Cooking & Dreaming Fearlessly with Student U

"How was it?" Mr. John hollered over the rumble of the bus engine.

"Awful," Morgan growned.

"Awesome!" corrected Rahim.

Minutes earlier, the crew of high school students-- Morgan, Rahim, and Jayda-- stood in the kitchen of the Durham Catering Co. (http://http//www.durhamcatering.com/) wielding butcher knives and slicing through whole chickens. The chickens needed to be halved and marinated in preparation for Monday's lunch. Morgan, disgusted by the process, claimed she'd never eat chicken again. "She'll be eating chicken strips this afternoon," Rahim teased.

Before working on the chicken for Monday's lunch, Morgan, Rahim, and Jayda put the finishing touches on Friday's lunch, slicing cooked pork roast and mixing orange kool-aid. They explained to me the process they had used to prepare Friday's menu: pork roast, mac n' cheese, and bread. They marinated the pork in lemon zest, oil, and "leafy stuff;" braised it on the grill; then baked it for ten minutes. For the mac n' cheese, Jayda boiled the noodles. Then the cheese sauce had been created by mixing a roux with the melted cheese. Finally, the students added the noodles to the cheese sauce and baked it.

Morgan, Rahim, and Jayda are part of a program in Durham, NC called Student U (http://http//studentudurham.org/). The program, which is free for all participants, provides support for students throughout the school year, and in the summer it kicks into high gear with six weeks of summer academics, character building, and fun. Morgan, Rahim, and Jayda, who have been attending Student U for four or more years, are now rising 9th and 10th graders. They look forward to coming back to Student U each summer.

They described the past lunches at Student U as less-than-tastey. After several summers of complaints about the food, the program directors began exploring other options. When they approached Durham Catering Co. with the idea of providing lunch for one week of the program, the catering company zealously offered to prepare meals for the entire summer. The company even agreed to host a handful of high school "interns" from the program, teaching them the ins and outs of food preparation. Thus Morgan, Rahim, and Jayda earned their summer positions as chefs-in-training.

During the first week of Student U's summer program the new lunches were a big hit. Students asked for seconds and thirds, and the interns were proud of their work.

When I asked the interns what their best meal was, Jayda bragged about the shrimp scampi they had prepared. One of the values Student U hopes to instill in its students this summer is "dreaming fearlessly." For Jayda, the value of dreaming fearlessly comes to life in the kitchen of the Durham Catering Co. each day; one day, Jayda hopes to become a chef.

If you want to contribute to Student U and help students like Jayda "dream fearlessly," you can send donations to:

Student U

3116 Academy Road

Durham, NC 27707

This summer's lunches cost $2 per student per day. By donating $10, you can help feed one student for a week.