MILWAUKEE — Every Tuesday, students at Golda Meir Middle School swap their notebooks for cutting boards and dive into a hands-on cooking program designed to teach healthy eating.

Since 2015, Food Right has partnered with Milwaukee Public Schools to educate children on preparing nutritious meals.

Roman Davis is one of the fifth-grade students in the program.

“I’ve been learning a lot,” said Davis. “They’ve been teaching us nutrients and to check what we eat, and they’ve been teaching us how to cook with safety.”

The program’s focus is on fresh ingredients and practical skills.

Fifth-grader Kev’vonn Lang, for example, was busy chopping olives for a chickpea salad — different from his usual diet.

“It changed my eating habits from eating like chicken almost every day and now, I get to eat vegetables and stuff,” said Lang.

Mary Jaros is a teacher at Golda Meir. Jaros said the program has sparked excitement among her students.

“I’ve noticed that my fifth-graders love this program so much,” said Jaros. “They get super excited about cooking the food and learning all the different components of what goes into cooking and seeing some of the different recipes that they create has been really, really awesome.”

But the impact stretches beyond the kitchen. Davis shared that the friendships he’s built while cooking have been just as meaningful as the skills he’s learned.

“I think it’s been making me eat a lot healthier and making me be more cautious with what I eat,” said Davis. “I think cooking with my friends is what makes this class fun.”