Tomatoes help spread message of harmony
Schools
It’s amazing how much joy 260 kilograms of fresh tomatoes and community can bring. Primary school students at Albert Park’s Our Lady Queen of Peace School experienced this during Harmony Week celebrations in March.
It’s amazing how much joy 260 kilograms of fresh tomatoes and community can bring. Primary school students at Albert Park’s Our Lady Queen of Peace School experienced this during Harmony Week celebrations in March.
Students Jemma, Serafina and Kyle wash tomatoes.
Activities at the school included a passata making day aimed at fostering inclusivity and appreciation for cultural diversity.
Passata is an Italian sauce made from crushed tomatoes and for assistant principal Adriana Pilla, whose family is from Italy’s San Giorgio La Molara, the day was a chance to share a tradition from Italian culture with the school community.
“It was great to showcase something I’ve been doing since childhood, but it was also a great learning experience for children from many different cultures at our school,” she said. “Tomatoes are so versatile. They can be used in curries or rice dishes. The day was a beautiful way to bring people together.”
Cultural harmony and community engagement are important to staff and students at Our Lady Queen of Peace. As students, teachers and parents washed, chopped, and boiled tomatoes, they experienced the connection a shared cooking experience can bring.
Students enthusiastically embraced the opportunity to engage with cultural practices outside their own and after filling more than 250 bottles with passata, they were thrilled.
Student Tanusha gets a helping hand from volunteer Rosanna.
Picture: Helen Nicholaou
“I’ve never made passata before, but it’s been such a fun experience,” said Year 6 student Alex.
“It smelt so yummy, and I can’t wait for mum to buy some to eat for dinner,” added Agamjot, Year 2.
“I really loved it and learnt lots. Putting the (basil) leaves in the bottles was cool,” said Reception student Zavier.
“My friends took turns to wash the tomatoes and put them in the bowl. It was the best,” said fellow Reception student Ryder.
Presenters from Radio Italiana were on site to broadcast the action from the school grounds. The Sopranos Piano Accordionists were also there to provide a fitting musical backdrop.
The inaugural passata event will go down in the school’s history books. Such was its success, there are plans to make the tomato-packed event an annual fixture in Harmony Week. Other highlights of the week-long program included Spanish cooking lessons, flower craft to the theme of ‘together we grow’, a shared lunch and cultural dress day, lantern art and cultural dancing.
“There was so much joy,” Adriana said. “It was a day and week I’ll never forget.”
Our Lady Queen of Peace School currently has 219 students enrolled, representing 24 nationalities. The school was founded by the Sisters of Mercy and blessed by Archbishop Beovich on January 15 1949 and has served the Albert Park Catholic community since 1950.
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