Building Strong Minds, Good Hearts, ARCA Students work toward a healthier future
ACADIANA, LA (January 30, 2025) – Acadiana Renaissance Charter Academy (ARCA) and The Refined Pantry have teamed up for the second year in a row to make mealtime a bit healthier and tastier. Students in grades three through five learned vital cooking skills and utilized ingredients from the school’s vegetable garden to design and cook nutritious meals. Nine teams submitted recipes and participated in a live cooking competition during a recent STEM Experience event. Two winning teams received a cooking class at the Refined Pantry where they gained knowledge on simple knife skills, cooking techniques, and safe use of kitchen equipment. All participants will have their dishes featured for a week on The Refined Pantry’s weekly menu. The Refined Pantry will donate one dollar for every ARCA menu item sold to the STEM lab. Last year, Last year, $1,000 was raised from the featured menu items. So far this year, 325 meals were sold during the very first week.
“As part of our focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, this project helps our students learn important concepts from researching and growing nutritious food, to designing and engineering healthy recipes, our students gained tremendous and useful knowledge that they will be able to use for a lifetime,” said Stacey Boone, science lab teacher for grades three through five. “They learned about the importance of farm to table ingredients, and how vegetables can be both nutritious and delicious. The biggest takeback from the whole event was that the kids were actually excited to try vegetables they have never tasted before, when they could see the process from start to finish, or from plant to plant.”
ARCA’s vegetable garden was started through a grant from Louisiana State University Agriculture (LSU AG). Students grow fresh produce that they harvested and used for the cooking competition. They had to prepare their dish within guidelines of a healthy plate.
According to Megan Spencer, co-owner of The Refined Pantry, the company’s concept was to take delicious food options and turn them into healthy, convenient, life altering meals.
“Many with dietary restrictions find it difficult to eat out or order foods that won’t derail their lifestyle requirements,” said Spencer. “My husband and I are both culinary graduates and chefs. We started looking for healthy alternatives for our own family first, then built the concept out to include others who either are already focused on a healthy lifestyle or those who are seeking something better.”
Third through fifth grade Acadiana Renaissance Charter Academy students who participated in the live cooking contest to win an opportunity to have their recipe featured on The Refined Pantry menu and earn a chance to win a cooking class.
The Refined Pantry teamed up with ARCA students to promote making healthy lifestyle choices at a young age and getting them involved in taking charge of their own nutrition journey.
“Our students are accustomed to owning their success,” added Boone. “They set their own goals and work toward their successful outcomes. By joining with The Refined Pantry, they can take this concept into their everyday life. Our mission at ARCA is a relentless commitment to student greatness in school and in life. This is an example of how learning bridges the gap between school life and homelife and will hopefully carry on for their entire lives.”
Acadiana Renaissance Charter Academy is a K-12 school located on four campuses serving students in kindergarten through second grade, third through fifth, sixth through eighth and ninth through 12th. It is part of the Charter Schools USA network of schools dedicated to its mission: a relentless commitment to student greatness in school and in life and its promise: Strong minds, Good Hearts.
