We had a busy spring in the kitchen! Over 19 weeks from January to May we held 164 classes with 915 participants. That adds up to a lot of meals and smiles! We’re grateful to all of our partners, instructors and volunteers who helped to make this semester a success.
We held 104 CHEF Kids classes with 172 students this spring. Our CHEF Kids unit themes were TexMex, Cooking Around the World, and Asian Cuisine. CHEF Kids classes occur after school for elementary and middle school students. One of our favorite recipes was Turkey Lettuce Wraps! Our partners for these classes included: Big Brothers Big Sisters, Boys & Girls Club of Central Virginia, Charlottesville Abundant Life Ministries, City of Promise, Community Attention, Community Housing Partners and Piedmont Housing Alliance.
26 CHEF Families classes were held with 125 parents and children. Our CHEF Families programs are held with ReadyKids and Young Lives. These classes introduce nutrition tips specific for families with young children, such as tips for picky eaters and age appropriate table manners. Our favorite CHEF Families recipe was Red Lentil Curry which was also a recipe for Holiday Giving.
618 students from both Charlottesville City and Albemarle County elementary schools come to the kitchen for a field trip in our CHEF for a Day classes. These field trip experience are for students in pre-kindergarten through third grade classes where students make a simple but healthy and delicious recipe. Our curriculum includes skills like reading a recipe, measuring ingredients and trying a new food.
To make all of our programs run smoothly we had the help of 46 volunteers from the community and Madison House. They helped us wash countless dishes, helped kids with their knife skills and hopefully had fun, too! We can’t wait to see what the kids cook up this summer!