Culinary Skills Training Program

Do you love to cook? Why not prepare for a job in food preparation and cooking with our 16-week career starter program? 

Shepherd’s Table has stood on the frontlines for forty years, meeting the needs of community members experiencing food insecurity, homelessness, and poverty. In 2023, we observed a 32% increase in daily meals served from last year. Many of our meal guests and clients need different kinds of access to educational opportunities for stable employment with livable wages. We have been connecting our clients with employers in our area for years but know that learning critical life skills is the key to creating and walking a path to self-sufficiency.

Through the launch of the Culinary Skills Training Program, Shepherd’s Table will provide community members facing multiple barriers, such as low wages, a lack of real-life skills, or a lack of opportunities, with a path to pursue a career in the food service industry. They will train for a new career while helping hungry Marylanders in need!

What do Culinary Skills Training Program Participants get?

  • 12 weeks of professional training – Students learn basic cooking techniques, life skills, discipline in the workplace, and professionalism
  • ServSafe certification – This certificate confirms to prospective employers that graduates are experts in food safety
  • Internship Placement – The program will work to find a four-week internship for the program participants that hopefully will lead to employment opportunities
  • A chef’s starter kit – Each student receives a set of chef’s whites and a professional-grade knife kit to launch into a new career.

Eligibility & Application

Please download the application, fill it out, and send it to our program email, [email protected].

Or fill it out directly through this google form application. 

One-pager to share here!

  • September 6th – Culinary Skills Training Program Applications are due
  • September 10th – Decision Day, notify session participants
  • September 16th  – Culinary Skills Onboarding (4 hrs.) – tour, expectations, receive all program supplies and uniforms.
  • September 23rd – First Day of Session 1
  • Be at least 18 years old
  • Be currently unemployed or underemployed
  • Stable housing
  • Be able to read, speak, and comprehend English
  • Be able to stand for 8 hours a day
  • Able to lift and move 50 pounds
  • No outstanding warrants
  • Be able to work 40 hours a week between the hours of 6 AM and 8 PM Monday through Sunday

Program Features

Each week, we will cover different topics and divide the day into periods (below). Every Friday, there will be an online skills test. We will be hosting the course at Progress Place and Methodist Church, addresses below.
 
Week 1
  • Curriculum: Kitchen Safety, equipment knowledge, self-empowerment, getting to know you
Week 2
  • Curriculum: Cold prep, salads, sandwiches, self-care
Week 3
  • Curriculum: Veggies, classifications, how they grow, household skills
Week 4
  • Curriculum: Mother sauces, eggs, stocks, time management
Week 5
  • Curriculum: Poultry fabrication, cooking, communications (oral, computer)
Week 6
  • Curriculum: Seafood, fish fabrication, coping skills
Week 7
  • Curriculum: Beef, financial literacy
Week 8
  • Curriculum: bread, customer service skills
Week 9
  • Curriculum: Bread, pastries, interpersonal skills
Week 10
  • Curriculum: International/regional cooking, life management, decision making
Week 11
  • Curriculum: Review, job readiness
Week 12
  • Curriculum: Final practical, job readiness
  • SHOWCASE Dinner
 
Students will have a 4-week externship at partner restaurants and will be required to work at least 20 hours a week. Each week, the restaurant partner must complete an evaluation of the participant.

Program Location

Progress Place
8106 Georgia Ave.
Silver Spring, MD 20910

Silver Spring United Methodist Church
8900 Georgia Ave.
Silver Spring, MD 20910

Contactanos

Arvid Muller, Program Coordinator, [email protected], 202-320-0599

This program is generously supported by the following:

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