Dawes Garden Club, Student Council share garden bounty at family event

September 26, 2025

Scooping homemade salsa gave Dawes Middle School seventh grader Cooper a fun way to spread smiles to fellow Diamondbacks this month.
 
Cooper and other Dawes students reaped rewarding memories by running Dawes Family Engagement Night activities on campus. Garden Club and Student Council members worked together to plan and oversee the inaugural event, which attracted dozens of families to the school’s garden and cafeteria. They enjoyed salsa and chips, inspected fresh zinnias and gave shouts of excitement during family bingo games.
 
Garden Club members harvested fresh tomatoes from the school’s garden the previous day to make two versions of salsa. They added cilantro, onions and limes to a mild-flavored salsa, and they spiced things up by adding jalapenos to a second batch. They put the ingredients in a food processor, placed the salsa in several bowls and handed out samples for families to enjoy.
 
“It feels good to be able to help the Dawes community and have people try out our salsa,” Cooper said.

 
Fellow Garden Club member Aurora stood next to Cooper and handed out chips for people to use to scoop their salsa. The sixth grader joined a full lineup of students who volunteered their time for the night. She said it was fun to be part of a club that helped others.
 
“I like gardening,” Aurora said. “It’s just something interesting.”
 
Happy reactions like that were music to the ears of Dawes Principal Nancy Salsman, who said she was pleased with the positive turnout. A “Nourishing Northeast Lincoln” Farm to School grant from the United States Department of Agriculture set the table for the Fall Harvest Night portion of the evening. Student Council members wanted to create additional connections with a family bingo event, which led to the combined effort from both groups.
 
“We know families are busy and finding a night that works with everyone’s schedules can be difficult,” Salsman said. “We also know the key to student success is positive collaboration between school and home. Family engagement nights are a great way for families to be able to come to school, meet others in the community and have fun together.”

 
Dawes teachers Natalie Brening and Lora Carpenter-Janike said they were thrilled to see families enjoying time together. Carpenter-Janike leads the Garden Club alongside fellow teacher Kate Stewart, and Brening advises Student Council members throughout the year. They felt the project was teaching students important lessons like teamwork, leadership and community service. It also helped Dawes meet the 2024-29 LPS Strategic Plan goal of increased family and community engagement.
 
“It’s truly the kids who are doing all of the work,” Carpenter-Janike said. “They’ve been awesome. Our kids made the salsa and planned how they were going to serve all of the food to people, and they wanted to lead the bingo activities and be a part of that, too. They’re the ones who are making this night turn out so well.”
 
“I saw families sitting together at bingo chatting and laughing, and students who attended as part of Student Council got to join in on the fun as well,” Brening said. “Students who attended as student leaders were experiencing real-life collaborative modeling in a community where many programs or organizations come together to provide a service to the community. Students on the Student Council were part of planning their own roles in greeting, calling bingo numbers, organizing the bingo materials and directing the flow of the event.”

 
Brening said she was excited to see energetic smiles from Student Council members like Kylie, who spent much of the evening reading bingo numbers like G-49, I-25 and O-61 to the crowd. Kylie, a sixth grader, also showcased paper bags of fresh produce that filled several tables. Families who came to the cafeteria could take home items like cucumbers, apples, pears and onions, which were donated by a local produce company.
 
“I was so impressed with their impact on the event as a presence of student enthusiasm for the Dawes community,” Brening said.

 
The activities gave families an engaging way to view several spots on campus. They began the evening by touring the school garden, which features many beds containing a wide range of fruits and vegetables. Cooper said he liked showing the club’s workspace to area residents.
 
“Gardening is fun because you’re able to put in all of the work and then have the reward of what you made with the produce,” Cooper said.
 
The crowd then gathered in the cafeteria for food, fun and fellowship. They sat at multiple tables for a variety of bingo games. Winners could pick out prizes like scientific experiments, gift cards to local restaurants and sports items like a volleyball, football and basketball.
 
Carpenter-Janike felt family engagement nights would remain on the Dawes calendar for many years to come. She said students like Cooper, Aurora and Kylie had learned a lot from scooping salsa, serving chips and calling bingo numbers.
 
“I think everyone’s having a really good time tonight,” Carpenter-Janike said. “It’s fun to see the community come together like this here at school.”

LPS offers many family and community activities throughout the school district. Visit home.lps.org/strategicplan to learn more about the LPS 2024-29 Strategic Plan goal of increasing family and community engagement across Lincoln. 
 
Garden Club and Student Council are just two of the many activities LPS middle and high school students can participate in. Learn more about multiple ways for your students to get involved at school at home.lps.org/athletics/get-involved and home.lps.org/english/intramural-drama-speech-and-debate.
 
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