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How the Learning Happens: Cooking Co-Op

In January 2016, Michelle interviewed Kai, a 13 year old student, about his work with the Cooking Co-Op to change the procedures for using the kitchen. His reflections on the process sheds a little light on how the learning happens at PFS. Kai developed much more than his baking skills along the way. 

Michelle: In what way did the Cooking Co-Op procedures not meet your needs?

Kai: I wanted to be able to use the kitchen more freely, without the staff-- when I wanted to, without working around someone else’s schedule. This wasn’t in place yet because there wasn’t a enough interest to put in the effort to change it.

Chefs Chefs

Michelle: How did you solve it?

Kai:  First I asked around. I talked to Joel and Michelle about it. We had 2-3 Cooking Co-Op meetings. Eventually we created the certification level for Sous Chef.

Michelle: How long did it take?

Kai:  Probably about a month.

Michelle: Why did it take so long? What was the process?

Kai:  We had to work with everyone’s schedules to meet. Then we had to share a lot of ideas, agree on them, and write them down.  We had to get them approved at School Meeting. Then they became part of the Cooking Co-Op Procedures and we added them to the binder.

Michelle: What considerations did you take into account when creating the certification?

Kai:  We had to think about safety and keeping the kitchen clean.  Like, we thought about how to put out a grease fire. If you wanted to be able to cook alone, you had to get Sous Chef certification, but if you wanted to have people in there who weren’t certified, you had to have a Head-Chef in there.

Bagel Making Making bagels

Michelle: What benefits have you gotten from your efforts?

Kai:  I have been able to bake what I want now by myself—baguettes, pound cake, pie, cream puffs, cookies, bread. I can be in there as often as I need to to keep baking until I get it right.

Michelle: Any advice for other students who want to change procedures in the school?

Kai:  Make sure you talk with others in the Co-op. Plan with everyone else. Don’t give up. It might take some work, but it’s gonna be worth it.

Michelle:  What did you learn from this experience?

Kai:
1.     How to create a certification.
2.     Safety and cleaning in a kitchen.
3.     Cooking and baking skills.
4.     How to get something done with other people.  How to agree with several other people on something important.
5.     How to create a procedure with high standards that lots of people are going to be using.

Sous Chefs Other Sous Chefs enjoying their new certification

Michelle: Do you feel proud of your accomplishment?

Kai:  Yes. It’s nice to see that other people are interested enough to go through the certification process now. I’ve seen them using the kitchen a lot!

After Kai went through this process, he decided to create his own cookbook. Some of the recipes are his own, while others are curated from experiences he has had with food. Kai selected each recipe and photo, printed, and bound the book himself, over weeks at school. This is an excerpt from the introduction he wrote:


Cookbookcreation Printing and binding the cookbook

“I am a 13 year old boy who lives in Philadelphia and I am currently attending the Philly Free School. I have lived in Philadelphia for the last year and a half. I moved from Albuquerque, NM. I am very interested in food and I love baking and cooking. Philadelphia and the Philly Free School have allowed me to expand my knowledge in the field of culinary arts, for which I am very grateful.”

Here is one of his recipes.

Chewy Sugar Cookies
This is a recipe I made with Meg, who came to my school one day to show me how to bake 3 different pastry items. This is the only recipe I have of that day, but we also baked cream puffs and a pie. Meg used to be a pastry teacher at a culinary college in Philadelphia.

  • 2 ¾ C flour
  • 1-2 C sugar
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 2 eggs
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 2 tsps vanilla extract
  • 1 ¼ C butter
  • ¼ C white sugar, for decoration
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Once done, set the bowl to the side.
  3. In a large bowl, mix together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
  4. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla.
  5. Gradually stir in the dry ingredients until blended together.
  6. Roll the dough into walnut-sized balls, and roll the balls in the remaining ¼ C sugar.
  7. Place cookies 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets and flatten slightly.
  8. Bake for 8-10 minutes in the preheated oven until lightly browned at the edges.
  9. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to put on wire rack to cool completely.

Kai donated one of his cookbooks to the school to be auctioned off in our annual fundraiser, the Spring Fling. We are so glad Kai has shared his many talents with the PFS community.

Michelle Loucas, May 03rd