Written by: Brianne Aaseby
One of my favorite things about CASE this year was getting to learn more about each student and their families. Early on in the semester we discussed how special it is to share traditions with one another. Our group of students are quite diverse. Many of their parents come from different countries. Unfortunately, more often than not, differences are treated as strange rather than treasured. We wanted our students to learn from one another and treasure their family’s traditions.
We taught this lesson at the same time as our big, student-led event where we hosted parents and teachers to experience our afterschool program. As I was prepping the students, I asked them what food we should bring to give to our guests. I told them to consider things that they like. Two brothers gave the idea of making their grandmother’s homemade potato candy. This was not something I had ever heard of before. When it was time for the boys to get picked up at the end of programming, I told their grandmother how much they loved her recipe. She was shocked. The boys proceeded to tell her that they love making potato candy with her. Grandma went on to explain in detail what all I would need to make this treat for our CASE students. I thanked her and headed home for the day. The next day, their grandmother brought in ingredients for everything, down to the bowls and spoons we would need!
The boys were SO proud when I announced that we would be making potato candy. I literally could not get the boys to sit down; they were so proud to share this part of themselves with their friends. It was precious to have the boys walk the other students through the process of how to make the recipe. This simple 4-ingredient recipe was a hit! Not only did these boys get to share a recipe that was new to the entire class, but they also got to share a piece of themselves.
Seeing my CASE students grow in their relationships with one another is my favorite! I also love seeing multiple generations making CASE possible. Families getting involved to help educate one another is special. It broadens our perspective and opens up our understanding of other people and other cultures.
CASE is a program of the Nashville After Zone Alliance. The Nashville After Zone Alliance is a network of coordinated after school programming for Metro’s middle-school students. NAZA is a partnership among the Nashville Public Library, MNPS, and other existing youth-serving groups. It is modeled on successful efforts in other cities and is organized around geographically-defined zones.
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