The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Students compare hometown pizzas
Middle school students participate in writing project
Teacher Martin Heberling III linked a youthful affinity for food to local family-owned restaurants and a writing project at Longfellow Middle School in Lorain.
A first year sixth-grade teacher at the school at 305 Louisiana Ave., Heberling bought three pizzas each from three Lorain restaurants: Yala’s Pizzaria at 3352 Oberlin Ave.; Selenti’s Pizza at 808 Oberlin Ave.; and Giovanni’s Pizza at 2936 Grove Ave.
He assigned the students to taste a pizza from each restaurant, to choose a favorite, and to write five paragraphs comparing and contrasting the pizzas with details defending the choice of the best pie.
The restaurants were not told of the students’ vote until a letter written by students was delivered to the winning restaurant, Heberling said.
The pizza also doubled as a reward for increasing scores on district benchmark tests to show the amount of knowledge growth this school year, he said.
“They far exceeded their growth potential,” Heberling said. “When I said we were going to have a pizza party, most of the students were shouting, ‘Little Caesars.’ That’s probably the only pizza most of them have ever tasted.”
Students shared lessons from the experience.
“I learned you get rewarded for hard work,” said 12-year-old Jocelyn Letnianchyn, adding evaluating pizza wasn’t hard. “I hadn’t tried Yala’s or Selenti’s before. I have tried Giovanni’s. I love Giovanni’s.”
Zaiden Martinez, 12, also said his family usually buys Giovanni’s, and that was his choice.
“The crust is good,” Zaiden said, “The pepperoni is good. I learned when you’re evaluating something, you have to be detailed.”
Celestino “Cevo” Oquendo, 11, said, “I like how the pizza had different textures. They had various things about them that gave them their own special way.” Cevo chose Giovanni’s. “When I tried it that time, it tasted better and better,” he said. “And I liked the creative way they put the pepperonis on.
“They put it on the bottom instead of putting them on the top. A whole bunch of cheese melted all over it. I thought that was really creative.”
Twelve-year-old Nakeya Hermon said the assignment stretched her food experience.
“I think it was cool because we got to try out places that we never tried before,” Nakeya said, adding she chose Giovanni’s. “Their dough is really good, and they had the right amount of sauce.
“We had to write about our favorite, least favorite, and what made it unique. I learned that you have to try different things and you have to understand what you’re talking about when comparing things.”
Madison Jones, 12, appreciated Giovanni’s because of the flavors and balance of cheese and sauce.
“I learned how to compare different things,” Madison said. “I liked how we learned how to compare real life things. It wasn’t just shapes and math.”
Principal Christine Miller said the project was important for encouraging students to write and for supporting local businesses.
“There are a lot of people who don’t know those businesses are in Lorain,” Miller said. “You can get good homemade food here. Let’s support our local businesses. And the students will write more when it’s an interest of theirs.
“I think about the letters they wrote to the soldiers and the airmen. That was most definitely an eye opening experience for me: Just the heartfelt stories the kids wrote. You get more information from them when it’s something they’re interested in.”
Cevo said the pizza assignment was creative.
“Because it gave kids something to strive for and get their scores better,” he said. “It’s really special.”