Welcome Seventh Graders!

Dear Parents,

I am the Consumer Education teacher here at Lakeview Junior High School. This is my ninth year teaching Consumer Education. I graduated from Illinois State University with a Bachelor's degree in Home Economics and received my Master's degree and teaching certificate from Northern Illinois University. I am delighted to be teaching here at Lakeview.

Mrs. Judy Bretl
Consumer Education Teacher
Phone: (630) 783-5034
Email: jbretl@ccsd66.org

Consumer Education is a Family and Consumer Science course designed to help middle school students learn the life skills they need to be responsible, productive family and community members.

The units of study for your seventh grader include:
Kitchen Safety and Sanitation
Food Preparation
Recipe Math
Nutrition and Health Concerns
Consumer Skills
Careers
Sewing Skills

Most of our coursework will be done in class. We will have very little homework due to the “hands-on” nature of our labs. Your child will use the textbook Discovering Food and Nutrition in class. If necessary, students may check out a textbook from me in order to make up work. I am available before school each morning and during study hall “B”.

There are many consumable materials used in this class. To help defer the cost of the consumable material, a $20.00 lab fee is necessary. Please pay the lab fee within the first week of class. Checks may be made payable to District 66. We prefer a check, but will accept cash. For cash payment, please put in an envelope with your child's name on it.

I am looking forward to an exciting trimester working with your child. Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.

Sincerely,

Mrs. J. Bretl

It is so hard to believe that we have started our last trimester for this school year! It has been great getting reaquainted with last year's 6th graders. It is fun seeing how they have grown and matured. They tell me they are ready to begin cooking. I told them that we will need to review a few things first. We will need to go over kitchen safety, measuring techniques, and equipment before we start our lab work. I know they will be able to make it.

Enjoy your weekend!

Reading About Nutrition Facts

The 6th grade students prepared a Fried Rice Recipe in Consumer Education this week in celebration of Chinese New Year. I heard some students share the fact that this was their favorite lab. I could tell that the students were quite proud of themselves. There were several tedious tasks involved in making the recipe and the students worked extremely well together. Nice job!

The sixth grade students also discussed how to be smart shoppers and discovered the importance of reading nutrition facts' labels on food packages. They worked with a partner to compare nutrition facts from cereal boxes; determining the cereal with the best nutritional value. They completed their comparisons on a graphic organizer and then used the information to create a new cereal. The students were very creative in designing the covers, selecting names, listing ingredients and nutrients for their new cereal boxes. We will finish this activity on Tuesday.

Have a great weekend!

Sincerely,
Mrs. J. Bretl

Snow, snow, and more snow!

It was nice to be able to stay warm and safe in my home the last two days. My dog was happy to be able to run around in the snowy backyard. It took my husband a long time to dig us out on Wednesday!

Stay warm!

Sincerely,
Mrs. J. Bretl