18. December 2010 by admin.

“The kids have such pride in themselves.”

10. December 2010 by admin.

A JUNTA — Residents of CBR YouthConnect are helping others — from the kitchen.

Youths at the psychiatric residential treatment center, formerly known as the Colorado Boys Ranch, are taking part in the center’s new Catering Connection program. They’re baking pies, breads and desserts to donate to holiday meals in the community. And they’re helping needy students in the Arkansas Valley by filling backpacks with food through Care and Share’s Backpack Program, which provides free lunches.

The youths are Patrick, Tyler , “Kit” , James , Israel and Skyler. They are enrolled in the Principles of Food Technology class at the treatment center. It’s an academic class that meets every day — four days of book work and one day of cooking — and for which students get credit and a certificate.

“They have to earn their way into the class,” says instructor Kristi Hartless. “They have to show appropriate behavior, they have to meet their (treatment) program goals. They’re the cream of the crop, the ones who have more initiative.

“We’re teaching different aspects of food service: cooking, waiting on people, dishwashing. We’re giving them skills so when they leave they might have a chance at a job.”

The class and the catering experience have other real-world applications that the boys understand, says Martin Masar, executive director of CBR YouthConnect.

“They did a (role-playing) session on how to handle an angry customer,” Masar says. “These kids have been hurt and abused all their lives and some of them have anger problems of their own. What a powerful clinical tool — to show them that they can wait on people with a smile.”

Masar also says that volunteering to help other people causes a person to open his heart to receive emotional rewards, feelings such as compassion, happiness, excitement, hope and love, and that these emotions have healing powers.

This is the first year youths are helping in the catering program, according to Tammy Talmich, the catering manager.

“We have four kids in the class who work in the kitchen during the day, helping prep food, clean up, whatever we need them to do. They handle the situations so wonderfully. Most of the time they go and do the task and do it in a timely manner.”

The youths will make 600 dinner rolls for a community Christmas dinner and might bake gingerbread men, too, Talmich says.

“They’ve made everything from flatbread to stromboli (meat- and cheese-filled pastry) to desserts. We want to teach them to make candy.

“They’ve done some catering at the ranch. We had a business dinner and one man said he thought it was a professional catering firm. They did an excellent job; they were very service-oriented.

“The kids have such pride in themselves.”

Talmich says she sees a real change in one young man when he enters the kitchen.

“He is very standoffish — he has a lot of trust issues and doesn’t like to interact with others. But put him in the kitchen and he’s smiling and laughing. He made some of the best pumpkin cheesecake I’ve ever eaten — from scratch. The kids requested it for our dinner here at the ranch.”

Talmich says he has the talent to go on to a career in the food industry “if he puts his mind to it.”

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10. December 2010 by admin.

A JUNTA — Residents of CBR YouthConnect are helping others — from the kitchen.

Youths at the psychiatric residential treatment center, formerly known as the Colorado Boys Ranch, are taking part in the center’s new Catering Connection program. They’re baking pies, breads and desserts to donate to holiday meals in the community. And they’re helping needy students in the Arkansas Valley by filling backpacks with food through Care and Share’s Backpack Program, which provides free lunches.

The youths are Patrick Lundahl, Tyler Crotsenberg, Christopher “Kit” Lyons, James McDonald, Israel Farrell and Skyler Lane. They are enrolled in the Principles of Food Technology class at the treatment center. It’s an academic class that meets every day — four days of book work and one day of cooking — and for which students get credit and a certificate.

“They have to earn their way into the class,” says instructor Kristi Hartless. “They have to show appropriate behavior, they have to meet their (treatment) program goals. They’re the cream of the crop, the ones who have more initiative.

“We’re teaching different aspects of food service: cooking, waiting on people, dishwashing. We’re giving them skills so when they leave they might have a chance at a job.”

The class and the catering experience have other real-world applications that the boys understand, says Martin Masar, executive director of CBR YouthConnect.

“They did a (role-playing) session on how to handle an angry customer,” Masar says. “These kids have been hurt and abused all their lives and some of them have anger problems of their own. What a powerful clinical tool — to show them that they can wait on people with a smile.”

Masar also says that volunteering to help other people causes a person to open his heart to receive emotional rewards, feelings such as compassion, happiness, excitement, hope and love, and that these emotions have healing powers.

This is the first year youths are helping in the catering program, according to Tammy Talmich, the catering manager.

“We have four kids in the class who work in the kitchen during the day, helping prep food, clean up, whatever we need them to do. They handle the situations so wonderfully. Most of the time they go and do the task and do it in a timely manner.”

The youths will make 600 dinner rolls for a community Christmas dinner and might bake gingerbread men, too, Talmich says.

“They’ve made everything from flatbread to stromboli (meat- and cheese-filled pastry) to desserts. We want to teach them to make candy.

“They’ve done some catering at the ranch. We had a business dinner and one man said he thought it was a professional catering firm. They did an excellent job; they were very service-oriented.

“The kids have such pride in themselves.”

Talmich says she sees a real change in one young man when he enters the kitchen.

“He is very standoffish — he has a lot of trust issues and doesn’t like to interact with others. But put him in the kitchen and he’s smiling and laughing. He made some of the best pumpkin cheesecake I’ve ever eaten — from scratch. The kids requested it for our dinner here at the ranch.”

Talmich says he has the talent to go on to a career in the food industry “if he puts his mind to it.”

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