We were honored to be included in Career Week at Harlem’s P.S. 28 Wright Brothers School and this “thank you” letter really touched our hearts.
These 5th grade students completely floored us with their thoughtful questions, knowledge about food, and eagerness to learn how to prepare themselves for college and the “real world” as adults.
These 5th grade students completely floored us with their thoughtful questions, knowledge about food, and eagerness to learn how to prepare themselves for college and the “real world” as adults.
The students were jotting down such great notes! Look below at another student's notes and notice how closely they were paying attention.
Alli and I had the opportunity to share each of our journey's to how we became personal chefs and we delved into struggles to get to this place in life.
The kids LOVED hearing all about the kinds of food we cook, but what they appreciated the most was how we were very open and honest about our bumps in the road along the way. It was important to me and Alli to be relatable to these students. When we were kids, we didn't always feel like adults really understood what it was like to be a kid. Even though we probably seem like two old goats to these kids, we wanted them to know that it didn't feel like that long ago when we were sitting in our 5th grade classrooms going through our own set of issues and that we faced quite a few hurtles (and continue to do so) in order to pursue a career that we love.
When we were 5th graders, we never thought that we would be chefs. We wanted to convey that the key to finding a career that we are passionate about included pushing ourselves to our limits sacrifice, a willingness to challenge ourselves and each other regularly, and dedicating ourselves to being hardworking students. We stressed that continuing education after high school was imperative in our success!
Talking about food with these kids was so much fun as well. They loved asking questions about what exactly it means to be a vegetarian or a vegan. They knew so much more about a plant-based diet than we expected which was very exciting! The kids also asked Alli what her favorite meat dish was to cook, which of course is her famous short-ribs, but she told them how much she loves to work with wild fish. Alli brought awareness to the importance of only using organic, grass-fed, humanly raised animal products and how she refuses to work with products made by companies who mistreat their livestock.
We consider it a huge accomplishment if we can get even one kid excited about one day choosing a career that they love and are passionate about the way that we are about being health-supportive chefs! Alli and I would also like to say a special thank you to my cousin, Lauren Ginsberg DeVilbiss, the librarian at P.S. 28 and founder of their career week. Thank you for including us in this special program. You are doing so much for these students. You drive home the importance of education and you push your students to always try to be the best version of themselves.