In the Orchard With the 9s

27 September 2024Jim Ganley

Being a Brentwood student enriches you with a wide range of happy memories of sports, art, academics, houseparents, coaches, teachers, instructors, classes, classmates, roommates, adventures, performances – and even summative assessment – but few memories are as universally positive as those of Sunday Brunch in Crooks Hall.

Eggs Benedict, omletes, bacon, hashbrowns, waffles, pastries, and smoothies, savoured with friends, roommates, and housemates make for sensuous refections.

In the service of Sunday Brunch, a class of Grade 9s, led by Ms Stevens and Ms Cheung, did everything they could yesterday to ensure this week’s tasty treat featured fruit from the school’s orchard. Coordinated by school gardener Mr Brennan, BEAT Captain Ruby S, and BEAT Sponsor Mr Ganley, these students harvest 200lbs of apples in less than an hour – 100 lbs for brunch and 100 lbs of ground fall for Ms Shroeder’s livestock.

“Apple picking with META 9 was great because they got to apply what they were learning about in class in real life. They also got to save 200 pounds of fruit from going to waste. I got to know some of the Grade 9s better and connected with them over the work we were doing. It was a great way to start the day” observed Ruby.

“Our harvesting is almost at an end for the season” added Ganley, “and I’m thrilled that we collected more than 1000lbs of fruit for snacks, sauce, juice, and brunch. Thanks to the 9s, the cross-country team, Ms Richardson, Mr Norman, Ms Lehman, Mr Sanderson, Ms Shroeder, BEAT volunteers and the Food Services Team for their assistance.

Where Students Choose To Be