The mission of the Super Star Chef series is to provide a fun and educational experience for youth to gain knowledge and learn skills that will lead to success in the kitchen.  The Bullitt County Cooperative Extension Service was contacted by the Sunrise Childrens Home for at risk adolescent boys who have been orphaned or are wards of the court. The Extension Agent for Family & Consumer Sciences taught by-weekly lessons to the 17 pre-teen and teen boys housed in the residential facility. 

Participants learned safety in the kitchen; reading and using a recipe; cooking techniques; knife skills; nutrition facts; and dietary and physical activity information for making healthy lifestyle choices.  The program evaluations revealed that the program enhanced participants understanding of the nutrition concepts and taught skills increasing their cooking ability.  All (100%) reported that they can identify healthy foods and 75% reported they plan to drink more water every day.  Although the residential facility has a set menu offered to the boys, 70% of the teen boys reported that they plan to be more physically active and eat more fruits and vegetables when they are offered those choices.  Over the period of 3 months, the boys retained 100% of the food safety, reading a recipe, cooking and measuring techniques as well as skills used to help with meal preparation. One very anxious and timid teen stated that he had never made any food on his own until now and he was so excited that he could now make something to eat.  He hoped to make the dip recipe for those he would be spending the holidays with.  

The Director of the Residential facility along with the Counselor and staff reported the boys looked forward to each cooking lesson and would teach the staff what they learned. The boys were excited about what they had learned and were able to make in the classes. Several also showed more willingness to help in the kitchen with food preparation.  The Director of the facility reported to the Extension Agent that the staff saw positive effects in confidence, knowledge, personal pride and self esteem that they correlated to the cooking classes.  The pre-teen and teenage boys had gained knowledge, confidence, self esteem and skills that would allow them to prepare food for themselves as they aged out of the program.