Our school and Comenius

The vocational school “ Ezio Aletti” was named after the engineer Ezio Aletti, the previous owner of the building, which in the past was a bathing establishment and that later was donated to the Town Hall of Trebisacce stating in his will that it should have hosted a vocational school. The building is near the train station and a few metres away from the beach .It is a three-storey building and in the 40s and 50s it hosted people who used to spend their Summer vacation in this town. In the 70s it was restored inside to host the school.
It is found in the School District N° 29 and hosts about 850 students with different social backgrounds coming from villages and towns found on the nearby mountains , hills and coasts of the “ Alto Ionio Cosentino” .
It is a mixed school where boys and girls, aged 14-19, can choose from the following courses: the electronic and electrotechnical course-the chemistry-biology course-the hotel and restaurant course.
Our school has also links with the University of Calabria which is 100 km. far from where we live and with which we have signed a Protocol that gives students the possibility of taking at school the admission test for the Faculty of Maths and Science.It was the first to be accredited by the quality certification in the whole Calabria region.
In order to speed up the intercultural process among students we offer them the opportunity to take part to school projects (POF) and national projects (PON) that are always students’ centered and where the equality of gender is also guaranteed.
Another target of our school formative plan is the European dimension. Allowing our students to take part to Socrates projects we are also taking them into the history, the cultural heritage, lifestyles , working procedures of other European countries.
Our school has grown a lot since we started this Comenius project: etwinning, Youth projects are also being proposed to our students who are willing to take part showing an increasing interest and motivation towards other cultures.

Our garden

We started looking where we can have our herbs garden at school. We decided to plant them in our school internal courtyard where the big tree standing in the middle fell and that now left room where we can plant our herbs with the new coming year. We will plant rosmary, hot peppers , parsley, wild fennel, basil, dill, garlic, and sage and other seasonal herbs that we use in our kitchen.

The picture is with the tree but we wanted to post it just to show you where the garden will be.

At the beginning of the new year in March we will plant our herbs.

Recipe card "Mackarel with scamorza crust"

Here is our fish dish combined with scamorza cheese!

Recipe card "Bagia Sibarita"

This is a special yet simple dessert that makes use of one of our main products: figs!!

Recipe card "Maccaria with fava licurda"

This is a very popular dish in our region where simple ingredients are used!

The city of Almeria

We had a great time in Almeria with our Comenius friends and with the teachers and students of the Spanish school. We visited the city with the tour guide giving us news about places and people that we wouldn't had otherwise.

Domenico and I went to the market in the city centre and of which some of the partners told us great things about the great variety and goodness of the products sold there : fruit, vegetables. fish, meat, cheese, salami . They were right it is really a wonderful market!

We were taken to churches, tapas places, typical restaurants , wine producers, greenhouses.

Pictures (from top) : The medieval castle that we visited before leaving realized during the Turks' domination; Almeria landscape taken from the castle; cruise ship; at a tapas place with the Comenius partners; at the wine cellar we visited up in the Sierra Nevada; at the greenhouse where peppers are being grown and that are sent to all Europe, a landscape of all the greenhouses in Almeria

Almeria, October 2008

We had a great time in Almeria. We set to work and each of us showed the initial part of the blogs that have been made by each partecipating school. We had a great time because we all worked for the buffet planned in Gravdal . Each scool had to prepare a dish and it was fun going to buy the ingredients we needed to make our dishes , it was exciting seeing everybody working in the kitcken of IES of Almeria and how the students of the hosting school helped us in making everything ready for the buffet.

DURING THE MEETING

- Presentation of the educational trainings in Almeria as well as of the different parts of their school
- Visit of the fittings of the school
- Preparation of the objectives and of a common technical form
- Conditions of the creation of a blog for the project in each centre
- Meeting with the press
- Visit of the central market and of typical products
- Preparation and dressing of an international buffet of local food products in the restaurant of the school.Each school, preparing one of the creative dishes imagined by the students during the year
- Visit of a greenhouse of organic products in the region of Almeria
- Visit of a wine cellar and tasting of Laujar wines
- Visit of some villages of the Alpujarras
- Visit of a traditional restaurant
- Guided visit of the town
- Achievement of an Andalusian meal by the students of the school and served to the participants in the school restaurant
- Meeting with the local authorities , Radio, Television and Press

Planning of the activities for 2007/2008

October 2007

Comenius meeting in Almeria : preparation of the objectives.
Organization of the groups of work in each school.

November 2007

Each school will have to create its own blog . In this blog the students can introduce themselves (in their native language and in English). All along the year , the blogs will have to be regularly supplied , including all the technical forms of the previous year in English and in another language.

Beginning of 2008

Each school will have to prepare a theme evening in the school restaurant using the technical forms of the other partners (technical forms prepared for the menus in 2006/2007) The menu will be proposed by the students in their school in order to spread outside the school the work done.A jury will give their opinion.
This jury can be composed of some of the clients dining that evening.

Photos will be taken during the preparation in the kitchen and during the service in order to illustrate the file.

A common questionnaire will be given to the clients. This questionnaire will particularly focus on the cooking differences highlighted by the dishes proposed.
March 2008:

Translation of the professionnal glossary. This glossary made in 2006/2007 will be translated into 2 languages (at least into English).

This glossary takes all the words used in the technical forms proposed last year. Then it will be put on the blog .

First term 2008

Creation of a garden or a green house of aromats in each school (except Lofoten because of the climate. They will use aromatics from local producers.).

The students will see the importance of the use of these aromats and will exchange ideas with their partners: all the students must take part in this creation.
Photos will be taken and put on the blog.

From november to march 2008

Creation of a dish based on aromatic herbs. In March the students will have to propose a creative dish using aromats They will use the common technical form and will present photos. This dish will have to respect the project which aims at a creative gastronomy and use only traditional products. This dish will be presented in La Spezia in May.

Geographic cultural study of the countries in the partnership.

During history and geography lessons the students could be taught some notions about the culture, the geography, the history, the language and the gastronomy of their partners The students can make files and exhibitions.

Exchange of the work of the students during the year

Each center will inform all the partners on the development of the work and with the webcam teachers and students will discuss. Some time slots will be installed to allow each school to exchange with a partner.
During the preparation of the menus in the school restaurants the evening party will be broadcast through a webcam.

Communication between students

The students who are interested in an individual exchange can exchange their e-mail address through their teachers

Next project meetings

The next meeting will take place from May 19th to 23rd 2008 in la Spezia in Italy.

Another meeting is planned in October in Montauban.
Each center will present the work of the year (photos, blog,...)and will make the technical form of the dish based on aromats.

The dish we prepared in Almeria

Amberjack (Ricciola) with sweet pearls of Calabria (olives) and crispy vegetable rings
Ingredients for 10 people
Amberjack N° 10 350 gr. each
Calabrian sweet olives 250 gr.
Green peppers 180 gr.
Potatoes 250 gr.
Zucchini 180 gr.
Red onions 180 gr.
Lemons 3Flour 35 gr.
Beer 3 dl.
Bread-crumbs 85 gr.
Rosemary 10 crisps
Wild fennel 10 crisps
Garlic 2 clovesChives 20 crisps
Extravergin olive oil 2 dl.
Fresh dill 30 gr.Frying oil 1 lt.
Red ground pepper 20 gr.
Eggplants 180 gr.
Cougette flowers 30 gr.Basil 30 gr.
Procedure
Clean, wash and filet the fish and after season it only with salt. Roll the fish filets and seal them with the chives tails . Place a sprig of rosemary and wild fennel over the filets and then lay them on a fish steaming tray and let them cook for 15 minutesMeantime, wash the olives well and fry them in a pan with extravergin olive oil, garlic, red ground pepper, salt. Add a little bit of water and let everything cook for other 10 minutes at medium heat. Take a bowl and mix the flour with a pinch of salt, bread crumbs, red ground pepper and the beer to obtain a smooth batter. Peel and wash potatoes, green peppers, zucchini, onions, courgette flowers, eggplants and basil. Cut the vegetables with a round cutter to make rings.Dip them in the batter you have made in advance.Fry one at a time the different types of vegetables in plenty frying oil. As soon as the vegetable rings start to brown place them on a blotting paper so they can loose the extra oil . Do the same thing for the whole basil leaves and the zucchini courgettes. On an serving platter put some sauce made with the olives and arrange the filets of amberjack which will be served with crispy vegetable rings and lemon slices.
Domenico Guarino

Newspaper articles

Comenius project has been diffused inside the school by articles made by teachers and students on the school newspaper and outside the school by the newspaper articles that have been made at the end of each project meeting by Mr. Franco Maurella who writes for "Il Quotidiano" with issues in the whole Calabria region.

Gravdal Photos

We had a great time in Gravdal. We have seen one of the best places in the world, thanks to Comenius!!!!In the first picture we are at the Viking museum and after that everybody had lunch in the open air...we can't forget what we ate...it was fantastic!!!!!!!!Teresa

Gravdal meeting, Norway

Going to Gravdal , Norway, has been one of the most beautiful experiences we have lived so far both for us teachers and for the students who had the chance to admire a breathtaking landscape, taste food that you wouldn’t find elsewhere and get a warm welcome from the partner school and Comenius staff Per, Willy, Roger, our special hosts.
We have also worked and been delighted by the songs the children from the elementary school sang for us.
Activities during the meeting:
-Presentation of the educational trainings in Norway and of the school of Gravdal by the headmaster-
-Visit of the fittings of the school-Conditions of the creation of a blog for the project in each centre ( for the activities of the second year)
-Meeting with the press
-Visit of an aquaculture centre
-Preparation and dressing of an international buffet of local food products in the restaurant of the school
-Visit of the Lofoten Islands
-A show : songs prepared by the children of the primary school of Gravdal
-Visit of a factory of food products based on fish
-Visit of the museum of the Vikings
-Fishing the cod on the school boat
-Cooking on the boat
-Visit of a farm breeding lamb with the Lofoten label
-Visit of the aquarium of Kavelbag
Comenius meeting in Gravdal
-Report of the activities of the year and presentation of the works
-Achievement of recipes
- Presentation of typical products of each region by each partner
- Visit of food factories
Activities in each centre
In Gravdal each scool had to present the project outputs we agreed on at the meeting in Limoges concerning this first year of work 2006/07.
As for our school we made the creation of a comenius file on the school web site, a logo, presentation of a DVD on the region, achievement of a DVD about the recipes, mobility of students.
Dates of the meeting in Almeria
We will meet there from Tuesday October 16th to Saturday October 20th 2007. During this meeting we’ll set the activities for the school year 2007/2008.
In order to make the exchange of videos easier we have also decided to work with Windows Media Player and to use Microsoft software. Besides, the blogs will be created on “blogger” google blog

The logo

The students have made a logo trying to stick to the theme of the project. As you can see there is a type of food typical of each country: cheese for France, salmon for Norway, paella for Spain and pasta for Italy.

Limoges photos

We were struck of the beauty of both the city and the school Jean Monnet. We took some photos so everyone in the school and outside the school can admire.

Limoges Meeting

Going to the lycée des métiers "Jean Monnet" in Limoges, France, where the first comenius project meeting took place, has been for us a very special experience for the warm welcome of our project coordinator, the school staff but also for the nice atmosphere we found there and where we easily socialized with the other partners ans set to work.

Here is what we achieved during the meeting:

Presentation of the educational professional system and of the different fields of study in « the Lycée des métiers » and technical visit of the premises and fittings (kitchens, laboratories, workshop....)

Presentations of videos and photos of the partner schools and their educational system.Proposal of the objectives of the first year and achievement of a common recipe cardVisit of a distillery of local liqueurs .

Demonstration of vacuum-cooked dishes made by a cooking teacher.

Preparation of the European buffet made with all the local products brought by all the partners. Each school presented some typical products of its country or region (pork meat, drinks, cakes...). The preparation was made by the teachers of the different schools with the students of the Lycée Jean Monnet.

Visit of the « porcelain house » (Haviland)

Visit of the town with the tourist train proposed by the Tourist Board .

Visit of a pork butcher and caterer .

Visit of the town center market and of the “taste market” ( a market of local products) during the “week of the taste” .

Visit of the festival of « la Frairie des Petits Ventres », a yearly gastronomical fairIntegration of the group in the official delegation of the town hall of Limoges.

Preparation by the students of a typical local meal served in the educational restaurantReception of the French educational inspector and of the press.Planning of the activities for 2006/2007.

Planning of the activities for 2006/2007

We have all agreed on working at the following activities through the year.

Competition, exhibitions and logosCreation of a Comenius site

Achievement of a CD Rom on the region of the different partners

Realisation of a traditional and creative menuMaking out of a word bank of the hotel keeping industry

Exchange of works during the school yearExchange of students’electronic mails

Preparation and achievement of a regional buffet We also agreed on the next meeting which will take place in Gravdal , Norway from 8th t0 12th May 2007.