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While most of our monthly menus come straight from the brilliant minds of our in-house ice cream designers, once a year we turn the flavor creation over to some of the best inventors we know: kids!

This year, we teamed up with elementary schools in Portland and Los Angeles to create a delicious lineup of limited-edition flavors inspired by the cravings, dreams, and childhood memories of our communities’ young collaborators. These one-of-a-kind combinations of ice creams and delicious additions push the boundaries of flavor fantasy, bringing a kid's-eye-view to dessert that you need to eat to believe.

At each school, we team up with teachers and parent organizations to make our annual Ice Cream Inventing “Assignment” fun and rewarding for the students we work with—and because of the amazing work of these students and the great flavors they dream up, Salt & Straw is able to donate a portion of proceeds from these ice cream flavors right back to the schools that invented them!

One of our favorite parts of this fun menu is that each of our scoop shops get to feature three different flavors created by their neighborhood school! So, Portland, that means there are nine different flavors for you try this month! And, Los Angeles, there are fifteen yummy flavors for you to enjoy! Be sure to go by all of our scoop shops to try all the featured flavors.

Here is a bit more about each of the schools we had the pleasure of working with and the flavors that came out of this super special collaboration:

Portland

Abernethy Elementary

This cute little elementary school tucked away in Ladd’s Addition—near our SE Division scoop shop—is home to an amazing School Kitchen Garden program. In Abernethy’s lush outdoor classroom, students learn food-based education by building and maintaining their own garden space, and even cook with chefs using the fresh produce they grow themselves! We are honored to be able to donate to the Abernethy PTA, which is set up to fund extracurricular spanish classes, school supplies, library staff, after school garden programs, and technology and art education! Salt & Straw Triple M Non Dairy

Vernon Elementary

Located just a block away from our NE Alberta shop, Vernon is home to a community that’s been close to our hearts since we opened our first scoop shop. Three years ago, we collaborated with Vernon students to create flavors like Rainbow Splash—a classic rainbow sherbet made with real Skittles—and raised seed money for Nike to help fund a new basketball court. This year, we are excited to give back to Vernon Elementary with this new lineup of delicious flavors!

Chapman Elementary

Chapman sits atop a hill in Portland’s Alphabet District near our NW 23rd shop, and is home to an inspiring program of school-wide “Weekly Roundups”—a showcase of student-led presentations on current studies, fun facts, and opportunities for classmates to work together on fun projects. Our Ice Cream Inventing adventure has been a part of these Weekly Roundups for several years, allowing us to raise donations for Friends of Chapman, which works to support reading programs, provide school supplies, and is breaking ground this year on a playground for Chapman students and their NW Portland neighbors.

Schoolyard Farms at Candy Lane Elementary

Wiz Bang Bar’s soft-serve specialists teamed up with Schoolyard Farms—which partners with Portland’s public K-12 schools to build working farms on their underused schoolyards—to create a very special treat. These school farms help teach kids where their food comes from by providing hands-on gardening and cooking lessons just steps away from their classrooms. A portion of this month’s proceeds will support Candy Lane Elementary’s farm via Schoolyard Farms!
  • Yum Yum Sundae - By Aracely
  • Carrot Pie Sundae - By Allison, Laura & Polly

Los Angeles

Larchmont Charter School

From Kindergarten to 12th Grade, Larchmont Charter School—near our Larchmont Village scoop shop—is an integral part of our community, providing access to exceptional education for everyone in the neighborhood regardless of financial circumstances. The school’s mission is to create a thirst for knowledge using experiential based education (like the experience of designing your own ice cream flavor and finding out how it’s made!) We’re so honored to working with and raise money for this inspiring educational hub.

Westminster Elementary

Located just down the street from our Abbot Kinney scoop shop, Westminster is an amazing example of how a community can pull together to transform a public school. This education gem is quickly becoming the top of its class in all subjects, thanks to innovative leaders and creative fundraising ideas that foster art in ways that we’ve never seen, teach gardening from sprout to restaurant kitchen, and get real instruments into the hands of kids in an innovative music program. We’re absolutely honored to be able to be a part of this little slice of magic, and are excited to help raise money to support all the good coming out of this school via Friends of Westminster Booster Club. Pineapple-Star Anise Ripple with Honeycomb Brittle - By Harper

Carpenter Community Charter

Just around the corner from our Studio City scoop shop, this K-5 school mixes music, dance, arts, and technology into traditional elementary curriculum for a special learning experience that gets great results—Carpenter is #1 in its district in statewide testing performance! We love Carpenter’s indoor and outdoor science labs, and are excited that a portion of this month’s proceeds will benefit Parents for Carpenter’s efforts to fund even more music, physical education, dance, science lab, and art classes. Salt & Straw's Salt n' pepper carmel flavor   Salt & Straw's Saturday breakfast flavor by Sophia

Inner-City Arts

We worked with students from Metro Charter Elementary School to create a series of delightful flavors to benefit Inner-City Arts' safe, creative space (near our Arts District scoop shop) where LA's kids are invited to explore, create, and learn. They even created an amazing ice-cream inspired sculpture while they were dreaming up their flavors! We’re so excited to display this work of art in our scoop shop all month long, and will donate a portion of this month’s proceeds to Inner-City Arts' efforts to transform the lives of LA students through innovative arts education.

Larchmont Charter Fairfax Campus

From Transitional Kinder to 4th Grade, Larchmont Charter School’s Fairfax campus—near our West Hollywood scoop shop—is an integral part of our community, providing access to exceptional education for everyone in the neighborhood regardless of financial circumstances. The school’s mission is to create a thirst for knowledge using experiential based education (like an Edible Schoolyard affiliated with the Alice Waters Foundation to the experience of designing your own ice cream flavor and finding out how it’s made!) We’re so honored to be working with and raise money for this inspiring educational hub. baked Alaska - Frances Tyler Malek Head Ice Cream Maker