In the classroom this week we watched a CBS News segment from 2024 about the movement to establish the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary. The sanctuary was designated by the Biden administration later that year; it was the first marine sanctuary to be created in partnership with Indigenous activists.
In the kitchen we worked with an ingredient the Chumash use for food, medicine, and ceremony: seaweed! The fourth and fifth grade chefs made a seaweed salad using wakame, arame, and hijiki; spread sushi rice over sheets of nori; and sprinkled the rice with a Japanese rice seasoning, furikake, that contained a fifth type of seaweed called dulse. Using bamboo sushi mats, we rolled individual sushi rolls, then cut them into bite-sized pieces. The maki were savory, briny, chewy, and a true celebration of all things ocean.
