Jim Allen Kindergarten Students Explore The Grocery Store

April 6, 2017

Kindergarten students from Jim Allen Elementary School, like all county kindergartners, learn about their community and community helpers.

This week they are traveling to the Publix grocery store located at  9 Mile Road and Pine Forest Road to meet some community helpers, to learn about the different features in a grocery store, get a “back stage” tour, and to meet Larry the Lobster.

The first group to make the trip were the classes of JoLyn Jackson and Michelle Helton with Teaching Assistant Kim Moorehead.

“We thought a field trip to Publix would be something fun and that it would be interesting for our students to come someplace they might visit every day and get to see the ins and outs of it,” explained JoLyn Jackson, a kindergarten teacher at Jim Allen Elementary.

“We are hoping that now, back in the classroom, we will be able to talk about the different community helpers that we have seen. We saw truck drivers, the people who work with fresh seafood, people who work with the fresh fruit, someone who bakes bread for the deli, all the way to the people who work at the checkout. They saw that there are a lot of people there helping us,” added Jackson.

Students saw a demonstration of how the bakers create roses for cake decorations, how to use a heavy duty tool to cut open pineapples, and they had a chance to taste some grapes. They traveled through the back hall to see the storage area for pallets of food items that will be placed on shelves later. They got to shiver a little in the freezer where the ice cream is kept. They learned that Publix is dedicated to recycling, whether it involves cardboard or the left over scraps of animal products that the butcher trims away before packaging the meat for the display cases.

Six year-old Abby Rose explained that they came to Publix to “look at food and to buy stuff.” Though she explained that they really pretended to buy stuff. “Miss Charlotte,” a member of the store’s customer service staff, made arrangements to allow each of the students got to take a turn scanning the “purchases,” then take a turn as the bagger, and a turn as the customer.

Justine Sherry was the guide for  Jackson’s class. She made a point of telling the students that Publix hires teenagers as young as 14. One young man was overheard planning to work there and stating that he plans to be cashier of the year someday.

Comments

6 Responses to “Jim Allen Kindergarten Students Explore The Grocery Store”

  1. Kwhite on April 11th, 2017 11:13 pm

    Look at my sis camera ready babyyy.!

  2. A white on April 8th, 2017 10:20 pm

    Look at londyn. Smiling for the camera

  3. swalker on April 7th, 2017 8:11 pm

    I was shopping when the kids where there and I sure did want to join the tour cause it looked like it was so much fun and interesting…all the Publix employees did a wonderful job… Especially loved to watch their guide Miss Justine….I know the kids will remember this forever….Great job everyone!

  4. Justine Sherry on April 6th, 2017 8:58 am

    I had the time of my life with the kids.

  5. Gwen Stinson on April 6th, 2017 8:50 am

    Publix is a great educational partner with schools, both public and private. My K-2 class toured the Ninth Avenue Store several years back. They were given the “red carpet” treatment. Two years ago, my class visited the University Parkway Store. We were on a “food hunt” – vegetable or fruit, fresh, canned or frozen. One of the store clerks, in the fresh fruit/vegetable section, overheard our quizzing and offered my students fresh pineapple spears. What a treat!! Publix, please keep up the good work!!

  6. Charlotte Henke on April 6th, 2017 8:06 am

    Thank you for being our guest. It was a pleasure to give the tour and to have those smiling face enjoying there time at publix

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under FEATURE TOP STORY, Features, News