High School Lessons in Giving Back to the Community

What to do with too many turkeys, was the problem facing staff at Concord’s Friendly Kitchen, the long-time provider of warm meals to the city’s low-income and homeless population. Exceedingly generous holiday donations had left them with 30 extra turkeys, which they had neither the staff nor the space to process and store.

Through his ongoing association with the Friendly Kitchen, Concord Regional Technical Center Culinary & Pastry Arts teacher Jayson McCarter heard about this situation and offered up his students as a solution.

“I saw this as an opportunity to provide these kids with a lesson that goes beyond the books,” Chef McCarter said, adding that this is the second year CRTC Culinary & Pastry Arts students have engaged with the Friendly Kitchen. “This kind of project helps to create an awareness of the issue of food insecurity, as well as a realization that they are able to contribute to the solution.”

CRTC Culinary students cooked, sliced and froze the turkey meat, and made gallons of turkey broth and gravy, which they also packaged and froze for use in future meals. When the processed turkey products were delivered to the Friendly Kitchen in December, pantry manager Jim Gerraughty told Chef McCarter that he was worried about 120 pounds of frozen fruit he had that was closing in on its use-by date, and asked if the CRTC Culinary students could do something with it.

The students went right to work producing 8 pies and a dozen 21” by 13” pans of cobbler, which Chef McCarter delivered to the Friendly Kitchen for use in their meal service.

The CRTC Culinary & Pastry Arts program offers students an opportunity to explore their interests in the industry while they are still in high school, teaching them cooking, kitchen and restaurant management skills in the CRTC’s professional-style kitchen, as well as preparing them for success in culinary postsecondary schools. Successful students can earn nine college credits and a number of industry certifications that help to jumpstart their college and career ambitions.

“I realized that this collaboration with the Friendly Kitchen provided us with an opportunity to expose these kids to more than just a lesson in the kitchen,” Chef McCarter said. “It’s been a kind of onramp for giving back to the community that they can hopefully embrace and take with them after they leave the program.”

The CRTC is now recruiting students for the 2024-25 school year. High school sophomores from Concord and nine surrounding school districts can apply to one of the 12 career pathway programs offered that can help students to explore their career interests and ambitions by taking a more targeted and strategic approach to their high school education. To learn more about how students can jumpstart their postsecondary plans, visit the CRTC website or plan to attend the CRTC Open House on January 31 at the Concord High School, starting at 6 pm.