Pictured are Jessica McKeever, Kaylee Lindstrom, who co-founded Arise Chautauqua together, and the Wegmans Community Giving Team. Arise Chautauqua and Wegmans will partner to teach a cooking class in late March. Photo sent
A cooking class for girls ages 11 to 18, hosted by Arise Chautauqua and Wegmans, is scheduled for next month.
Set for March 21st from 5:00pm to 7:00pm at Arise Chautauqua’s Arise House, the event invites 15 girls to participate in a class where they will learn from Wegmans Chef Melissa Storms how to cook Baked Chicken Breasts with Pasta and Sauce Alfredo. The class is now full.
Jessica McKeever, executive director of Arise Chautauqua, said the class is the first Arise Life-Skills event the organization will offer at its new location. The classes follow Arise Chautauqua’s goal, which is “to help all girls live healthy, fulfilling, and authentic lives free of abuse and exploitation through intentional community connection, trusted adults, and other supports and resources.” McKeever added that Arise Chautauqua has no prerequisites and is for all girls ages 11 to 18 to help empower them to do the things in life they will need to do and give them the skills, to succeed.
The purpose of organization continues in this class because of the opportunity to connect and share food around the table.
“The class will last about two hours and will be led by the Wegmans executive chef,” McKeever said. “The girls will learn how to make pasta and then be able to enjoy the food together around the table, which is something important to us here at Arise because it fosters community connection. The girls will then receive a bag of goodies to take home.”
Although this is the first formal life skills class Arise Chautauqua has offered, McKeever said they have been operating out of the Arise house since December and plan to have future monthly classes. That includes a course in April on career development, where the organization will again partner with Wegmans to teach girls things like how to fill out applications, write resumes and conduct job interviews. Other future classes include Finance 101 with Chautauqua Federal Credit Union, auto maintenance classes and more cooking or home skills classes.
“I think these life skills courses are important to what we do at Arise because they give girls skills that maybe they don’t learn at home, or they can focus on areas where girls need support” , McKeever said. “It’s something we do for all girls to empower them to do what they need to do, and life skills are just one part.”
Any girl in the local community between the ages of 11 and 18 can benefit from future classes and other aspects that Arise has to offer. McKeever added that they can learn new life skills, connect with others in their corner, which is a big focus of Arise, and learn to do things at a young age, before they get to where they need to figure it out alone.
“My hope with these classes is that the girls will have an opportunity to learn more about something they might be interested in,” McKeever said. “This time we have a girl who is interested in being a chef and can learn from a real chef and be able to ask her questions about what the job is like. This exposes them to the women who have gone before.
Arise Chautauqua also has peer groups and numerous gatherings that can connect girls with their peers and community members in a healthy way.
To learn more about Arise Chautauqua, visit them on Facebook.
