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Watermelon Wednesday
October 2026 Issue #25
10th Anniversary Stories
A Decade of Partnership: From the Garden to the Kitchen with Osborn School District Child Nutrition
This October, we’re celebrating National Farm to School Month and National School Lunch Week—two opportunities to recognize the important connections between food, education, agriculture, and access to nutritious meals.
We invite you to celebrate the people behind school meals—and the many ways they are helping kids build healthier, more joyful relationships with food.
For Cory Alexander, Director of Child Nutrition Program at Osborn School District, those connections have been at the heart of his partnership with Blue Watermelon Project (BWP) for the past ten years.
Over the years, Cory has partnered with Blue Watermelon Project (BWP) through Chef in the Garden, guest chef experiences, serving as a judge for Feeding the Future, presenting at school food workshops, and welcoming BWP chefs into his school kitchens to work alongside his school kitchen teams.
In a recent conversation, Cory shared why partnerships with external food educators like BWP are so valuable to school nutrition departments. Programs like Chef in the Garden give students opportunities to learn where their food comes from, experience fresh and seasonal ingredients, and discover foods they may not otherwise be willing to try.
But food education doesn’t stop with students. Cory also emphasized the importance of supporting the professionals who make school meals happen every day.
School nutrition professionals are tasked with preparing meals that meet nutrition standards, fit school budgets, and kitchen realities, and - most importantly, are meals kids actually want to eat.
Cory's experience also highlights an important role for chefs in school food: uplifting the professionals already doing this essential work every day. Celebrity and professional chefs can bring culinary expertise, creativity, and visibility to school food, but their greatest impact may come from working alongside school nutrition professionals - sharing ideas, building skills, celebrating their expertise, and shining a light on the vital role they play in serving healthy, nutritious meals that students enjoy.
After a decade of partnership, Cory's story demonstrates what can happen when chefs, food educators, and school nutrition professionals work together. From the garden to the kitchen, these partnerships can help connect students with food while supporting the people who make school meals possible every day.
Want to hear Cory tell the story himself?
🎥 Watch the video to hear Cory share his experience in partnering with Blue Watermelon Project, the impact of Chef in the Garden, and why supporting school food professionals matters.
Student Skill-Building With A Cozy Dish Worth The Wait
Our second cohort of students had the opportunity to build confidence and curiosity through hands-on cooking. This lesson making scalloped potatoes practiced their culinary skills of peeling, allowed some to try new culinary equipment such as a rotary and mandolin slicer and learned a new key element to layering thin slices of potatoes to help release starch bathed in cream. As the dish cooks, the starches release and the the cream reduces creating a thick, creamy texture.
Students enjoyed getting their hands in the action, folding the cream with the sliced potatoes for a fun sensory experience. This recipe tested patience with the extensive preparation and cook time of the potatoes but they learned this comfort dish was well worth the wait.
Student's described the recipe as a standout success:
"I give this one million starts, it is crispy and amazing"
"I loved this food, it is so yummy and so great, I want to eat this everyday"
"The potatoes and the cream really worked well together and the texture and taste was amazing!"
"Can I please have thirds"
The enthusiasm was apparent - they loved the smell this dish brought to their classroom and the experience of cooking a new recipe with their peers. Their first Chef in the Garden experience became an opportunity for students to try something new, build confidence, practice skills, and share their success with others.
This hands-on workshop is designed for school gardeners of all ability levels, settings, and age levels. Join us from 9:00am-11:00am as we synthesize 20 years of school garden experience into an engaged, masterclass in Sonoran Desert Seasonality, what to plant when, and garden design engineered for long-term sustainability.
We are hosting a free BWP Social Hour immediately following this class from 11:30am-12:30pm at Time Market in Tucson. This social hour is an easy way to meet up, ask questions, and collaborate. You can choose to purchase food or drinks and socialize with the BWP crew! Please let us know if you plan to attend!
Last month, Blue Watermelon Project wrapped up its first series of School Food Workshops with a presentation at the School Nutrition Association of Arizona Conference.
Over 11 months, the series brought together 181 school food professionals from 19 Child Nutrition Program operations across Maricopa, Navajo, and Pima counties. Across our first seven workshops, participants explored seasonal and locally sourced ingredients, scratch-cooking strategies, chef-inspired recipes, and practical ways to bring new ideas into school cafeterias.
The workshops also highlighted an important lesson: meaningful change takes time. From procurement systems and vendor contracts to menu planning cycles, school food teams are navigating real-world challenges as they work to put new ideas into practice.
We’re grateful to everyone who helped make this project possible, including the Arizona Department of Education, our chef and food hub partners, school food professionals, program staff, Ignite, and St. Vincent de Paul.
There’s much more to share! Look for a fuller look at the project, including key findings and lessons learned, on the Blue Watermelon Project website later this October.
A Collaboration Rooted in Community
In celebration of our 10th anniversary, we’re excited to collaborate with Iconic Cocktail Co., a fresh drink mixer company that champions local farmers, growers, and clean, simple ingredients.
This collaboration feels especially meaningful because both Matt of Iconic Cocktail Co. and Blue Watermelon Project’s Charleen Badman grew up with a curiosity about food and a desire to learn more about where it comes from. That early interest has grown into a shared enthusiasm for celebrating local farmers and growers, supporting seasonal ingredients, and helping more people discover the joy of fresh, thoughtfully grown food.
Inspired by Blue Watermelon Project’s rotating “Garden Water” beverage served through the Chef in the Garden program classrooms, this mixer flight celebrates local, seasonal ingredients and the creativity that comes from cooking and making drinks with what’s growing around us.
Together, Blue Watermelon Project and Iconic Cocktail Co. are bringing that same spirit to the table—and inviting kids, families, and our community to get curious, get creative, and celebrate the people who grow the food we enjoy.
As we head into the fall and holiday season, we’re excited to fill our online merchandise store with products from local businesses that share our belief that building community can start with something as simple—and joyful—as food.
To celebrate our 10th Anniversary, we’re inviting the students in our community to get creative and show us what Blue Watermelon Project means to them!
Students can create a hand-drawn picture inspired by their favorite part of the journey—from the garden to the plate. One winning design will be turned into an official Blue Watermelon Project sticker, with the winner also receiving stickers to share with their classroom and being featured on our social media and online Merchandise Store.
The contest is open to all PreK–12 students who reside in Arizona, and entries will be accepted October 1–31.
We’d love to see what the next generation of gardeners, chefs, and food advocates comes up with!
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