Each year the Montclair Cooperative School’s graduating eighth grade takes a big leap. And we don’t mean just physically either – their final school trip involves not only a flight to South America – but emotionally, spiritually and developmentally as well. How do they prepare for this trip? And what do they bring home? We had a chance to talk with Judy Bereczki, the Montclair Co-op’s upper school Theme and eighth grade homeroom teacher about this annual journey and its year-round ripple effect in the school. The community service performed in Ecuador, which includes a local style “barn-raising” project cum celebration, is part and parcel of the social curriculum the Co-op offers. Each week at school, the eighth grade renews and relives the benefits of cooperative learning, a highlight of which is Souper Tuesday, a beloved culinary tradition at the Co-op.
As Bereczki recounts, “Last year’s eighth grade annual trip to Ecuador included a home-stay in the traditional, indigenous populated village of San Clemente. Among our activities was a service project like no other: we worked with the villagers on constructing a fence near the local elementary school. The work involved felling eucalyptus trees, peeling the bark, cutting the posts and sinking them, and finally, attaching the horizontals. It was a lovely fence! But what made it particularly special is the fact that our kids worked shoulder to shoulder with the people of the village, including communicating with them in creative ways, because they spoke no English and our Spanish was, well, sketchy at best. Yet we succeeded in our effort and had a great time accomplishing our goal together! In Ecuador, this type of productive joyful communal work is called a Minga and it usually culminates in a shared feast of pot-luck dishes and celebration.”
The word Minga has now become part of the Co-op vocabulary, as the students, teachers and parents enjoy a Minga every Tuesday at school. At lunchtime, the eighth grade classroom becomes a dining hall, and the entire school is treated to an astounding variety of home-cooked soups and pasta dishes, made by Co-op families. The hottest seller is the indomitable Eighth Grade Chicken Soup. This dish is so popular that the entire eighth grade parent group pitches in to make it. Every month or two they get together at one of their kitchens and “pluck”, cut, and season at least eight chickens to make the base. On Tuesday mornings, parents deliver a thirty-gallon batch of soup to the third floor – talk about cross-training!
Eighth grade students also bake desserts and provide drinks – everything from cake bombs and cupcakes to dairy-free crispy rice treats and nut-free brownies -and a special recipe: Kroka Apple Tea, a delicious brew invented by the class during their canoe expedition with Kroka Wilderness of New Hampshire. The weekly menu, served in dishware donated by the school community, is sensitive to vegetarian, vegan, and other special dietary needs, so the meal can be enjoyed by everyone: kids, teachers, staff and even guests. Lower school classes send up soup orders every week that are filled and delivered by assisting parents. Upper school kids swarm in to be served by parents and teachers. Eighth graders also collect and count the proceeds, while the parents help restore the kitchen to classroom status and pack up “take away” orders. Proceeds assist families in paying for the Ecuador trip, five percent is earmarked for an outside philanthropy chosen annually by the eighth grade, and proceeds may also help support the upper school Elective Program.
Call it service, call it communal celebration, call it relief for parents fixing lunches every day… the Montclair Co-op views its Souper Tuesday as a “win-win” and a Minga in the truest sense of the word!