Mars GCC offers 'sweet' lessons to Jumeirah students

The visit was part of the school's latest project, where Year 3 classes investigated chocolate as part of their Creative Curriculum. The project embraced many elements of the curriculum, including art and design, science, and cookery, with the children exploring the history of chocolate as well as where in the world it is grown.

Zeina Maktabi, nutritionist from Mars, and Christine Greaves, Corporate Affairs Manager, were on hand to explain not only the science behind cocoa and chocolate production, but also the importance of incorporating activity into everyday lifestyles. They also brought a real cocoa pod, coco beans, and cocoa raw materials for the children to see first-hand, and explained in more detail the sustainability work that the Mars business undertakes with cocoa farmers in Ghana.

Christine Greaves, Corporate Affairs Manager, Mars GCC, comments:

"Mars GCC's has grown over the past nine years because of the strong support from the local community and we see school visits like this as a chance to give back to it. We believe educating the next generation is a serious responsibility and some projects we actively drive in the UAE include INJAZ Al-Arab, the Al Haraka Baraka programme with the Ministry of Education and the Academic Awards with key local UAE universities. We believe developed in childhood last a lifetime, and it is important to explain the importance of healthy eating and exercise into our daily lives. We've had some very positive feedback from students and teachers and look forward to continuing to work with the community on projects in the future."

Charlotte Grieves, Head of Year 3 at Jumeirah Primary School comments, "At GEMS Jumeirah Primary School we strive to provide children with high quality learning, not only within the classroom but in the wider community. This was a fantastic opportunity for the children to bring their learning into a real life context and understand the benefits of cocoa and the production of this delicious product. The excitement about the visit had been building for some time, and the children weren't disappointed!."

Ryan Kuirkos, aged 7, enjoyed the class immensely, commenting, "The presentation was very impressive and a lot of fun. We tried making our own chocolate but it didn't taste very nice!."

Thomas Haran, also aged 7, commented, "It has been great fun learning all about chocolate, and to see a real cocoa pod was amazing."