Celebrating Sarah and Melany

Melany and Sarah take a brief break from preparing Cooking for Kids meals to smile for the camera.

Project Host finished out the year with a great cohort of students in its CC Pearce Culinary School and celebrated their graduation on December 11. Students Sarah and Melany completed the program, taught by Chef Marianne, and are now ServSafe certified and armed with a new set of skills to find employment in the culinary industry.

Melany and Sarah came to the program with two very different backgrounds, but both were ambitious students, eager to learn and share their love for cooking. Melany comes from Venezuela, which she and her family left for the United States amid the political and social turmoil of the past several years.

Melany originally started a program in February 2020, but the class got cancelled just a few weeks in due to COVID-19. Eager to learn and improve her culinary skills, Melany returned to us in November to resume instruction. On graduation day, Chef Marianne reflected on Melany’s trajectory, stating that “her dedication and persistence shines through in all that she does.”

Melany prepping galettes for the Holiday Market.

Sarah learned about Project Host’s culinary school while volunteering in the Project Host Soup Kitchen.

“I liked what the Soup Kitchen was all about—volunteering your time, not getting paid to help people that are less fortunate, coming in and cooking the food. When I was told that there was an opportunity to go into the culinary school, I wanted to do that to enhance everything I already knew about cooking.”

Sarah had past experience working in the school district as a cook, and the CC Pearce Culinary School gave her the opportunity to refresh those skills and develop new ones.

“In the program, I learned putting together different spices to enhance the flavor and make my food better. My knife skills became better going through the program. I just really enjoyed it. I enjoyed every part of it, and I’m thankful to have had the opportunity to go through it.”

Chef Marianne and Sarah on graduation day.

The pay-it-forward aspect of the culinary school also appealed to Sarah and reminded her of her work for the school district years ago.

“Preparing the meals for the kids, I felt like I was back working at the school again. I volunteered my time during the summer months. We had after school programs and we reached out to communities with lower income families and giving those children a good meal every day. Exactly what we do here. It’s awesome.”

Now Sarah has gone on to be an intern and has the opportunity to sharpen her skills further by working on the food truck and in the Bakery. She recently experienced baptism by fire, helping Chef Linda prepare over 600 pies for Fluor’s holiday order. But Sarah has big aspirations of opening a coffee shop and bakery, so how better to prepare than to dive right in?

Chef Marianne has every confidence that Sarah will continue to seize every opportunity to learn and develop while she interns with Project Host.

“Sarah was a true pleasure to work with. She’s a go-getter and up for any challenge, because at the end of the day, Sarah just wants to grow. I’m super excited to have her as an intern and can’t wait to see where she goes next.”