”  

Kelly used an “Innovation Grant” award from the Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative (KVEC) to purchase six cooking stations each having a toaster oven, a double portable cooktop, pots, pans, knives, cutting boards, measuring cups and spoons, and baking sheets.  “Since we have received the grant, the students have done labs on popcorn, pancakes, syrup, and biscuits.  Not only have the students learned the science of cooking and baking these items but they have also learned how to cook!  Which, to me, is fabulous!  Everyone needs to know the basics of cooking, which, hopefully, will lead to more cooking and less relying on others to feed them.”

We have many plans in the second semester of classes, and I am excited to see where that leads, Kelly adds.

Kelly loves teaching and is in her 20th year of instructing. “I was drawn into teaching because I wanted to help others.  This is based on my own personal experiences as a student in high school.  My family was enduring many hardships my senior year in high school, and teachers were not able to help me with what I was going through.   After children and other jobs, I realized my calling was to be a Biology teacher.” 

“I am truly blessed to be in this profession,” Kelly states.  “One thing that I do, is that I try my very best to treat students as I would have wanted someone to treat my children, and how I would like to have been treated when I was in high school.”

As part of her project funded through the KVEC  “Race to the Top” federal funding by the U.S. Department of Education, Kelly was one of over 100 instructors who presented at the Forging Innovation in Rural Education (FIRE) Summit, a multi-district K-12 educational professional learning event October 25 in Pikeville, KY.  More than 17,000 viewers, from 15 countries and 42 states, tuned in to the live stream provided by KVEC’s digital platform the Holler to watch Kelly’s and the other presentations.

Kelly Scott’s and the other presentations can be found on the www.theholler.org.

 

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