Day Six: Learning Baking & Beekeeping

Aug 26

What happens when you take young people out of a traditional classroom and allow them to bake, learn about bees, extract honey, and serve their community, all in one day?

Our participants spent an exciting, hands-on day at Greener Village, and this session reminded us of something we have believed from the beginning: young people are curious, willing to learn, and eager to contribute when given the opportunity.

For Day 6, our participants didn't learn just one skill. They explored baking, beekeeping, honey extraction, and community volunteering, allowing them to experience food from production and preparation to community service.

Part One: From Bees to Honey 🐝🍯

The day began in the Greener Village Learning conference room with Mr. Jared introducing an experience many of our participants had never had before: learning about bees and honey extraction.

Mr. Jared introduced the participants to the fascinating world of beekeeping, helping them understand the role bees play in our environment, how honey is produced, and the process involved in getting honey from the hive to the table.

The participants learned how honey is extracted from the frames, including removing capped frames, opening the wax cappings and using the extraction process to separate the honey.

It was practical, different and full of questions, exactly the kind of learning experience Skills2Stars was created to provide.

Suddenly, something many of us simply pick up from a grocery store shelf became an entire lesson about nature, agriculture, food production, and another possible skill our young people could explore.

Part Two: Baking with Chef Chris 👨‍🍳

Next up was a baking session in the Greener Village Learning Kitchen with Chef Chris, who walked our participants through the process of making their first biscuits.

And what better way to learn than to get their hands into the process?

Under Chef Chris's guidance, the participants learned about ingredients, measurements, preparation, and the importance of following a process before putting their new knowledge into practice by making biscuits from scratch.

As the participants mixed, measured and baked together, Chef Chris also shared part of his own story.

He explained that he was raised in a family that loved to cook, so his relationship with food began when he was very young. What started as something he learned as a child eventually became part of his professional journey as a chef.

His story carried an important message for our participants:

“There is no age limit to learning a skill”, he shared with the group.

You don't have to wait until adulthood to begin discovering what you are good at. The skill a young person learns for fun today could become a passion, profession, business or opportunity tomorrow.

Chef Chris also taught participants about kitchen safety and hygiene.

Part Three: Learning to Serve ❤️

Day 6 was not only about what our participants could learn for themselves.

It was also about what they could do for someone else.

Participants spent part of the day volunteering in the Greener Village warehouse, helping to package food that will support people and families within the community.

For Skills2Stars, this part of the experience was particularly important.

We want to raise young people who understand that skills are not only tools for making money or creating careers. Skills can also be used to serve, contribute and make our communities better.

One participant's question after the volunteering experience captured the impact of the moment perfectly:

"When can we come back to volunteer again? I enjoyed doing this."

That question meant a lot to us.

Because perhaps another skill was being developed that day without anyone realizing it: the skill of service.

Another participant reflected on the variety of experiences the Summer Academy has exposed them to:

"I am excited to be learning so many skills because skills are so important, and I want to be good at different things."

And that is Skills2Stars in one sentence.

We don't expect every participant who attends a baking class to become a chef, everyone who learns photography to become a photographer, or everyone who learns about bees to become a beekeeper.

We simply want them to experience possibilities.

To try. To discover. To become curious. To meet professionals.

To understand that they are allowed to be good at more than one thing.

And perhaps somewhere in all that exploration, a young person discovers the skill that changes their future.

More Than a Summer Program

Day 6 showed us what becomes possible when community organizations don't simply provide a space for young people but intentionally invite them into meaningful experiences.

We are incredibly grateful to Greener Village for opening its doors to Skills2Stars Foundation and going beyond providing its Learning Kitchen. Their team created an experience that allowed our participants to learn from their in-house professionals, explore different areas of the organization, and experience firsthand what it means to give back to their community.

Thank you to Chef Chris for sharing your kitchen, knowledge, and story.

Thank you to Mr. Jared for introducing our participants to the fascinating world of bees and honey extraction.

And thank you to the entire Greener Village team for showing our young people that learning can happen everywhere: in a kitchen, beside a beehive, inside a warehouse, and while serving someone else.

Six days into this journey, one thing continues to become clearer:

It has never been a lack of potential.
It has never been a lack of interest.
It has never been a lack of young people willing to learn.

Sometimes, they simply need access to experiences, spaces, and people willing to say:

"Come, let me show you."

And on Day 6, Greener Village did exactly that.