02/24/2026
One Day. One Kitchen. 189 Meals for Iowa Families.
In just one powerful day — 8:30 AM to 3:15 PM — 24 seventh- and eighth-grade students and six FCS educators came together for the inaugural Kids Feeding Kids Middle School Kitchen Lab at Waverly-Shell Rock Middle School.
Hosted in the FCS classroom of KFKids Fellow Mrs. Kristie Kuhse, this first-ever middle school Kitchen Lab was the result of a strong partnership between Mrs. Kuhse and Chef Diane Mora, Education Director for Kids Feeding Kids. Together, they created a hands-on experience that blended professional culinary training with meaningful community service.
The event brought together student teams and FCS teachers from Denver Secondary School, Wapsie Valley, North Polk, Waverly-Shell Rock, and New Hampton. Throughout the day, students learned and applied essential kitchen skills — food safety and sanitation, knife skills, cooking methods, and teamwork — resulting in full recipe ex*****on from start to finish.
By the end of the school day, students had carefully prepared and packaged 189 servings of protein-enhanced mac and cheese completely from scratch, motivated by the knowledge that every meal was destined for donation to United Way of Bremer County to support local families experiencing food insecurity.
Students didn’t just cook. They gained skills and confidence in their ability to serve their community.
We are deeply grateful to Mrs. Kuhse for hosting and for her leadership as a KFKids Fellow, and to the dedicated FCS educators who traveled with their students to be part of this inaugural event. This day demonstrated what is possible when KFKids, FCS educators, and community partners work side by side.
Skill-building + service learning = community impact. All in one school day.
Stay tuned as we celebrate team recognitions from this incredible event.
