By Kira Nelsen
RED BANK – February really was the sweetest month for St. James Elementary School students, but March is looking even better.
From March 12 to 27, nine unique flavors designed by students at the kindergarten through eighth-grade school will be available for purchase at Gracie and the Dudes ice cream shop in Sea Bright. A portion of the sales will benefit the school.
“This is such a wonderful opportunity for our students to use their creativity and gain an understanding of how businesses grow. We appreciate the chance, given to us by Gracie and the Dudes, to create a new ice cream flavor that will eventually be enjoyed by the public,” said JoAnn Giordano, principal of St. James School.
Throughout February, students in each homeroom worked collaboratively to create their own ice cream flavor, complete with distinctive – and descriptive – names.
The students created 18 flavors in all. Nine were then selected by Gracie and the Dudes’ owner Brian McMullin as the “winners” which will be produced for sale to the public. Four students from the winning classes were randomly selected to help McMullin make the ice cream creations.
“I liked adding the ingredients,” said kindergarten student Keira Kane. But for her, “the best part was eating ice cream when we were done.”
One of the winning flavors is Shamrock Krave Crunch, conceived by the eighth grade, which starts with a base of vanilla ice cream to which cookie dough, graham crackers, chocolate sauce and green sprinkles are added, all in honor of St. Patrick’s Day.
The fourth-grade class invented Jersey Jumbo Blast, another vanilla ice cream treat, this time mixed with crumbled Oreos, mini M&M’S, cookie dough and vanilla wafers.
“This was a great opportunity to watch my class work together and use skills learned in math class to come to the final product. This experience is one the students will remember,” noted first-grade teacher, Kathleen Rose.
Gracie and the Dudes is located at 1062 Ocean Ave. in Sea Bright.
This article originally appeared in the March 10 – 16, 2022 print edition of The Two River Times.
