Stone’s Throw chefs, Marisa Peña & Danielle Flaherty spent the past seven summer weeks teaching culinary job skills to the kids at the Golden Heart Academy. The Golden Heart Academy is located at the Fairbanks Youth Facility (FYF), which is the second-largest of Alaska’s juvenile correctional facilities. While institutionalized, Golden Heart Academy students continue working towards earning a high school diploma as well as gaining other critical life skills, like how to cook for themselves & others.
The Bread Line chefs had a great time with this amazing group of youth. Between the treatment & detention wings, FYF students tested for their Alaska Food Worker Cards with 100% success & three detention wing students passed their ServSafe Manager cards! Seven weeks of hard work culminated in a graduation feast. The students came up with what they wanted to make & prepared all the food themselves. On the graduation menu was stir fry chicken with bok choy (grown in the FYF garden!), spam friend rice, creole shrimp, ribs with mac n cheese, Cuban-style mojo pork, Taiwanese beef noodle soup with tea eggs, fresh strawberry cake & deep fried oreos! Wow.
We are VERY proud of our FYF grads – they did a lot of great work this summer. Our gratitude goes out to the Golden Heart Academy students who brought their all to this Stone’s Throw class as well as Juvenile Justice Unit Supervisor Mr. Mark Weisenbeck, Golden Heart Academy Transition Coordinator Diana Dillard & – of course – Chef Marisa & Chef Danielle.
