WINDSOR MILL, Md. — Let Khalil cook!
Khalil Paschall is an 11th-grade student at Youth In Transition School in Windsor Mill. It's for children who don't fit in a traditional school setting.
He's in the new culinary training program. On this day's menu: chicken quesadilla and...
“I fixed chicken tenders,” he says, proudly showing a pan full of freshly fried, hand-breaded chicken tenders.
He's among students at the school, ages 11 to 21, who have intellectual disabilities, or emotional and behavioral issues. Classes are small – nine students at most.
“It helps them out a lot,” says Robert Marion, culinary teacher. “We have kids that have problems and disabilities that come. It's like a family. Once we get these kids here, they know who we are, we know who they are, we work good with them.”
Culinary students are learning kitchen basics like food safety, knife skills, and hygiene. They can get the SafeServe food safety certification. It's a standard credential in the food service industry.
“That gives them a big leg up going into getting a job,” says Erik Lund, interim director of education.
Lund says what they're learning in the kitchen and studying in the classroom helps in the real world.
“I can say, ‘Hey remember how we did this in culinary?’ We problem solved, we went back to the recipe, we reread it and followed these steps,” he says. “Let's apply that same theory and practice to this math problem.”
The objective is for students to get a job after graduation. The overall goal, leaving with life skills to help live independently as adults.
What Khalil and the other students are creating in the kitchen... A recipe for success.
