In Spanish B class with teacher Jill McLeavy, the students have begun the food unit in which they are learning basic foods, ingredients, and dishes in Spanish along with preparation vocabulary and polite phrases for ordering. To elevate the classroom lesson, Ms. McLeavy took the students to the kitchen to make their own pupusas for a fun, hands-on activity.

To prepare the dish, students added masa harina or corn flour into a mixing bowl with water to create a dough. Using their freshly gloved hands, they made small balls with the dough that were flattened out and filled with cheese and refried beans. A few students volunteered to be grill masters as the pupusas were placed on a hot griddle to cook. Once they were done, the students happily enjoyed the dish with many going back for seconds.

Ms. McLeavy shared that she wanted the class to enjoy a new culinary dish as she traditionally makes horchata, a traditional beverage made of rice milk and cinnamon, with the Spanish B class. The students will continue their unit of study with an off-campus trip to the food trucks on Long Wharf in New Haven. Once there, students will have the opportunity to practice their Spanish as they order food from various vendors.