Thursday 15 December 2011

Sara's last couple weeks at KCS

As I come to the end of my internship at The Kid’s Cookery School, as well as my experience in London, I find myself reflecting on my time here. Last week was filled with Christmas specials, one by Alex Mackay, and the other led by Fiona, as well as my final trip to a school. The Christmas special with Alex Mackay was really special. Families came with their children and Alex led them through creating a great Christmas meal. The next day, Fiona worked with a group of special needs adults, most of whom attended the workshop the previous year, and made a great Christmas meal as well. Seeing how excited the adults were when they first arrived, followed by how proud they were of the food they made, was extremely amazing. They created a menu starting with a festive chicken dish with peppers, chestnuts and bacon, to mince pies. Friday we were in Cubitt Town Infant School and made a savoury rice dish with the students that they all really enjoyed making. My last few days here we have had Christmas courses during the day in The Kid’s Cookery School office. Throughout the courses we’ve been making numerous dishes. The past two days we have made a chicken dish with vegetables and chestnuts, a savoury rice, corn fritters, Christmas sables, chocolate chip cookies, and mince pies. The kid’s, as well as myself, have truly enjoyed the classes! In fact, I tried my first mince pie, and loved it!
During my time at The Kid’s Cookery School, I have learned so much and am truly grateful for the experience I was given.

Wednesday 23 November 2011

Sara is KCS's New Intern!

Hi Everyone! My name is Sara and I’m interning here at the Kid’s Cookery School three days a week for my last seven weeks here in London. I came to London to study abroad from the United States. At home, I attend American University in Washington, DC and am in my third year there. At American University, I am working to achieve a major in Psychology and a minor in Education Studies. After University, to reach my career goals, I am going to have to attend graduate school to receive even more degrees! In the future, I wish to become a guidance counsellor at the high school level, and throughout the weekends and summer, I would love to run a private practice in child counselling. Therefore, to reach this goal I need my master’s degree in school counselling with an additional certificate in private counselling.
Here in London, I am studying through a program called The Foundation for International Education (FIE). Although it isn’t a university itself, we take courses through the program about British culture. Additionally, all students at FIE have a student affiliation card with Imperial College and can therefore participate in their clubs and events.

A great benefit of studying abroad through FIE is that after submitting a CV to them, they arrange for us to have an internship throughout the second half of our semester here. I was extremely lucky, and got placed with The Kid’s Cookery School. A few days a week, I ride on the van with Fiona and Lee to assist with the cooking classes at various schools around London. So far, it’s been a really rewarding experience. Considering that I wish to work either in a school or in the non-profit sector relating to education, experiencing school systems in a country other than the US, is a valuable lesson.

So far, I’ve been to two different schools with KCS and each one has opened my eyes to something new. I think it’s extremely interesting to see how schools differ so much from one another. I can’t wait to continue on with the rest of my time here, there is so much more to learn. Keep posted to see how it’s going!