Internship
Boys & Girls Club: Seed To Table Program
Currently I am volunteering my time as an intern at the local Boys & Girls Club. I work in a new program with my supervisor called the Seed To Table Program. Here parents are able to send there kids to participate in planting and harvesting produce to bring to the kitchen for enriching cooking lessons and experiences. My job specifics as a kitchen assistant include managing children in a dangerous environment, handling cooking equipment and utensils, teaching recipes and cooking techniques, and keeping the large kitchen clean after use. However, after learning about my interesting in computer arts, my supervisor Gretchen assigned me to the task of creating the first ever Boys & Girls Club cookbook. It would include all the recipes used by the students/children in the cooking classes and also show off some of their photographed creations made on the countertops of the kitchen. For this I have to learn three different Adobe Programs. I did a total of 29 Hours for Gretchen Doering.
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Date Hours
9/29/15 3Hrs
10/1/15 1Hr
10/6/15 3Hrs
10/12/15 3Hrs
10/15/15 1Hr
10/20/15 3Hrs
10/22/15 1Hr
10/27/15 3Hrs
10/29/15 30Mins
11/5/15 1Hr
11/19/15 1Hr
12/3/15 2Hrs
12/10/15 1Hr 30Mins
12/17/15 1Hr 30Mins
5/3/16 1Hr
5/5/16 1Hr
5/10/16 1Hr
5/12/16 1Hr
9/29/15 3Hrs
10/1/15 1Hr
10/6/15 3Hrs
10/12/15 3Hrs
10/15/15 1Hr
10/20/15 3Hrs
10/22/15 1Hr
10/27/15 3Hrs
10/29/15 30Mins
11/5/15 1Hr
11/19/15 1Hr
12/3/15 2Hrs
12/10/15 1Hr 30Mins
12/17/15 1Hr 30Mins
5/3/16 1Hr
5/5/16 1Hr
5/10/16 1Hr
5/12/16 1Hr
Weekly Logs
Week 1
On my first week of work I was assigned to work in the Boys and Girls Club’s kitchen with Gretchen as a Teacher’s Assistant. We taught the kids, ranging in ages from 6-10, how to use different kitchen items like knives, pots, pans, and ovens. This all happened after school. The two sessions that happened this week focused on learning these kitchen basics but we also lead the class in a fun recipe for a kale quesadilla. We had the kids call them “Kalesadillas”. This all happened as after school during my free time. It was sort of enlightening. I thought I was really good with kids up until today when I realized that i was only really good with certain age groups. 6-10 not being the one I was good with. This was the age that pulling hair and acting like they owned the world was normal. An age where respect wasn’t something these kids learned yet. It was a little concerning. Either way I was excited about this new experience that I had booked myself into. I didn’t think much could go wrong.
Week 2
This week is a new recipe and I learned that this group of children is going to be sticking with us for a while since they are a registered class. I totally thought the class was a walk-in kind of thing. I guess that helps with building some sort of mentor-figure status among the kids. It would help in the future I am sure. Although I am sure this would be plenty of work next to all of the other things that I had to do. And I guess I didn’t have more than an hour or two with the kids so it wasn’t much to work with. This week we worked on a stromboli. There was baking in the process of this recipe so I had to handle that dangerous step. That was pretty simple so I thought this class was pretty care free. No knife handling I had to look out for. Mostly ripping and laying onto the dough. The dough though. That was harder than I thought it would be. A couple days ago Gretchen and me had to knead all the dough ourselves from scratch and maybe that doesn’t sound difficult but it was my first time. Another fun experience. I guess I can’t complain.
Week 3
Today was most likely the most troublesome day so far. The task we were doing was relatively easy. We just needed to boil some chicken and harvest the rest of the ingredients. However these kids are trying to take advantage of each other now. They are supposed to take turns at their stations with the different jobs. Stirring, cutting, and preparing. Not everyone could do all of them but they still tried to. This meant the classmates would butt heads for different positions causing me more work. It wasn’t the first time i’ve had to do something like this, but they sure were stubborn. In a way it is kind of nostalgic. I see myself in them. We all used to be this age and were probably just as difficult, if not more! I feel old but just the other day I realized I was only just getting out of high school. College is coming and it is coming fast. So after finishing some of the fights and disagreements happening I helped Gretchen clean the kitchen. It is actually a good amount of work. Luckily the kids love to be involved at this age, which I have learned, and love to get a hold of a mop or broom. I just get to handle the chemicals and machinery.
Week 4
After this week I am moving onto larger things! I have been talking to Gretchen for some time now about one of her ideas for her program. A way to showcase her work at the Boys and Girls Club’s Seed to Table program for all that it has done for the children and environment. Her grand scheme was to create a cookbook and she knew about my aesthetic side so she wanted me to get my hands on it. So next week I am making this a reality. Anyway this week we worked on a couple things. First we, like usual, made some food for us to enjoy and bring home afterwards. We also had the kids have a fun photo shoot with their food to display in the TBA cookbook. Gretchen let them borrow her tablet and use that as a camera. Had some trouble distributing it equally between kids. Actually something I wanted to note is how hard it is to do everything at once. I think that I automatically set expectations for myself when starting this internship to do it all but it’s just exhausting. I’m willing to work hard but it gets a little overwhelming when not everyone gets what they want. I’ve always wanted to be the cool and and leave the role model role to others but in this situation I don’t have that kind of choice. I have to be respectable.
Week 5
I made it out of the kitchen and onto a desk. It sort of feels like a promotion. Blue color to white color kind of thing. I have to now make a template for the cookbook. It will feature the recipes we have done in the class sessions, student taken photos, and even gardening tips and tricks specific to seasons. She wants me to emphasize the gardening step to creating these meals. To show how easy it is to get your groceries from the back yard instead of the store. So she basically started me out by showing me these programs. The most important one being InDesign. A program used for creating documents which you can get pretty creative with. Fun. So before I really jump into it, with all my brainstormed ideas on a separate sheet of paper, I have to learn what I’m actually doing. I watched about an hour of tutorial videos one day. It wasn’t very exciting but I knew that it was necessary if I wanted to get this done on my first try. I wanted to impress Gretchen anyway.
Week 6
I just realized that I have yet to mention Bill Moore. Bill is is the tech guy (not actual title) at the Boys and Girls Club. He runs the computer lab for anyone up for learning things like coding, game design, and things like that. Basically what I previously thought I was going to major in before I found Animation and Illustration. Anyway, he has been such a great help in the process of making this cookbook. For the past two weeks he has been showing me the ins and outs of the InDesign program. He also has been showing up earlier for work so that I would be able to work in the Computer Lab sooner. He is pretty cool and has lots of experience. So using what he has taught me I was able to implement some of them ideas onto the document. It isn’t exactly what I wanted but it is closer than it was than before. Which I can appreciate. Gretchen has been busy with her own job so I try not to bug her more than I need to. We are talking about the overall vision for the cookbook together though. It helps to put things like this into perspective since I am only working on a single page template.
Week 7
The other day I said I was “going into work” and I felt pretty silly. Making me realize where I was in my life. Looking past that I am now about seventy percent done with my template. I just need to work out the logistics with Gretchen. The small details, including binding type, page weight, and dimensions all are very important. Although this is my first time ever having to take these sorts of thing into consideration. It’s not something that easily gets brought up in conversation so I am probably going to have to do my homework on these new topics. I feel so invested now and I enjoy it. Also the feeling of collaboration reminds me a lot of Hannah Camp. I love that more than anything. I had to make a couple of phone calls to the printing companies that the Boys and Girls Club is used to using. It’s cool because they have special discounts from constant use. Not that this sort of thing is cheap. The only other time I have ever had the choice to spend thousands of dollars was Hannah Camp for just the food. Yet when it came to making a decision the adults that worked there we so trigger happy in comparison to my reluctancy. Something that comes with experience I am sure.
Week 8
This is the finish line. Finally all the work I have done on this template and cookbook in general is going to be passed onto the next internship. Unfortunately I ran out of time to make all the 35 pages of the cookbook but I was able to make it simple for the next person. They just need to input images and text throughout the pages and they should be done. They also have the option to go off the beaten path to be a creative if they please. The template idea was Gretchen’s and it was a good one. She really thought of the big picture. I wonder if that becomes a requirement as an adult. I feel like it is just one of the many approaches to life. After spending so much time behind a computer I miss the kitchen life. I like the more hands on activities and being involved with others. I felt sort of lonely being silent and working all the time. Oh well. Sometimes I guess I won’t have a choice in that. I will work towards my preference. We finally decided on the page size: 8x8. We also decided that spiral binding would be for the best since it is going to be a very square book. Staple bound is just ugly in comparison. We spent so much money it makes me cringe. Glad that's over with.
Closing Report
Many of the skills used in this internship were responsibility, organization, focus, and patience most importantly. A lot of these skills I have used before, however, I feel like this opportunity really brought out these traits farther than before. What I mean by that is, I feel more comfortable being asked to do something that requires these skills to accomplish. I can genuinely say “I can do that” now. I had to use these qualities and skills on a weekly basis when it came to my kitchen work and cookbook labs. Gretchen gave me the role as a Teacher’s Assistant while she taught a cooking class in the Boys and Girls Club from kids ranging in ages from 6-10. So while she mainly lead the class I helped out as much as I could to keep the activities safe, fun, and focused. I also had to handle cleaning the kitchen with Gretchen after each class. Before every class after school, Gretchen and I would go over what the agenda was to makes sure we could be as in sync as possible. As prepared as we were, it didn’t always go perfect, but everyday we were able to enjoy the lessons as much as the kids did. The smiles they had as the rushed passed us to show their parents the food they created. Priceless. I also told Gretchen I would help her with her new idea of creating a cookbook for her Seed to Table Program. We would have to make this book from scratch so, because I didn’t have much time on this internship, I would create a starter template for the pages of the book for the next internship to follow up on to finish the cookbook to eventually sell. This meant I had to learn programs, get in contact with Bill Moore (the tech guy of the Boys and Girls Club), and get creative! I learned an almost overwhelming amount at this internship. I learned the difference that really comes with different aged kids. I learned that communication is vital to any kind of work. I learned that time is about the greatest factor there is next to hard work. I also learned that understanding is something that can’t be taken for granted. Generosity is a beautiful trait. I definitely wasn’t handed these lessons though. I had a huge obstacle in the kitchen while working there. I always thought I was good with kids, however I learned that I may be only good with certain age groups. 6-10 year olds were much different than anything I had apparently dealt with before. They were ungrateful, selfish, snobby, and worse of all disrespectful. I know that it is wrong to judge a 7 year old, but I wanted to illustrate what I was up against. As much as I wanted to get mad after one of them stole the other's stromboli, or yell when someone isn’t sharing the parmesan cheese, I had to stay calm. It wasn’t my job to freak out, but to handle the situation and make the class focus and enjoy themselves. It was very difficult for me because unlike the other children I have ever dealt with, these kids didn’t want to try to respect me at all. I tried everyday to get them to not treat me like another kid, but as an adult who had the ability to run the class as much as Gretchen did. I think that first impressions mean a lot. I believe I missed that opportunity, but I won’t in the future. Honestly, in the beginning I thought this would be much easier. I thought it was just something to fill in the my extra time and a graduation requirement. It is so much more than that though. It is one big trial that everyone should experience to prepare themselves for the bigger challenges of jobs. I went in naive and I think that was for the best. Reality hit me and I’m glad it did.