Eating it up

Marisa O’Neil

Diane Bonthius’ second-grade class at Adams Elementary School turned

into a tortilleria for a special lesson last week.

Bonthius combined story time for her class with a real-life

demonstration of tortilla making. First, she read “The Tortilla

Factory,” a tale that follows the cycle of corn from planting and

harvesting to its production into tortillas used to feed the workers

who then go out and plant more corn.

She illustrated the story with an ear of corn, pulling back the

husk to reveal its white kernels and telling them it can be ground

into flour and then made into dough.

“Right now, our classroom is going to be a tortilla factory,” she

told her students. “Give me a silent cheer if you like that idea.”

Instantly, 20 pairs of hands thrust toward the ceiling, waving and

shaking excitedly.

After the story, the students returned to their desks and watched

as Bonthius held up a plastic container of dough.

“Last night, I took corn masa and made dough,” she said. “I’ll

give each of you a ball of it to make into a tortilla. What do you

like on your tortillas?”

“Cheese and lettuce,” 7-year-old Marvin Angeles declared.

In lieu of cheese and lettuce, Bonthius put whipping cream in a

Mason jar with a pinch of salt and asked all the students to shake it

20 times each, to make butter.

“It’s free butter,” 7-year-old Stephen Snell said excitedly.

“Well, almost free.”

As his butter jar circulated, students came up one-by-one to make

the tortillas. Bonthius handed each a small piece of dough and

watched as they carefully formed it into a ball and then handed it

back for her to put on a tortilla press she had brought in.

Daisy Gonzalez watched carefully, her tongue peeking out in deep

consideration, as her tortilla cooked.

Meanwhile, Stephen had already dug into his tortilla.

“Can you write down the recipe for my parents?” he asked.

So just like the workers did in the book, the students ate the

tortillas that came from the flour that came from the corn that came

from the ground.