lessons in business along with tasty recipes
Offers students
lessons in business along with tasty recipes
BY SANDI CARPELLO
Staff Writer
Quaniesha Frost and LaShawn Carpenter prepare a shrimp sauce for their stuffed peppers at Pilgrim Baptist Church.
RED BANK — Chef Henry Tindel makes a lot of dough — and not just the kind that goes into an apple pie.
"You can make money from any business," said the Red Bank-born caterer and cookbook author. "I’ve always wanted to cook for people … I’m catering a baby shower next week and I’m going to make about $2,500."
Standing before a slew of Red Bank Regional High School students, Tindel, whose southern specialties have filled the tummies of B.B. King and Roberta Flack, demonstrated how to whip up traditional soul food, create a clever centerpiece, and most important, how to turn a simple passion into a money-making business operation.
The three-hour workshop, held in the basement of the Pilgrim Baptist Church, was just one of several in Red Bank Regional High School’s Source Foundation’s newly established Life Skills Series.
Beverly Bonilla (r) gets help concocting her sauce from Valerie Hughes, a member of the Source advisory board.
Boasting a membership of 890 students, the three-year-old Source Foundation is a nonprofit organization that provides free counseling and links within the community for preventive health care, employment opportunities, and social activities to high school students.
Resembling a 21st century version of home economics, the Life Skills Series covers everything from balancing a checkbook to renting an apartment, according to Source Foundation Director Risa Cullinane.
At a Sept. 30 workshop titled "Bling-Bling," a volunteer representative from Fleet Bank let students in on the importance of a bank account, how to open and manage a checking account, and why credit is a privilege.
Next month, a local Realtor will offer students tricks of the trade, apartment hunting tips, and how to obtain a Realtor’s license.
PHOTOS BY VERONICA YANKOWSKI staff One of the shrimp sauces prepared by students at Red Bank Regional High School, Little Silver, under the tutelage of chef Henry Tindel Nov. 12.
In a travel workshop scheduled for December, students will learn how to see the world — on a budget.
Besides offering practical life lessons, the Life Skills Series is a way for Source members to connect with the community around them.
"Instead of waiting for the community to reach out to us, the school needs to reach out to the community," Cullinane said. "We want to get more adults involved because they are good role models. Kids feel important when they know adults are interested in them."
According to Cullinane, the Life Skills Series is a prequel to the Source’s College Series.
Slated for February, the workshop series will include a free SAT preparation course at Brookdale Community College and a tour of historically black colleges.
"When they come back from the tour, they’ll be all geared to take the SATs," Cullinane said.
As the students munched on Tindel’s culinary efforts and perused a copy of his cookbook, the chef gave a recipe for success.
"Whatever you do, be the best person at what you do," he said.