After researching Native American tribes in Kansas, students in Ryan Kopper’s English III class made their own beef jerky on Tuesday, Sept. 17.

Before making their beef jerky, students were assigned to create a brochure about a tribe in Kansas, which included their history, beliefs, and way of life. Students were also tasked to research the tribes food preservation methods and the process of meat drying.

As a part of drying their own meat, each group of students brought their own ingredients as a way to provide a step-by-step recipe for their brochures. This project was graded in two parts: the brochure of the students’ research and the sampling of the meat after it was dried.

“Our group decided to mix lime juice, a teriyaki kind of mixture, and some seasonings in our bag,” junior Keaton Benedick said.

Creating the beef jerky was a step by step process: cutting beef into small strips, applying a spice rub or a marinade in a quart sized bag for six hours, placing the strips in a dehydrator and leaving for 24 hours.

“My groups beef jerky turned out pretty good. I liked the project, I think the research was kind of hard because we couldn’t find out exactly how our tribe preserved their meat but we found enough to get an idea of how they did it,” junior Cole Lujano said.