AUSTIN, Texas — After spending about 300 hours in the kitchen together, a new class of chefs is ready to start showcasing their skills in kitchens across Central Texas.
Four students earned their diplomas from the Central Texas Food Bank’s 11-week Culinary Training Program on Friday. Shawn Newsome is one of those graduates, who applied for the program after going through a tough time of losing his job and trying to figure out what to do next.
“This is like, you know, a home away from home just being here,” Newsome said. “We’re more than students or cohorts, we’re a family.”
Newsome said in addition to leaving with dozens of dishes under his belt, he’s also leaving the program having found his voice.
“They made it easier for me to be like, ‘heard’, ‘you need this?’, ‘got this’, or you know, just putting me in a position to just be myself, be comfortable in the skin I’m in, and also grow to be a better chef, a better person, and just an overall better human being,” Newsome said.
During the 11-week course, students learn cooking techniques, knife skills, meal preparation skills, nutrition and menu planning in the Central Texas Food Bank’s commercial kitchen, as well as achieve a food safety certification (ServSafe). They also learn professional development skills like financial literacy, résumé writing and interview preparation.
“Not only are we feeding people today, but we believe in feeding people tomorrow,” said Sari Vatske, the President and CEO of the Central Texas Food Bank. “We believe in addressing the root causes of hunger and poverty.”
Vatske says their students go on to get food service jobs with local employers shortly after graduation, many times earning three times more than the minimum wage. One of the students from the prior graduating class landed a cooking job at SpaceX just three days after graduation.
Chef Cameron Thomas, the course instructor, said the program gives the students the opportunity to really take their time learning and developing the skills and knowledge behind cooking.
“You get to really like focus in on a lot of the details that you would just miss, or it would take a lot longer if you were in a commercial kitchen environment to like figure out,” Thomas said.
It was an emotional ceremony on Friday, as the four graduates reflected on their time in the program together, and the relationships they had developed with their classmates and Chef Cameron.
“Just seeing the confidence and the personality from where students start to when they end is just so humbling, inspiring, motivating,” Vatske said.
Newsome said after graduation, he’s hoping to keep honing his cooking craft and train under another chef, then eventually start teaching students one day.
“Someone gave this program to me, and I want to share it with other people,” Newsome said.
The Central Texas Food Bank’s next culinary training program starts on April 7. The program is free and open to all members of the community. More information on how to apply can be found on their website.
Next month, the Central Texas Food Bank is also launching a brand new 6-week Warehouse Training Program. The program will be preparing students for careers in warehouse operations and logistics. It’s also a free course, where students will learn through hands-on training, skills in inventory management, shipping and receiving, forklift operation and workplace safety.
Their first Spring Cohort starts on April 14. Anyone looking to apply for the program can do so on their website.