What do you get when you combine students from Harley and World of Inquiry schools, a few teachers, plenty of raw local food, and multiple ways to prepare it? You get the Common Plate event that took place at Harley on Saturday, January 14th, from 10:00-2:00. Lisa Zeller and Chris Widmaier brought about ten World of Inquiry students to Harley where they worked with about a dozen 6th-12th grade Harley students from Beyond Food with Jocie Kopfman, David O’Brien, Seth OBryan, and Ja’Daiza Johnson. They began in the Centrum with ice breakers to get to know each other, then they all settled in to hear from Chris Hartman and his Headwater team about the food they would be able to use to cook and create a shared meal.

Armed with bins of food, individual cook stations, and the ovens of the Harley kitchen, the teams of students and faculty worked creatively and collaboratively to prepare amazing dishes! The final community event of the day was listening to each team explain their food courses, then all members of the gathering sharing food pot-luck-style and enjoying a meal together.

This larger event was prefaced by World of Inquiry students visiting  Headwater Foods and Harley in early December to learn more about local agriculture and sustainability. Plans are already in the works for the next delicious Common Plate event.