‘Life changing:’ Student describes TCS experiences

July 8, 2015

By Gwen Guerke, Communications Coordinator

John, a student at the Food Bank of Delaware’s Culinary School in Milford, calls his experience here “life changing.”

The 18-year-old Dover resident is already employed at a fast food chain, but he says he is learning something important and useful every day in the hopes of growing his career.

“I really like it. I’m always learning something new, and I’ve learned a lot about food,” he said.

Now in the seventh week of the 14-week curriculum, John said the classes also present some challenges.

“I have trouble remembering the technical side, but I’ve learned a lot. It changes your whole way of eating out,” he said.

Under the instruction of Food Bank of Delaware Chef Instructor Tim Hunter and the guidance of Ellen Roland, Culinary School program manager, the students spend 14 weeks developing their skills and passion for the culinary arts. From proper knife handling techniques to Serve Safe certification and completing a two-week internship, the students will be prepared for entry-level jobs in the food industry.

“John continues to try, and he gets better each day. He improves daily; he is doing fine,” said Chef Hunter

In addition to learning hands-on skills in the Food Bank’s industrial-sized kitchen, the students take field trips to food processing plants and urban food markets.

John said he already enjoyed preparing simple meals at home, but he would like to improve his skills.

“I would like to try to bake,” he said.

“It’s pretty life-changing. You can take recipes, and from them the possibilities are endless.”

The mission of The Culinary School is two-fold. First, students are taught skills that are highly desirable to employers in the food industry and second, these newly-developed skills have the potential to lead to jobs in the industry that provide job security and economic sustainability.

Students are referred to the program through the Delaware Department of Labor, Delaware Division of Vocational Rehabilitation and other community-based organizations.

For more information, visit http://www.fbd.org/the-culinary-school/.