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You're the Chef cooking program at school

You’re the Chef (YTC) is a food literacy cooking program designed to help youth develop the skills and confidence necessary to prepare tasty and nutritious recipes. Students learn basic food preparation, food handling and kitchen safety in a comfortable and supportive learning environment.

YTC works best when offered:

  • To students ages 10 and up
  • Over 4- 6 weeks,
  • 1-2 hours per week,
  • no more than 16 participants.

A variety of topics are covered in the program, including food safety, recipe preparation and basic nutrition concepts. Dedicated adult volunteers are trained to deliver the program in schools.

 

  • Develop food literacy, food skills and healthy eating habits
  • Develop confidence in preparing nutritious and safe food
  • Build self-esteem, confidence and social connectedness
  • Practice safe food-handling and basic kitchen safety
  • At least one volunteer (parents, school staff, grandparents) to facilitate the program
  • Attend a two hour training workshop hosted by the health unit (in-person and virtual options available).
  • A clean area with tables, sinks and power outlets.
  • Access to cooking equipment (suggested equipment list provided during Leader Training).
  • Funds to purchase ingredients for recipes (recipes provided during Leader Training).

Our School Health team offers leader training for interested adults (educators and/or volunteers)  and can support your school with planning.

Leader training is available in person or virtually.

The in person two hour YTC Leader training provides an overview of the YTC program, recipes, kitchen and food safety, the opportunity to prepare a YTC recipe and tips for leading YTC, which includes resources, demos, activities, scenarios, etc. 

The virtual YTC leader training is one hour and provides the same information as the in person training, without an opportunity to prepare one of the YTC recipes together.

Resources will be provided to support the implementation of the program at your school.  Resources include: YTC leaders manual, participant manual, recipes, promotional tools, and instructional videos.

Interested in offering You’re the Chef at your school? For more information, or to discuss your program needs, contact your School Public Health Nurse or email [email protected]

 

These are the training dates offered for the 2024-25 school year:

Virtual dates (via Microsoft Teams):

  • Wednesday January 29th, 2025 (5-630pm)
  • Tuesday February 11, 2025 (430-600pm)
  • Tuesday March 25, 2025 (4-530pm)

Please complete and submit the registration form to confirm your spot.

Note: Registration closes one week prior to each training date. Workshops may be cancelled due low registration. 

If these training dates don’t work for your school, or you have any additional questions contact your School Health Public Health Nurse or email [email protected] or call 705-721-7520.

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