Emotional Kitchen School graduation includes tears, laughs, and sweet treats

December 3, 2024

Today at the Food Bank of Delaware, we celebrated success, perseverance, learning, and positive outcomes. At our Milford facility, eight students officially graduated from The Kitchen School in ceremonies attended by family, friends, and program supporters.

Congratulations to our graduates: Mary Ellen Barth, Darnell Channels, Sara Hastings, Frederick Jordan Hickman, Annie Pacana, Bradley Rankin, William Stevens, and Joseph Ulrich.

The Kitchen School, supported by the Delaware Department of Labor, represents a partnership between the Delaware Restaurant Association and the Food Bank in collaboration with teachers and counselors specializing in work with individuals with disabilities. These grads completed a 12-week training developed to include group and individualized instruction. The next session starts on Jan. 13.

President and CEO Cathy Kanefsky told students and their families that “graduation is among our best experiences. These students have worked hard in the kitchen, in the Café’, at special events,” she said.

Keynote speaker, Jon Stanley. Executive Director, Chick-fil-A Milford, is no stranger to working hard for more than three decades with experience in the U.S. Navy and UPS before managing the local Chick-fil-A. He urged the students to focus on opportunities, their attitudes and work ethic, and developing a positive approach to each day.

“Find a company that has a culture you’re comfortable with, that you enjoy 80 percent of the time,” he said.

Chef Instructor Shalisa Alexander is The Kitchen School’s instructor. “Being a chef is the hardest job I’ve ever done, and these students pulled at my heartstrings. These students have courage because they act without fear of failure. They take everything I have to give,” she said. She noted that the eight graduates had a 99 percent pass rate on their ServSafe® exam. “That is no small feat.”

Emotions ran high as audience members and Food Bank staff wiped tears when the graduates stepped to the podium to receive their graduation certificates.

Students thanked their advocates, family and instructors for the opportunities they enjoyed. “It’s a blessing,” said Joseph. “This is a trade I’ve been looking for a while.”

As the ceremony drew to a close with Kanefsky acknowledging the value of shared emotional moments, the tears changed to smiles. Lunch – prepared and served by the students – shifted the focus to lasagna, chicken parmesans, salad and a choice of desserts to sweeten the experience.