West Point students explore culinary arts entrepreneurship through book club
Students at West Point Elementary School embraced themes of creativity, collaboration and real-world skills during the school’s sixth annual Bulldog Book Club, tying literature to hands-on learning that supports DoWEA’s emphasis on student agency and civic readiness.
Participants read “Next Best Junior Chef Episode One: Lights, Camera, Cook!” by Charise Mericle Harper as the 2026 one-book-one-school selection. The story follows four young contestants competing in a cooking challenge to win their own food truck, inspiring enrichment activities centered on culinary arts, television production and financial literacy.
“The activities were designed to deepen engagement with the text while building practical knowledge,” said a school spokesperson. Committee-planned experiences gave students opportunities to apply concepts in meaningful ways.
Highlights included business and food preparation presentations by local entrepreneurs. Mrs. Maurya, a Subway owner, worked with grades one through three on sandwich assembly, entrepreneurship basics and customer service. Mrs. Deaton, a hot food caterer, guided grades four and five through menu planning, recipe development and financial considerations for operating a food truck.
Kindergarten through fourth-grade students stepped into a broadcasting studio with Mrs. Taplin and Ms. Leon, learning green screen techniques, recording processes and on-camera presence. Fifth-graders worked in small groups to develop Shark Tank-style pitches for original food truck concepts using digital tools.
Additional activities featured a kitchen gadget scavenger hunt to reinforce story vocabulary and online resources linking to books, videos and educational games via MackinVia.
The program exemplified DoWEA principles of connecting classroom learning to broader opportunities for leadership and informed citizenship — values especially resonant at a school serving the West Point community.
School officials expressed appreciation for the many contributors who made the event possible, including the West Point Elementary PTO, the Bulldog Book Club committee — Mrs. Taplin, Mrs. Magryta, Ms. Koch, Mrs. Lichy, Mrs. Matthews, Mrs. Rosado-Landron, Mrs. Webb, Mrs. Dreher, Mrs. Gist, Mrs. Cook and Mrs. Jones — Mrs. Mogavero (school liaison officer), guest presenters Mrs. Maurya and Mrs. Deaton, Mr. Wormsley and the student council, teachers, students and families.
Organizers look forward to building on this success in future programs that continue fostering student curiosity and community connections.
