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Dinner Is Food For Thought

STAFF/CLIFF MCBRIDE

Pierce Middle School is holding its annual apagetti dinner to prepare students for the FCAT. Students spents days preparing for the dinner. Kids prepare the meatballs.

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By COURTNEY CAIRNS PASTOR, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 6, 2008

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TOWN 'N COUNTRY - Pierce Middle School's halls smelled like garlic and oregano. The kitchen had finished serving lunches for the day, but spaghetti cooked in a waist-high pot, and meatballs baked in the oven. The refrigerator was packed with 45 gallons of sauce and more than 1,000 meatballs.

"Besides the ones we tasted," joked retired teacher and pasta chef Frank DiMarco.

DiMarco taught math at Pierce for 35 years before retiring in 2006. He returns to help with the spaghetti dinner, a decade-old Pierce tradition that attracted 800 people last year. He said he's a natural choice to help - he's Italian.

"If you're Italian, you know how to cook," DiMarco said.

A day before the dinner last week, DiMarco supervised students as they filled trays with dry noodles. He would cook the spaghetti to al dente in advance and then reheat it on Thursday for the crowds.

A culinary operations class, meanwhile, mixed 10 pounds of ground beef with onions, breadcrumbs, herbs and spices to make 100 meatballs at a time. A recipe on the dry-erase board at the front of the classroom reminded them of the ingredients, although the students almost had a disaster when someone began putting in nine cups of garlic instead of nine cups of breadcrumbs.

Eighth-graders last week scooped and rolled and packed them onto a baking sheet until the mixture was gone.

"All right, give me your scraps," said Karen Roberts, 13. "I'm making meatballs."

Students, staff and the principal pitch in to make enough spaghetti, meatballs, Cuban bread and salad to feed 1,000. Pierce teachers worked the food lines in the kitchen to serve diners. Local businesses donate the food and supplies, so Pierce can use the $5 charged per plate as a school fundraiser.

The dinner has grown each year since it started 10 years ago when it attracted about 25 people.

Principal Victor Fernandez came up with the idea when he was Pierce's assistant principal and the state was introducing the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.

"I wanted to inform the community as to what the school was doing for FCAT and what we were planning to do," Fernandez said.

The first portion of the FCAT, the writing test, begins Tuesday. The reading, math and science portions take place March 11-24 for grades three through 11. The FCAT affects ratings the state and federal governments give schools and can also prevent high school students from graduating and some younger students from advancing to the next grade.

The spaghetti dinner isn't all serious. Pierce has its band and school dancers perform, and most of the night is a chance for parents and students to see the school and the teachers in a more casual atmosphere. Former students and community members also attend.

"The families come together," said Paula Haggerty, the family and consumer science teacher who oversees the culinary program. "It's a chance for families to come and eat together and see what's going on at the school."

Reporter Courtney Cairns Pastor can be reached at (813) 865-1503 or cpastor@tampatrib.com.

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