Harlem Young Chefs Show Off Skills Against the Cullinary Clock

Students from The Children’s Aid Society’s Hope Leadership Academy in Harlem will compete in their first Iron! Chefs contest. They will have one hour to design an original menu and demonstrate their food preparation skills, preparing delicious and healthy meals from a range of cultures.

A total of 18 adolescents will break into small groups and slice and dice their way through the timed competition. Each will receive a certificate in recognition of their participation, and top prizes will be awarded for specific categories.

Hope Leadership Academy is a teen center that gives adolescents a safe place to process their feelings on violence and victimization, and shows them how to derive strength from their experiences so that they can feel empowered rather than hopeless. Hope trains youth to be community educators, advocates and leaders, and gives them the skills and self-confidence they need to make changes in their own lives, their neighborhoods, and beyond.

Components of the program include academic support, college readiness and scholarships, career planning, community service and financial literacy, as well as facilitated group sessions on a range of topics affecting teens.

By finding peaceful and effective solutions to violence and prejudice and encouraging their peers to do the same, Hope participants help to build safer communities and stronger families.

Friday, December 14, 2012, 5:30 – 8:30 p.m.           

The Children’s Aid Society Hope Leadership Academy, 1732 Madison Avenue, New York NY 10029, visit www.childrensaidsociety.org.