Kitchen tABLE Academy caters to students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs) aiming for careers in culinary and hospitality. The program provides hands-on culinary arts, nutrition, smart farming, and waste management training, offering potential career paths and future employment prospects for those with developmental disabilities.
In support of this initiative, The Foundation has granted $10,000. These funds will improve indoor and outdoor classrooms by repairing essential equipment, adding outdoor shade, acquiring gardening supplies, and upgrading cooking and seating facilities. These enhancements are designed to create an inclusive learning environment for all students.
"The Kitchen tABLE Academy has a complete design curriculum for students with Autism and Developmental Disabilities to reach their full potential in areas of Culinary, Nutrition, Smart Farming, and Green Waste; our end goal will allow us to hire our students to work in the kitchen, and at the future Cafe while attracting other employers in modalities listed, to join us in our mission and vision. We have a full-functioning kitchen that has had, in the past, the benefit of working with our special education students versed in culinary. We are proud to say they have all gone on to additional employment opportunities after the Covid-19 restrictions were lifted. All were ABLE to use their training to their full advantage. We have seen firsthand and experienced the positive impact this past program has had on our students, their families, and San Diego County. We are eager to duplicate those successes and build our program for a sustainable future. One of our goals of the Kitchen tABLE Academy will be to create a regional model for Culinary, Nutrition, Smart Farming, and Green Waste with both an indoor and outdoor classroom setting accessible to all. We envision our students as trailblazers in these areas and will have our classrooms designed for our past students to be trained as trainers and to work as mentors and coaches as our program unfolds. We have the immediate opportunity and need to reopen our classroom and doors to the full and welcome students back to the table to focus again on this sustainable and relevant program."
- Toni Kraft, IFNCP, CTE, Special Education
To learn more about Kitchen tABLE Academy, visit their website at ABRAXAS HIGH SCHOOL (powayusd.com)
Are you a nonprofit organization based in San Diego and Imperial County and seeking funding for a program? Visit www.foundationfordd.org/program-grants to learn more about our program grant opportunities.
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