09.19.07
Teenagers, Tea, Teaching and T Ching
posted by Regena Rafelson | 14 comments
There are two prevailing views of the public school teacher. The first view is of the overpaid and under worked leech, “who gets three weeks off at Christmas, and three months off in the summer.” The second view is almost godlike in its awe, “How do you stand being around all those sassy kids all day long? I don’t know how you do it . . .“
Both views are incorrect.
Teenagers are monosyllabic when with their parents. You will hear complete sentences only when they need money; a ride; or to borrow your car. Otherwise, you could count the syllables of a day’s conversation on seven fingers. Most of these are simple grunts; broken occasionally by the word “Nothing,” or “Whatever.” About ninety percent of the parents who come to parent-teacher conferences come to find out if their kids still know how to converse.
A few weeks back, in a comment about the article, “The New, Twisted Health Benefits of Tea; I vowed to invite students to my classroom for tea on Tuesdays at lunch. To get people to enjoy freshly-brewed high quality tea, absent the sugar, you must introduce them to it. Like most habits of health, starting young is the best assurance that the habit will “take.”
The kind folks at T Ching donated a teapot suitable for six guests; several selections of quality tea; accessories for holding the strainer and scooping the dry tea leaves, as well as morale support. Another friend donated six gender-neutral teacups. I already had the tea kettle, hot plate and several gallons of bottled spring water. Good to go!
This week was the first Tuesday Tea. I invited six sophomore boys who are also members of my speech team. Since we will spend a lot of time in school vans and at tournaments in the next nine months, I saw the Tea Time as an opportunity to build community as I share my passion for tea. I chose Nepalese Oolong, a personal favorite, and the tea I am surest of steeping and serving at the correct temperature. The invitations were delivered just before lunch, and each boy was on time. The lights were turned out, the door locked, and I told them what I was doing and why as I prepared tea for them.
When I poured the tea, and invited them to take a cup, each lad took his tea in both hands, and inhaled deeply. Tentatively, they sipped.
“This is pretty good, actually,” Philip spoke up first.
“I thought it was going to be bitter,” Evan put in, “Hey, it feels really warm in the gut!”
“My Grandma drinks tea - ” Ethan began.
“Yeah, mine does too, but the stuff she drinks will take the enamel off your teeth!”
“So, are her teeth gone by now?”
“Dentures. She has dentures.”
“Probably why. This is good. What kind of tea is this?”
The bell rang. The boys thanked me. “That was surprisingly good,” Philip said, “Thank you very much.”
“Yeah, thanks,” and, “Bye, that was nice,” and, “Are you going to invite the whole team for tea?”
A success, no?
September 19th, 2007 at 8:18 am
Good job getting the younger kids to start enjoying tea.
You may have just changed their lives for the better
Jeremy
September 19th, 2007 at 12:23 pm
That’s awesome Regena. I just love your tea time idea. I have to share a story about an Elementary School taste testing…
Yesterday one of my more outgoing elementary school students inturupted my lecture with “What is it??” “Tea. Here try it”, I replied as I handed him my full bottle. He didn’t hesitate to throw a few big gulps of Iced Japanese Matcha down the hatch. Then he passed it to his buddy on the left and right, they passed it down the rows, and them to there buddies. Next thing I know I was sheepishly handed an near empty bottle with just a trace of thick green sludge pooled at the bottom.
Although I hardly needed to ask, I couldn’t resist….
“So, how was it”
Giggling, the students replied in unison ” Delicious teacher!”
September 19th, 2007 at 3:36 pm
See Regena, You just started another Beautiful Thing. That story was wonderful, as was the following comments….PJF
September 19th, 2007 at 3:39 pm
Sounds like fun. Maybe you should have the pot ready at team practice! I love the fact that it was boys (sipping form gender-neutral cups).
September 19th, 2007 at 3:52 pm
There was a 9-year old girl to whom I served tea at a friend’s teahouse, and she was so impressed by the smell and the taste of the various teas I brewed (mainly white, green and flower-scented teas). It was a fun and memorable experience for me.
I think the Nepalese oolong (you meant the Meghma oolong, right?) is a very pleasant tasting tea and would easily charm tea drinkers of all experience level.
September 19th, 2007 at 4:02 pm
Phyll, Regena did mean “Nepalese”. That’s the name we are selling it under at the T Ching store.
I remember your post about that girl and how impressed you were at the time. We need to provide more opportunities for kids like that to experience tea.
September 19th, 2007 at 4:50 pm
Watch this space! Five teenaged girls enjoyed Silver Needles today. Next week, I go co-ed! T Ching’s generosity makes this possible - and that the kids will love the tea more probable: if we want the kids to love quality tea, unsweetened, we have to start them with quality tea, which does not need sweetening if handled correctly.
September 19th, 2007 at 6:13 pm
I’m going to reach out to some local teachers I know, and see If there is one or two who are budding teaologists. Then introduce them to T Ching and provide them with some quality leaf, to brew for their students. I’ll let you know. Regena & Matthew, any suggestions from you the teachers??……PJF
September 19th, 2007 at 8:15 pm
Thank you Regena for turning high school kids onto tea. The role of a teacher today extends to many things…..who would have thought tea would be among them!
September 19th, 2007 at 10:07 pm
I always prepare the tea before class. When the students arrive and sit down I offer them tea. When faced with the option of drinking free, already made, tea, most students will, at the very least, try the tea. I would surmise that about 90% of the students will try the tea in this situation. That’s really high… I guess they see their friends drink it and they aren’t given any other options like coffee, juice, cola, or even water, so almost all of the students take the tea. The most surprising thing that I found is that even the children who don’t like tea, end up drinking it! The look on their faces completely give them away, some students even make comments like “gross” or “I don’t like tea”. The next day when I offer tea to those same children they will drink it again! Some of the students who at first did not like tea are now starting to enjoy tea!
If we want children to develop a taste for tea we must give them repeated exposures to good tea. I know only a few people who absolutely loved their first glass of wine, beer, or coffee. These tastes need to be developed, they are acquired tastes. Can you remember your first sip of tea? How did it taste???
Regena, I suggest bringing in a pot before class. It can be like a promotion to advertise your ‘Tuesday Tea Time’. You’ll be surprised at the amount of students that will drink and enjoy the tea!
September 20th, 2007 at 12:05 am
A good part of our customer base for freshly brewed (by the cup) at the store are teenagers..they love our store and chide their friends for going to a coffeehouse. We are mentioned on MySpace pages and it’s really great to see them enjoying it so much.
September 20th, 2007 at 12:06 am
I should add..this is iced tea. Almost none order hot tea. Iced tea is about 85% of United States consumption and most of that is black. They also tend to go for things the adults won’t try as easily such as mate.
September 22nd, 2007 at 10:19 pm
I’m not sure it’s directly relevant, but I am reminded of a keynote speech at this year’s World Tea Expo. The speaker suggested that the primary future of increased USA tea consumption would most likely be replacing the consumption of bottled water (as opposed to replacing coffee as a hot beverage). If bottled ice tea retains its health benefits, I can certainly see students consuming it in quantity as a healthful hydrating alternative rather than the various new “Energy” drinks that seem to be flooding the market.
September 22nd, 2007 at 10:38 pm
I may be mistaken, Eric, but I think the only way that bottled tea can maintain health benefits is if EGCG extracts are added to it just prior to bottling. I’m not certain of this, however, so don’t take my word for it. I will check into it further.