Teamwork was the catchphrase of the day for members of the Cooking Club on a recent field trip to Sur La Table in Lake Grove.
The 19 students in the program took part in a workshop with a
professional chef where they were taught to make pasta from scratch,
rolling it, shaping it and feeding it into a pasta machine. They also
made a Caesar salad and dessert before sitting down to share their meal
together.
“As hands-on learning opportunities are always a valuable aspect of the
educational process, the students were successful in creating the meal
and enjoying it together,” said school social worker Kristin Britt, who
leads the program in coordination with the district’s speech language
pathologist Stacia Schoen.
According to Britt, the focus of the club is social learning, which
includes good communication, flexible thinking and cooperation. It also
gives students an opportunity to interact with one another, giving them
an active voice within their peer groups to become healthier and happier
by taking the time to work together over the meals they create.
The Cooking Club is funded by the Royal Educational Foundation of Port
Jefferson, which works to strengthen community participation in school
programs and provide funds for projects to help assure educational
excellence for all students in the Port Jefferson School District.