By ROWENA PLETT

Staff writer

Students at Goessel Elementary School got a firsthand look Thursday at the process of making apple cider.

They couldn’t cut up the apples but they helped to pick them from trees near their school garden.

Pam Abrahams, school gardener, enlisted the help of relatives to provide the cider press and prepare the apples.

Abrams saw the hands-on lesson as a way to teach children about where their food comes from.

“Students only see the perfect apples at the grocery store,” she said, “and this was a chance for them to see that you can take less-than-perfect apples, grown without using any chemicals, and still make something really delicious.”

Students watched as the apples were cut up and run through the press.

“They were very interested in the whole process,” Abrahams said. “They were especially excited to see the juice begin to run out.”

They all got a cup of juice to drink afterward.

“Many of the students were surprised by how good it was, and most would have liked to have more,” Abrahams said.

Abrahams has been Goessel’s school gardener for seven years. A substitute teacher, she uses the garden to reinforce lessons the children are taught in the classroom.

Students are shown how to grow vegetables, but they also learn plant science, practice math skills, create art, and even sing on occasion. She also shares a collection of picture books about gardening.