Troy Students, Families Cook Together During Family Cooking Night

On a recent frigid February evening, several Troy Middle School and William B. Orenic Intermediate School students and their families were happy to be working in their warm kitchens preparing hearty meals of chicken alfredo, roasted cauliflower, homemade garlic bread and strawberry-blueberry yogurt parfaits.

The meal preparation was an online Family Cooking Night, led by a professional chef and organized by Troy Middle School ELA teacher Jharita Jordan.

Jordan said she was looking for projects to increase parent involvement in the school, and the cooking class came to mind.

“It went really well,” she said. “The parents and their kids had fun and said it was not something they normally did together.”

The 90-minute virtual session saw each family participating on video together. They could watch each other and watch the chef. They began with the noodle-boiling, made the parfaits while the noodles were cooking, then seasoned the cauliflower and put it in the oven to roast. The last step was to spread the bread with their homemade garlic butter and toast it.

The event provided new experiences and opportunities for Troy’s families, Jordan said, and helped strengthen relationships between parents and the schools.

Troy Middle School and William B. Orenic Intermediate School are Troy Community School District 30-C schools.