Nourishing Literacy is the Culinary Literacy Center’s school visit program, enjoyed by thousands of Philly students every school year. Hands-on cooking classes connecting to Common Core standards, culinary skills, and nutrition concepts are offered to school students in Pre-K through 8th grade, multiple times throughout the week in our kitchen classroom.

We have launched a series of youth-centered educational videos, designed to prepare students for their kitchen classroom visit. Our first completed video is a handwashing video for our youngest visitors, children ages 3 through 8 years old!

Thank you to videographers and youth mentors, Steve Jackson and Malik Harris, for their wonderful work and care. Special thank you to all of the Free Library families whose children are featured in this video! The kids did a super job of bringing learning to life and making handwashing something that viewers are inspired to do! It is meaningful to have the children of Free Library staff members as the stars of our Nourishing Literacy educational videos.

Our hope is that these videos will not only inspire kitchen safety and an interest in healthy cooking, but also offer another point of connection to the Free Library. The Nourishing Literacy team feels extremely fortunate to be able to encourage and witness our students’ lifelong relationship to the library, from cutting board to library card.

Thank you to all of the departments and department representatives who have enhanced the library experience for our Nourishing Literacy students through enriching activities and presentations including Children’s, Teen Central, Special Collections & Rare Books, Music, BRIC, Security, and CPSD! A recent Culinary Literacy blog post captures one of these great extensions. We are looking forward to continuing this work and to introducing Nourishing Literacy students to even more departments throughout Parkway Central Library!

If interested in learning more about Nourishing Literacy and/or how to involve a child in your life in our program, please email Shayna Marmar, marmars@freelibrary.org, for more information.