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Volume 23, Number 22
Friday, August 30, 2019
School leaders unveil new plans at convocation By Everett Bishop Town Times
Ami Beach and Mark Shadle, owners of Gmonkey food truck. The truck stopped by the Durham Farmers Market on Thursday, Aug. 22. Photos by Everett Bishop, Town Times
Eco-friendly food truck rolls into farmers market By Everett Bishop Town Times
RSD 13 hosted a convocation ceremony for students, families and faculty Aug. 23. This event, set prior to the start of the new school year, which began Aug. 28, was a way to reach out to the community to talk about the latest strategies and initiatives planned for the upcoming session. Speakers at the event included: Superintendent of Schools Dr. Kathryn Veronesi; teacher and Board of Education teacher advisor Amy Schaefer; and keynote speaker Christopher Eaves, an artist and performer from New York City. “We need to be compassionate to each other. We need to be each other’s champions,” said Schaefer
The nationally recognized and eco-friendly Gmonkey food truck made at a stop at the Durham Farmers Market recently.
as she opened the convocation. “We need to realize when a colleague needs our compassion and not our criticism. I want you to think of compassion as a seed, and every day if you plant this seed and give it love, support and gratitude, it will turn into something unbreakable and strong.” Schaefer said that in order to “create meaningful change” in her classroom, she leads by example and approaches any challenges with students or her colleagues as “puzzles to solve” instead of problems that need solutions. “My hope is that we can shift the mindset of our schools through emotional empowerment,” she said. “We need to cultivate a community of underSee Convocation, A7
Run by local residents – husband and wife duo Mark Shadle and Ami Beach – the truck serves organic vegan cuisine and uses only plantbased materials in their operation. “We get all organic stuff and we use purveyors that only source locally,” Beach said. “Tasting is believing. When we tell people ‘Just try this burger’ they can’t believe not only that it’s vegan but that it’s actually really good for them.” They grow organic food at Shadle Farm in Durham.
The Gmonkey food truck runs on converted vegetable oil as a fuel source and provides customers with plant-based, compostable utensils, napkins and to-go containers.
Utensils, straws, napkins and to-go containers are all compostable. According to their website, the truck runs on a “clean energy source” that is converted from organic vegetable oil.
Their interest in organic vegan and vegetarian food and the environment stretches back decades. See Gmonkey, A9
Amy Schaefer included points and quotes in her convocation ceremony presentation for the audience to reflect on. Everett Bishop, Town Times