Bridging the gap between nutrition and the adventurous palates of Duluth’s youth.

Nourish x Duluth Community School Collaborative was a week-long initiative designed to transform the school lunchroom into a space of exploration and discovery. This program moved beyond the standard cafeteria menu to introduce students to fresh, nutrient-dense, and diverse ingredients.

Trading the whiteboard for a cutting board to see how human development actually folds into real life.

UMD Professor Ariri Onchwari created a three-part community initiative designed to move her human development class out of the textbook and into the community. By trading the traditional campus lecture hall for a shared kitchen and fellowship space alongside the Duluth Center for Women and Children (DCWC), UMD students bridged the gap between academic theory and real human connection. Through shared pizza nights, trading traditional recipes, and an intergenerational planting workshop, the project transformed abstract concepts of brain development, trauma, and identity into a living laboratory, proving that the deepest education happens when we step outside our comfort zones and gather around a shared table.